This Day In History for September 11

1870 - Terrorists strike the World Trade Center in New York....more

Hijacking four commercial jetliners, terrorists crashed one plane into the Pentagon and one into each of the twin towers of the World Trace Center, 110-story buildings that housed 50,000 workers at the peak of the workday. Millions of Ameicans watched in horror as television showed first one tower and then the other burned and disintergrated. September 11 was an occasion for terror and courage. Passangers on the fourth plane fought the hijackers and made sure that it crashede in a Pennsylvania field rather that hit a fourth target. Altogether, 479 police officers, fire fighters, and other emergency workers died in the collapse ofthe towers. Thousands of volunteers rushee to help. The total confirmed death toll was 2,795 in New York, 184 at the Pentagon, and 40 in Pennsylvania.