In the morning of 24 April 1993, the Irish Republican Army (IRA) detonated a powerful truck bomb on Bishopsgate, a major thoroughfare in London's financial district, the City of London.

A one tonne industrial-explosive bomb made by the IRA's South Armagh Brigade had been smuggled into England and was placed in an Iveco tipper truck that had been stolen the previous month in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire. At about 09:00 two volunteers from an IRA active service unit drove the truck containing the bomb onto Bishopsgate. They parked the truck outside 99 Bishopsgate, which was then the UK headquarters of HSBC bank, located by the junction with Wormwood Street and Camomile Street, and left the area in a car driven by an accomplice.

The bomb exploded at 10:27, causing extensive damage to buildings along Bishopsgate. The blast raised a mushroom cloud that could be seen across London and left a large crater in the street. It killed one person and injured 44.

Buildings up to 500 metres away -- almost a third of a mile -- were damaged, with about 500 tonnes of glass broken. Because St Ethelburga's church was just seven metres away (less than the length of a bus) from the bomb, it was destroyed in the explosion. The result is depicted in the accompanying photo.

More Info: en.wikipedia.org