Introduction

The attacks of September 11 were 4 terrorist attacks coordinated by the Islamic group al-
Qaeda against the United States. I chose this topic because it is very little remembered
and people don't take it as seriously as they should, choosing to make jokes about it. It all
begins on the morning of September 9, when 19 terrorists hijacked 4 commercial planes
scheduled to travel from North America to California with the intention of crashing them.
Two planes crashed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center complex in New
York City, the third plane crashed into the Pentagon, Virginia, and the last plane into a
field in Pennsylvania, while passengers were trying to take controlling the plane, it had
the White House in Washington D.C. as its target. . The first plane hit the north tower of
the World Trade Center, immediately after and the second tower was hit, the whole
complex collapsing in less than an hour and causing damage to nearby buildings. After
the first minutes of the attack, people started to panic and to leave the area stepping on
each other forming total chaos. People started gathering their families and leaving the city
for fear of another incident like this. Few remained to lend a helping hand and try to save
what needed to be saved. The state's economy was also brought down, the destroyed area
had a huge economic importance, and the stock market was frozen for 4 days in a row to
prevent its destruction, even so it suffered massive decreases. Half a million people
remained without jobs. The attackers were members of the Al-Qaeda group who wanted
revenge on the US state for getting involved in their business. Because of these attacks,
countries around the world began anti-terrorist moves, increasing airport security and
temporarily suspending American flights. The American state did not sit idly by and
invaded Afghanistan to remove the Al-Queda group and their free Osama bin Laden, thus
starting a huge war that led to the destruction of Afghanistan. Muslims everywhere
suffered because of this event, being associated with the terrorists began to be mocked
and discriminated against, some even beaten and killed even though they had nothing to
do with the Al-Queda group or religion. Nearly 3000 people died from this event and
many more were left with serious health problems and even cancer from the debris that
ended up in their bodies.
Chapter 1

World Trade Center

The World Trade Center in New York City, United States, was a large complex of seven
buildings in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan, designed by Minoru Yamasaki and
developed by Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The idea was suggested by David
Rockefeller and his brother Nelson who signed the legislation to build it. The construction has
begun in 1966 and was finished in 1975 at a cost of $3.52 billion today. It opened on April 4,
1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. At the time of their
completion, the Twin Towers – the North Tower at 417 m and the South Tower at 415.1 m –
were the tallest buildings in the world. In 1998 the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
decided to privatize it by leasing the building to a private company to manage the last lease was
to Silverstein Properties in July 2001. During it existence, the World Trade Center symbolized
globalization and the economic power of America. The complex contained 13.4 million square
feet of office space. Although its design was initially criticized by New York citizens and
professional critics, the Twin Towers became an icon of New York City. It had a major role in
popular culture, and according to one estimate was depicted in 472 films. The Twin Towers were
also used in Philippe Petit's tightrope-walking performance on August 7, 1974. Following the
September 11 attacks, mentions of the complex in various media were altered or deleted, and
several dozen "memorial films" were created.
The World Trade Center experienced several major crime and terrorist incidents, including a fire
on February 13, 1975, a bombing on February 26, 1993, a bank robbery on January 14, 1998 and
finally a terrorist attack on September 11, 2001. The latter began after Al-Qaeda-affiliated
hijackers flew two Boeing 767 jets into the Twin Towers within minutes of each other. Between
16,400 and 18,000 people were in the Twin Towers when they were struck. The fires from the
impacts were intensified by the planes’ burning jet fuel, which along with the initial damage to
the buildings’ structural columns, ultimately caused both towers to collapse. The attacks in New
York City killed 2,606 people in and within the vicinity of the towers, as well as all 157 on board
the two aircraft. Falling debris from the towers, combined with fires that the debris initiated in
several surrounding buildings, led to the partial or complete collapse of all the WTC complex's
buildings including 7 World Trade Center, and caused catastrophic damage to 10 other large
structures in the surrounding area.
1.1 Planning and construction
In 1942, Austin J. Tobin became the Executive Director of the Port Authority, beginning a 30-
year career during which he oversaw the planning and development of the World Trade Center.
The concept of establishing a "world trade center" was conceived during the post–World War II
period, when the United States thrived economically and international trade was increasing. At
the time, economic growth was concentrated in Midtown Manhattan, in part stimulated by
Rockefeller Center, which had been developed in the 1930s.
The idea of establishing a World Trade Center in New York City was first proposed in 1943. The
New York State Legislature passed a bill authorizing New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey to
begin developing plans for the project, but the plans were put on hold in 1949.

Original plans

Meanwhile, the Financial District of Lower Manhattan was left out of the economic boom of
financial industries there. Lower Manhattan also saw less economic growth than Midtown
because many workers moved to the suburbs, and they found it easier to commute to midtown
than to downtown. Commercial industries along the ports of Lower Manhattan were also being
replaced with industries elsewhere. David Rockefeller, who led urban renewal efforts in Lower
Manhattan, constructed the One Chase Manhattan Plaza in a bid to bring jobs back. Rockefeller
believed that the area would lose its status as the nation's financial hub if it were not redeveloped.
However, the 800-foot (240 m) skyscraper, which opened in 1960, attracted far fewer tenants
than expected.

In 1958, Rockefeller established the Downtown-Lower Manhattan Association which

commissioned Skidmore, Owings and Merrill to draw up plans for revitalizing Lower
Manhattan. The plans, made public in late June 1960, called for a World Trade Center to be built
on a 13-acre site along the East River, at the South Street Seaport, one of the Lower Manhattan
ports that had seen a continuous decline in business over the past decade. The site would be
bounded clockwise from the south by Old Slip, Water Street, Fulton Street, and South Street, and
the complex itself would be located on "a two-story platform that would supersede and displace
the conventional street grid". The proposed complex included a 900-foot-long (270 m) exhibition
hall, as well as a 50- to 70-story building with a hotel located on some of its upper floors. Other
amenities would include a theater, shops, and restaurants. The plan also called for a new
securities exchange building, which the Downtown-Lower Manhattan Association hoped would
house the New York Stock Exchange.

David Rockefeller suggested that the Port Authority would be a logical choice for taking on the
project because it had experience with similar large engineering projects, and also because the
Port Authority, rather than Rockefeller, would be paying for the complex's construction.
Rockefeller argued that the Trade Center would provide great benefits in facilitating and
increasing volume of international commerce coming through the Port of New York and New
Jersey. David's brother, New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller, formally asked the Port
Authority to investigate the feasibility of this proposal. Given the importance of New York City
in global commerce, Port Authority director Austin J. Tobin remarked that the proposed project
should be the World Trade Center, and not just a generic "world trade center". Tobin
commissioned an aide, Richard Sullivan, to lead a study on the feasibility of building a World
Trade Center.

Sullivan published his study, "A World Trade Center in the Port of New York", on March 10,
1961. The report recommended building a trade center along the waterfront to facilitate
commerce within the Port of New York. The study also stated that Rockefeller's suggested site
near the South Street Seaport was the most ideal location for the trade center, but did not take
locals' possible objections into account. The Port Authority formally backed the project the next
day.
Construction
In March 1965, the Port Authority began acquiring property at the World Trade Center site.
Demolition work began on March 21, 1966, to clear thirteen square blocks of low rise buildings
in Radio Row for its construction. Groundbreaking for the construction of the World Trade
Center took place on August 5, 1966.

The site of the World Trade Center was located on filled land with the bedrock located 65 feet
(20 m) below. To construct the World Trade Center, it was necessary to build a "bathtub" with a
slurry wall around the West Street side of the site, to keep water from the Hudson River out. The
slurry method selected by the Port Authority's chief engineer, John M. Kyle, Jr., involved
digging a trench, and as excavation proceeded, filling the space with a slurry consisting of a
mixture of bentonite and water, which plugged holes and kept groundwater out. When the trench
was dug out, a steel cage was inserted and concrete was poured in, forcing the slurry out. It took
fourteen months for the slurry wall to be completed. It was necessary before the excavation of
material from the interior of the site could begin. The 1,200,000 cubic yards (920,000 m3) of
excavated material were used (along with other fill and dredge material) to expand the
Manhattan shoreline across West Street to form Battery Park City.

In January 1967, the Port Authority awarded $74 million in contracts to various steel suppliers.
Construction work began on the North Tower in August 1968, and construction on the South
Tower was under way by January 1969. The original Hudson Tubes, which carried PATH trains
into Hudson Terminal, remained in service during the construction process until 1971, when a
new station opened. The topping out ceremony of 1 WTC (North Tower) took place on
December 23, 1970, while 2 WTC's ceremony (South Tower) occurred on July 19, 1971.
Extensive use of prefabricated components helped to speed up the construction process, and the
first tenants moved into the North Tower in December 15, 1970, while it was still under
construction, while the South Tower began accepting tenants in January 1972. When the World
Trade Center twin towers were completed, the total costs to the Port Authority had reached $900
million. The ribbon cutting ceremony took place on April 4, 1973.

In addition to the twin towers, the plan for the World Trade Center complex included four other
low-rise buildings, which were built in the early 1970s. The 47-story 7 World Trade Center
building was added in the 1980s, to the north of the main complex. Altogether, the main World
Trade Center complex occupied a 16-acre (65,000 m2) superblock.