I almost got killed by a the Irish Republican Army when I was 12; here's the story: Me, my mom, dad, and my sister, who must have been 10, were walking thru Regent's Park after getting our lunch at the Star of India Restaurant in London. There was a bandstand there, and the band was a Brittish military band, which was about to play. It was up to me if we were going to watch the band play, or take the underground to Tussard's Wax Museum, where I heard they had a wing dedicated to the torture devices in the Tower of London. Heather, my sister, wanted to hear the band, but it was my turn to pick what to do. I chose the museum (of course) so we left the park. Right when we were leaving the park, passing thru some hedges, I heard a loud boom. I asked my dad what it was, and he told me it was a thunder clap. He looked scared. We rushed back to our hotel and hid in the basement listening to the radio. My mom bummed the first cigarettes she'd smoked in 20 years. It turns out 20 minutes later, the IRA bombed a military procession of horses, killing some, which outraged the animal-loving English.