What was the World Trade Center?

The World Trade Center (WTC) was a 16-acre commercial complex in lower Manhattan

that contained seven buildings, a large plaza, and an underground shopping mall that

connected six of the buildings. The centerpieces of the complex were the Twin Towers.

On September 11, 2001, the entire complex was destroyed in a terrorist attack that has

come to be referred to as “9/11.”

What were the Twin Towers?

The Twin Towers were the tallest buildings in New York City. At 110 stories each, 1 WTC (North Tower) and 2 WTC (South Tower) provided nearly 10 million square feet of office space for about 35,000 people and 430 companies. For a brief period upon their completion in 1973, they were the tallest buildings in the world. They attracted roughly 70,000 commuters and tourists daily.

The towers were massive. The North Tower rose 1,368 feet – 1,730 feet with a large antenna – and the South Tower stood 1,362-feet high. Views extended 45 miles or more from the top of the towers in every direction – far enough to see all five New York City boroughs, New Jersey and Connecticut. Each weighed more than 250,000 tons and contained 99 elevators and 21,800 windows. Each floor was an acre in size and there was enough concrete in the towers to build a five-foot-wide sidewalk from New York City to Washington, D.C.

The towers had been the target of an attack before 9/11. On February 26, 1993, terrorists with links to an Islamist extremist group detonated explosives in a van parked

underneath the WTC. Six people were killed and thousands were injured.

What happened on 9/11? "9/11" is shorthand for four coordinated terrorist

attacks carried out by al-Qaeda, an Islamist extremist group, that occurred on the

morning of September 11, 2001. The attacks killed 2,977 people.

On the morning of September 11, 2001, 19 terrorists from al-Qaeda hijacked four commercial airplanes, deliberately crashing two of the planes into the upper floors of the North and South towers of the World Trade Center complex and a third plane into the Pentagon in Arlington, Va. The Twin Towers ultimately collapsed because of the damage sustained from the impacts and the resulting fires. After learning about the other attacks, passengers on the fourth hijacked plane, Flight 93, fought back, and the plane was crashed into an empty field in western Pennsylvania about 20 minutes by air from Washington, D.C.

The attacks killed nearly 3,000 people from 93 nations. 2,753 people were killed in New York, 184 people were killed at the Pentagon and 40 people were killed on Flight 93.

What happened at the World Trade Center on 9/11?

The hijacked Flight 11 was crashed into floors 93 to 99 of the North Tower (1 WTC) at 8:46 a.m. The hijacked Flight 175 struck floors 77 to 85 of the South Tower (2 WTC) 17 minutes later at 9:03 a.m. When the towers were struck, between 16,400 and 18,000 people were in the WTC complex. Of those, the vast majority evacuated safely. As they rushed out, first responders rushed in trying to save those still trapped or injured.

The fires from the impacts were intensified by the planes’ burning jet fuel. They weakened the steel support trusses, which attached each of the floors to the buildings’ exterior walls. Along with the initial damage to the buildings’ structural columns, this ultimately caused both towers to collapse. The five other buildings in the WTC complex were also destroyed because of damage sustained when the Twin Towers fell.

The collapse of the buildings left the site devastated. Thousands of volunteers came to Ground Zero to help with the rescue, recovery and clean-up efforts, and on May 30, 2002, the last piece of WTC steel was ceremonially removed.

What is Islam?

Islam is the world’s second-largest religion. An adherent of Islam is a Muslim. Islam’s

beliefs and practices center around two key sources: the Qur’an and the Hadith. The

Qur’an contains what Muslims believe is God’s final revelation, made to the Prophet

Muhammad, Islam’s founder, more than 1,400 years ago. The Hadith is a collection of

Mohammed’s sayings and deeds during his life.

What is Islamic Extremists?

“Islamists” see Islam as a guiding ideology for politics and the organization of society.

That is, they believe that strict adherence to religious law should be the sole basis for a

country’s law, as well as its cultural and social life. While some Muslims believe this,

many do not. Islamist extremists believe violence is acceptable to achieve these ends. al-

Qaeda is one of many Islamist extremist groups.

What is Al-Qaeda?

Al-Qaeda is an international Islamist extremist terrorist network founded in the late 1980s by Osama bin Laden, who was killed in a U.S. military operation on May 1, 2011, and others who were involved in the war against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. Their aim has been to overthrow governments in the Middle East, and elsewhere in the Muslim world, which do not strictly enforce a religiously-sanctioned political and social order. Attacks against the United States were intended to reduce American support for many of these governments; U.S. support was viewed by al-Qaeda as a major obstacle to creating a global order under Islamic authority.

They have claimed responsibility for numerous terrorist attacks since the early 1990s, including the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania, the 2000 attack on the USS Cole and the 9/11 attacks. They have also aligned themselves with and inspired other terrorist groups who have carried out attacks, including the 2002 Bali bombing, the 2004 Madrid train bombing, the 2005 London bombings, and the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks, among many others.

Why did the terrorists attack to the World Trade Center?

The terrorists did not have the capacity to destroy the United States militarily, so they set their sights on symbolic targets instead. The Twin Towers, as the centerpieces of the World Trade Center, symbolized globalization and America’s economic power and prosperity.

The Pentagon, as the headquarters for the U.S. Department of Defense, serves as a symbol of American military power. It is thought that Flight 93 was headed to the Capitol building, the center of American legislative government.

Al-Qaeda hoped that, by attacking these symbols of American power, they would promote widespread fear throughout the country and severely weaken the United States’ standing in the world community, ultimately supporting their political and religious goals in the Middle East and Muslim World.

What countries did the terrorists come from?

Fifteen of the 19 terrorists were from Saudi Arabia. Two were from the United Arab Emirates, one was from Lebanon, and one was from Egypt.

What does Afghanistan have to do with 9/11?

Al-Qaeda was based in Afghanistan. They operated training camps there, and openly lived in the country with the support of the Taliban, an Islamist group that ruled the country.

On September 20, 2001, in a speech to a joint session of Congress, President Bush asserted: “Any nation that continues to harbor or support terrorism will be regarded by the United States as a hostile regime.” No distinction was made between a harboring state and the terrorists it was harboring. The U.S. government insisted that the Taliban immediately hand over the terrorists and close the training camps or face an attack from the United States. When they refused, "Operation Enduring Freedom" was launched on October 7, 2001, less than a month after the attacks of 9/11.

What is the 9/11 Memorial?

The 9/11 Memorial opened on September 11, 2011, the 10th anniversary of the attacks. It is located on the western side of the former World Trade Center complex where the Twin Towers once stood. The Memorial was designed by two architects, Michael Arad and Peter Walker, whose proposal was selected in a design competition out of 5,201 submissions from 63 countries.

The Memorial park surrounds two enormous reflecting pools set within the footprints of the North and South towers. This is where the towers used to stand. The pools feature 30-foot waterfalls – the largest man-made waterfalls in North America. The water cascades into reflecting pools, finally disappearing into the center voids. The names of people who were killed in the 9/11 attacks in New York, at the Pentagon, and on Flight 93, as well as in the 1993 bombing at the WTC, are etched in bronze around the edges of the pools.

The plaza is lined with cobblestones and will eventually have more than 400 swamp white oak trees, creating a space for reflection separate from the sights and sounds of the surrounding city. The trees were selected from a 500-mile radius of the WTC site, including nurseries located in New York, Pennsylvania and near Washington, D.C., to symbolize areas impacted on 9/11.

What is the 9/11 Memorial Museum?

The 9/11 Memorial Museum opened on May 21, 2014. It is located beneath the Memorial plaza. Visitors enter the Museum through a pavilion where two steel “tridents” — remnants of the North Tower’s façade — stand in the building’s atrium. The main exhibition space is located seven stories below the 9/11 Memorial at the bedrock foundations of the World Trade Center. The Museum offers displays of artifacts from the WTC and 9/11 attacks, interactive exhibitions, contemplative areas and programs that convey individual and collective stories relating the experiences of survivors, responders, area residents and eyewitnesses. A memorial exhibition honors the individual victims of the attacks.

TIMELINE OF EVENTS ON 9/11/01

7:59 A.M.

American Airlines Flight 11 with 92 passengers and crew members on board, including the terrorists, departs Boston, MA bound for Los Angeles, CA.

8:14 A.M.

United Airlines Flight 175 with 65 passengers and crew members on board, including the terrorists, departs Boston, MA bound for Los Angeles, CA.

8:20 A.M. American Airlines Flight 77 with 64 passengers and crew members on board, including the terrorists, departs from Washington, DC bound for Los Angeles, CA.

8:37 A.M. Air Traffic Controllers report the suspected hijacking of Flight 11.

8:42 A.M. United Airlines Flight 93 with 44 passengers and crew members on board, including the terrorists, departs Newark, NJ bound for San Francisco, CA.

8:46 A.M.

Flight 11 crashes into the North Tower of the World Trade Center.

9:03 A.M. Flight 175 crashes into the South Tower of the World Trade Center.

9:37 A.M Flight 77 crashes into the west side of the Pentagon in Washington DC.

9:42 A.M.

The Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) grounds all flights nationwide.

9:59 A.M. The South Tower of the World Trade Center collapses.

10:03 A.M. Flight 93 crashes near Shanksville, Pennsylvania

10:15 A.M. The E Ring section of the Pentagon collapses.

10:28 A.M. The North Tower of the World Trade Center collapses.

11:02 A.M.

New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani orders the evacuation of lower Manhattan

5:20 P.M.

7 World Trade Center, which was damaged by falling debris from the Twin Towers, collapses

Conspiracies of 9/11/01

Many 9/11 conspiracy theories surfaced shortly after the September 11th attacks — some bringing compelling arguments, and some not holding up at all. Theorists believe that the World Trade Center buildings were demolished by bombs, phone calls from the planes were made up, or that former President George W. Bush secretly profited from the attacks. Here, are compiled a list of the 11 most compelling 9/11 conspiracy theories that exist.

1. Insider Traders Knew About Attacks Before They Happened: Right before the September 11th attacks, some fishy business happened within the stock market and insurance firms. An “extraordinary” amount of put options were placed on United Airlines and American Airlines stocks, the same airlines that were hijacked during the attacks. Many speculate that traders were tipped off about the attacks and profited from the tragedy. The Securities and Exchange Commission launched an insider trading investigation in which Osama bin Laden was a suspect, after receiving information from at least one Wall Street firm.

2. Air Defense Was Told To ‘Stand Down’ In the event that an airplane is hijacked, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) is prepared to send out fighter jets, which can debilitate or shoot down the aircraft. On 9/11/01, NORAD generals said they learned of the hijackings in time to scramble fighter jets. Some skeptics believe NORAD commanded defense systems to “stand down,” because of their lack of presence during the attacks.

3. Planes Didn’t Make Twin Towers Collapse, Bombs Did: The World Trade Center collapse appeared similar to a controlled demolition. Many speculate that the towers were in fact blown down with explosives placed in selected locations. Some witnesses recounted hearing explosions inside the building as they attempted to escape. Many architects and scientists even maintain that a plane’s fuel cannot produce enough heat to melt the steel frames of the two buildings that collapsed.

4. The Pentagon Attack Scientifically Doesn’t Hold Up: The Pentagon crash may be the most puzzling event of the day. Theorists maintain that the impact holes in the Pentagon were much smaller than a commercial American Airlines plane. They also question why the plane was not shot down prior to impact, as well as why the plane impacted a section of the Pentagon that was vacant due to renovations.

5. Flight 93 Was Completely Staged: The fourth hijacked plane, Flight 93, crashed in Shanksville, Penn. It is believed that the passengers fought back and crashed the plane into a field. Skeptics believe that Flight 93 landed safely, while a substitute plane was shot out of the sky. Other theorists believe that the passengers were murdered, or relocated and will never be found.

6. Hijackers Are Alive. How Did Their Passports Survive Explosion?: After the September 11th attacks, the “Loose Change” documentary stated that all of the hijackers were actually alive in other countries – rather presumptuous since it is

possible for two different people to have identical names. But they did raise a good point; how did the passports of the terrorists survive the explosion? In the aftermath of the attacks, passports and identification were found as evidence. Many skeptics question how identification made out of paper survived the same explosion that destroyed buildings.

7. Cell Phone Calls Made From Plane Were Faked: In-flight calls were made from cell phones in both hijacked airplanes. Scientists and skeptics maintain that cell phones could not receive reception from the altitude at which planes typically fly. Others questioned a phone call from a son to his mother, in which he referred to himself by his own first and last name.

8. Jewish People Knew Attack Was Going To Happen, Took Off Work On September 11th: Theorists noticed that 4,000 Jewish employees took off from work on September 11, 2001. Some of the first people to record the attacks on camera were also Jewish. Many became suspicious and put the religious group on the radar as suspects in the wake of the attack.

9. Black Boxes Found By Search Crew Kept Secret: During the weeks following the attack, the planes’ black boxes were one of the most important items under investigation. They were the only evidence into what happened inside the cockpits of the plane. Three of four black boxes were found and only one was in good enough condition to hear. The tape was not initially released, but was shared with families of the victims in 2002. Skeptics believe the tapes were not disclosed in order to support a secret scheme.

10. The Bin Laden Tapes Are Fake: Initially, Osama bin Laden denied any involvement with the attacks. Soon afterward, numerous tapes came out claiming he changed his mind and took full responsibility. Many skeptics believe that Bin Laden was targeted because of his stake in the stock market, as well as because of former President George W. Bush’s personal business ventures in the Middle East.

11. Aluminum Planes Can’t Penetrate Steel Structure Of World Trade Center: Commercial airplanes’ frames are constructed with a very light aluminum material in order to make it easier to fly. Theorists maintain there is no possible way an airplane can do as much damage to the Twin Towers as it did. They believe that missiles or explosives were used to ensure the buildings collapsed.

Sixteen years after the attack, we may never know the entire story – but we will always remember the people we lost on that tragic day.