Today in History: September 11, al-Qaeda attacks the United States
Today in History
Today is Wednesday, Sept. 11, the 255th day of 2024. There are 111 days left in the year.
Today in history:
On Sept. 11, 2001, nearly 3,000 people were killed as 19 al-Qaida hijackers seized control of four jetliners, sending two of the planes into New York’s World Trade Center, one into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and the fourth into a field in western Pennsylvania. It remains the deadliest terror attack in history.
Also on this date:
In 1789, Alexander Hamilton was appointed the first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury.
In 1814, an American fleet scored a decisive victory over the British in the Battle of Lake Champlain in the War of 1812.
In 1936, Boulder Dam — later renamed the Hoover Dam — began operation as President Franklin D. Roosevelt pressed a button in Washington to signal the startup of the dam’s first hydroelectric generator.
In 1941, groundbreaking took place for the Pentagon.
In 1954, the Miss America pageant made its network TV debut on ABC.
In 1973, Chilean President Salvador Allende (ah-YEN’-day) died during a violent military coup led by General Augusto Pinochet.
In 1985, Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds broke Ty Cobb’s MLB career hits record with his 4,192nd hit.
In 2008, presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama put aside politics as they visited ground zero together on the anniversary of 9/11 to honor its victims.
In 2012, a mob armed with guns and grenades launched a fiery nightlong attack on a U.S. diplomatic outpost and a CIA annex in Benghazi, Libya, killing U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.
In 2023, over 4,000 people died and thousands more were missing after heavy rain from Storm Daniel caused two dams to collapse, flooding the city...