Does mid-April equal tragedy in the U.S.?

From left, the Waco siege, the Oklahoma City bombing, memorial for the Columbine victims and Virginia Tech's Norris Hall STORY HIGHLIGHTSSeveral U.S. tragedies happened in mid-April, including Waco and Oklahoma CityWhile some are related, Robert Blaskiewicz says others are just a coincidenceBlaskiewicz teaches course on conspiracy theories at Georgia Institute of TechnologyHe says conspiracy theories are "a contemporary mythology, not unlike the Greek gods"Nearly 20 years ago, 76 people lost their lives during an FBI raid near Waco, Texas. CNN's Drew Griffin looks at those events at 8 ET/PT and 11 ET/PT Saturday night in "Waco: Faith, Fear & Fire."

(CNN) -- Mid-April marks the anniversaries of several horrendous attacks in recent U.S. history:

-- April 19, 1993: the FBI's siege of the Waco compound leaves 76 dead.

-- April 19, 1995: the bombing of a federal building in Oklahoma City kills 168 people.

-- April 20, 1999: A mass shooting at Columbine High School leaves 15 dead.

-- April 16, 2007: The Virginia Tech massacre kills 33.

The Oklahoma City bombing was timed to coincide with the Waco anniversary. And it's unclear whether the Columbine shooters timed that attack to mark Adolf Hitler's birthday or possibly Waco.

Is there something about this time of the year that makes these types of attacks more prevalent?

For an answer, CNN spoke with Robert Blaskiewicz, a professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. He teaches a course examining conspiracy theories and runs a blog, called Skeptical Humanities.

CNN: Is there any evidence or are there any theories that suggest attackers are more likely to strike around this time of the year?

Robert Blaskiewicz: I have seen nothing to suggest that anything about April itself makes people violent.

That said, the reason why we see certain types of political violence in mid- to late April is because of a few unhappy coincidences: that Waco happened to fall on the anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the first battles in a war against a tyrannical oppressor.

For many people who labor under the idea that the federal government is a tyrannical foreign oppressor like the British monarchy, Waco symbolizes a war of a government against its people.

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