9/11 Attacks

On September 11, 2001, nineteen al-Qaeda operatives hijacked four commercial aircraft and carried out coordinated suicide attacks against the United States. Two planes struck the World Trade Center towers in New York City, a third hit the Pentagon in Virginia, and a fourth crashed in Pennsylvania after passengers intervened. The attacks killed 2,977 people from 78 countries. The U.S. government subsequently created the Department of Homeland Security, enacted the USA PATRIOT Act, and launched military operations in Afghanistan.