Today in History, September 11th
On September 11, 2001, al-Qaeda hijackers attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Plus Brandywine and the 1973 coup in Chile.
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September 11 is best known for 2001, when al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four airliners and attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, killing about 3,000 people. The date also saw the Battle of Brandywine in 1777 and a military coup in Chile that overthrew President Salvador Allende in 1973.
The big story: The September 11 attacks (2001)
On the morning of September 11, 2001, 19 al-Qaeda hijackers took over four passenger jets that had left East Coast airports. At about 8:46 a.m., American Airlines Flight 11 struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York. Roughly 17 minutes later, United Airlines Flight 175 hit the South Tower. At 9:37 a.m., American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon outside Washington. Passengers and crew on United Airlines Flight 93, which had left Newark, fought back against their hijackers, and the plane went down in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, short of its likely target in Washington. Both towers collapsed that morning. About 3,000 people were killed, including 343 New York City firefighters. The attacks were planned by al-Qaeda under Osama bin Laden. That night President George W. Bush spoke to the nation from the Oval Office, and on October 7, 2001, a U.S.-led campaign began in Afghanistan to topple the Taliban and go after al-Qaeda.
More events on September 11
| Year | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1697 | Austrian forces won a decisive victory over the Ottoman army at the Battle of Zenta. |
| 1709 | The Duke of Marlborough’s British-led army defeated the French at the Battle of Malplaquet. |
| 1777 | British troops under William Howe defeated George Washington’s army at the Battle of Brandywine in Pennsylvania. |
| 1814 | Thomas Macdonough’s U.S. naval squadron beat a larger British force on Lake Champlain, forcing the British to end their siege of Plattsburgh, New York. |
| 1855 | British and French forces captured the Russian naval base at Sevastopol, ending an 11-month siege in the Crimean War. |
| 1857 | Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and local Paiutes killed 120 emigrants traveling through Utah in the Mountain Meadows Massacre. |
| 1941 | Construction began on the Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia. |
| 1944 | Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt met in Canada for the second Quebec Conference. |
| 1971 | Former Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev died. |
| 1973 | Chile’s armed forces, led by Gen. Augusto Pinochet, overthrew President Salvador Allende, who died during the coup. |
| 1985 | Pete Rose got his 4,192nd career hit, breaking Ty Cobb’s major league record. |
| 2008 | A major fire broke out in the Channel Tunnel between England and France. |
Born on September 11
- 1885: D.H. Lawrence, English novelist of Sons and Lovers and Women in Love, born in Eastwood, Nottinghamshire.
- 1917: Ferdinand Marcos, president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986, born in Sarrat.
- 1940: Brian De Palma, American film director of suspense thrillers, born in Newark, New Jersey.
- 1967: Harry Connick Jr., American jazz singer, pianist and actor, born in New Orleans.
Sources
- Attack on America, History.com
- This Day in History: September 11, History.com
- On This Day: September 11, Encyclopaedia Britannica
- D.H. Lawrence, Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Ferdinand E. Marcos, Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Brian De Palma, Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Harry Connick Jr., Encyclopaedia Britannica
