Learn about 9/11

February 26, 1993 World Trade Center Bombing Commemorated with Tribute Center Teacher Awards

The first terrorist attack on the World Trade Center took place on February 26, 1993, when 2 terrorists drove a truck into the underground garage of the Twin Towers and detonated a bomb.  In this attack, masterminded by Ramzi Ahmed Yousef, 6 people were killed and more than 1000 were injured.  The victims – John DiGiovanni, Robert Kirkpatrick, Steven Knapp, William Macko, Wilfred Mercado and Monica Smith -  were first memorialized at the site on a small memorial between the north and the south tower.

In a letter sent to the press, one of the men convicted claimed that attack was a response to U.S. policy in the Middle East.

After the attack, the damage was repaired within weeks and people moved back into their offices.  Most New Yorkers moved forward and did not focus on the attacks and their implications.

From Left to Right (back row): Jeff Crowther, Kathleen Cashin, Jennifer Adams (mostly hidden), Raymond Pultinas, Desiree LaFontaine, Shari Bowes, Robert Sandler, Lisa McGinn and Lee Ielpi (front row): Wendy Cox, Lesley Ayers, Rachel Rowley, Trish Rooney Winners of the 2013 Teacher Awards

From Left to Right (back row): Jeff Crowther, Kathleen Cashin, Jennifer Adams (mostly hidden), Raymond Pultinas, Desiree LaFontaine, Shari Bowes, Robert Sandler, Lisa McGinn and Lee Ielpi (front row): Wendy Cox, Lesley Ayers, Rachel Rowley, Trish Rooney
Winners of the 2013 Teacher Awards

Every year the 9/11 Tribute Center presents awards to teachers who have created exemplary projects to introduce 9/11 in their classrooms. This year, the 9/11 Tribute Center celebrated its sixth annual September 11th Teacher Awards on Tuesday, February 26, 2013, the 20th anniversary of the first attack on the World Trade Center in 1993.

See more at tributewtc.org

If you are part of a 9/11 Family Foundation or would like to contribute to the annual Teacher Awards, please email donate@911families.org

If you would like to nominate a teacher or a project for this award, please write to us at education@tributewtc.org

September 11th: Personal Stories of Transformation Toolkit (recommended for grades 5 – 12)

September 11th: Personal Stories of Transformation is an excellent introduction for middle and high school students to understanding the impact of 9/11. It features 8 interactive video stories of people who were deeply affected by the attacks of 9/11 and who responded with humanitarian initiatives that strengthen their local and global communities. September 11th: Personal Stories of Transformation encourages an understanding of the facts of this contemporary history and a focus on the extraordinary civic response by many who experienced loss.

September 11th: Personal Stories of Transformation is also available as a free DVD-ROM. If you would like a copy sent to your school, please send a request to education@tributewtc.org. Include your name, name of school, grade of students, and address of school.

Tribute Center Rotating Educational Exhibitions

The Tribute Center’s rotating educational exhibitions explore specific communities or populations that were impacted by 9/11 and highlight personal experiences through objects, oral histories and media.  Exhibitions have explored stories of people who worked in the WTC recovery operations, the affects of 9/11 on people in NYC’s immigrant communities, young people’s responses to the attacks through art and rebuilding of the World Trade Center.  To see previous educational exhibits online, please visit tributewtc.org.

9/11 Timeline of Events

September 11, 2001

  • 7:59am – American Airlines Flight 11 departs Boston’s Logan International Airport bound for Los Angeles carrying 76 passengers, 11 crew members, and 5 hijackers.
  • 8:14am – United Airlines Flight 175 departs Boston’s Logan International Airport bound for Los Angeles carrying 49 passengers, 11 crew members, and 5 hijackers.
  • 8:20am – American Airlines Flight 77 departs Washington Dulles International Airport bound for Los Angeles carrying 53 passengers, 6 crew members, and 5 hijackers.
  • 8:42am – United Airlines Flight 93 departs Newark International Airport bound for San Francisco carrying 33 passengers, 7 crew members and 4 hijackers
  • 8:46am – American Airlines Flight 11 crashes into 1 World Trade Center between the 93rd and the 99th floors killing everyone on board and hundreds inside the building, as well as trapping everyone above the impact zone.
  • 9:03am – United Airlines Flight 175 crashes into the South Tower between the 77th and 85th floors, killing everyone on board and hundreds inside the building. Only 18 people are known to have evacuated from floors above the impact zone.
  • 9:37am – American Airlines Flight 77 crashes into the Pentagon, in Arlington, Virginia, killing everyone on board and 125 military and civilian personnel in the building.
  • 9:59am – The South Tower of the World Trade Center collapses in 10 seconds, killing approximately 600 people, including first responders in the building and surrounding area.
  • 10:03am – United Airlines Flight 93 crashes in an empty field in Somerset, PA, immediately killing everyone on board.
  • 10:28am - The North Tower collapses killing approximately 1,400 people, including first responders in the building and surrounding area.
  • 5:20pm – After burning for hours, 7 WTC collapses as compromised waterlines in Lower Manhattan make it impossible to extinguish the fire.

September 12, 2001

  • 12:30pm – The last of 18 survivors from the collapse of the Twin Towers is pulled from the rubble.

May 28, 2002

  • The Last Column of steel from the original Twin Towers is cut down.

May 30, 2002

  • The Last Column is removed from the World Trade Center site during a public ceremony that marked the official end of the recovery operation.

Get the Facts

  • Estimation approximately 17,400 people were in the World Trade Center towers on the morning of September 11, 2001 prior to the attacks.
  • 2,973 people were killed in the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.
    • 2,749 people were killed at the World Trade Center.
      • Victims included citizens of 93 nations and practitioners of every major world faith.
      • 343 firefighters from the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) were killed.
      • 37 police officers from the Port Authority Police Department (PAPD) were killed.
      • 23 police officers from the New York Police Department (NYPD) were killed.
      • As of the autumn of 2011, 1,626 people have been identified and 1,123 have not.
    • 184 people were killed at the Pentagon.
    • 40 people were killed on United Airlines Flight 93 that crashed in Somerset, PA.
    • 174 whole bodies and almost 20,000 body parts were recovered at the World Trade Center site.
  • The rescue at the World Trade Center lasted for 2 weeks following 9/11 before turning into a recovery operation.
  • Following the collapse of the Towers, fires burned at the World Trade Center for approximately 6 months.
  • Nearly 500,000 volunteers came to help during the 9 months of rescue and recovery in and around the World Trade Center site.
  • 1.4 million tons of material was removed from the World Trade Center site during the recovery operation.
  • 200,000 tons of structural steel from the World Trade Center was searched and recycled.