The Day That Changed the World

The hijackings were part of a coordinated attack on the U.S., the likes of which had never been seen before. In all, 2,977 people lost their lives— 574 more than the number who died in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor during World War II (1939-45). But the damage went far beyond the death toll, and 20 years later, the world remains a vastly different place than it was before the day known forevermore as 9/11.

“9/11 was a historical turning point,” says Megan Jones, senior director of education programs at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in New York City. “It affected the way we all live our daily lives, the way we perceive each other and see ourselves in the world, and it called into question our sense of security.”

The hijackings were part of a coordinated attack on the U.S., the likes of which had never been seen before. In all, 2,977 people lost their lives. The death toll was 574 more than the number who died in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor during World War II (1939-45). But the damage went far beyond those who died. Twenty years later, the world remains a vastly different place than it was before the day known forevermore as 9/11.

“9/11 was a historical turning point,” says Megan Jones, senior director of education programs at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in New York City. “It affected the way we all live our daily lives, the way we perceive each other and see ourselves in the world, and it called into question our sense of security.”

To most Americans, 9/11 came as a complete shock. The decade before had seemed relatively peaceful, and most Americans rarely thought about terrorism.

But in many Arab countries in the Middle East, resentment had been building among some who viewed the U.S. as a corrupting influence over their religion, culture, and politics, especially America’s support of its longtime ally Israel and the ongoing U.S. military presence in the region.

In the late 1980s, a Saudi Arabian-born militant named Osama bin Laden formed a terrorist group called Al Qaeda, which operated mainly in Sudan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Al Qaeda followed an extreme form of Islam that the vast majority of Muslims don’t agree with. The group insisted on using terrorism to “punish” Western countries, and the U.S. in particular, for their perceived crimes against Islam.

Al Qaeda had been on U.S. officials’ radar before 9/11. The group bombed two U.S. embassies, in Tanzania and Kenya, in 1998, and a U.S. Navy ship near Yemen in 2000. But nothing matched the scale and scope of 9/11, which Al Qaeda planned for years. Some of the hijackers attended flight school in the U.S.

The terrorists targeted the Twin Towers because of what they represented: Located near Wall Street in the cultural and financial capital of the U.S., the giant skyscrapers had come to symbolize America’s economic power. Now, on the morning of September 11, people around the world were glued to their TVs, watching in shock and disbelief as the towers went up in smoke.

On the ground in New York City, chaos reigned. Surges of people flowed from lower Manhattan, their clothes and faces covered with ash. Sirens blared as thousands of firefighters, police officers, and other first responders rushed to the World Trade Center.

To most Americans, 9/11 came as a complete shock. The decade before had seemed relatively peaceful. Back then, most Americans rarely thought about terrorism.

But in many Arab countries in the Middle East, resentment had been building. Some people in the region viewed the U.S. as a corrupting influence over their religion, culture, and politics. They took issue with America’s support of its longtime ally Israel and the ongoing U.S. military presence in the region.

In the late 1980s, a Saudi Arabian-born militant named Osama bin Laden formed a terrorist group called Al Qaeda. The group mainly operated in Sudan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. It followed an extreme form of Islam that the vast majority of Muslims don’t agree with. Al Qaeda insisted on using terrorism to “punish” Western countries for their perceived crimes against Islam. And it set its sight on the U.S. in particular.

Al Qaeda had been on U.S. officials’ radar before 9/11. The group bombed two U.S. embassies, in Tanzania and Kenya, in 1998, and a U.S. Navy ship near Yemen in 2000. But nothing matched the scale and scope of 9/11, which Al Qaeda planned for years. Some of the hijackers attended flight school in the U.S.

The terrorists targeted the Twin Towers because of what they represented. The giant skyscrapers stood near Wall Street in the cultural and financial capital of the U.S. They had come to symbolize America’s economic power. Now, on the morning of September 11, people around the world were glued to their TVs. They watched in shock and disbelief as the towers went up in smoke.

On the ground in New York City, chaos reigned. Floods of people flowed from lower Manhattan. Their clothes and faces were covered with ash. Sirens blared as thousands of firefighters, police officers, and other first responders rushed to the World Trade Center.

Inside Stuyvesant High School, Nordstrom and her classmates tried to remain calm. Maybe it had been an accident, they thought. It wasn’t until the second plane hit 17 minutes later that they realized the city was under attack.

A little more than an hour after the first plane had struck, the South Tower collapsed, sending a huge dust cloud rushing toward the school. Nordstrom and her classmates evacuated about 30 minutes later, just as the North Tower came crashing down.

Everyone around Nordstrom started running. Along the way, she bumped into some of her classmates. They walked uptown through the city, which now resembled an apocalyptic movie. Cars jammed the streets, their radios blaring so people walking could hear the news, which reported all sorts of rumors and misinformation, including that more attacks were coming.

“That was the scariest part,” Nordstrom says. “You can run on pure adrenaline to escape, but you just don’t know what else is going to happen.”

Nordstrom couldn’t get hold of her parents because the closest cell tower, on top of the World Trade Center, had collapsed. So she and a classmate walked about 10 miles to her classmate’s home in Queens, across the river from Manhattan. Nordstrom spent the night there, before reuniting with her parents the next day.

Inside Stuyvesant High School, Nordstrom and her classmates tried to remain calm. Maybe it had been an accident, they thought. It wasn’t until the second plane hit 17 minutes later that they realized the city was under attack.

A little more than an hour after the first plane had struck, the South Tower collapsed. The force sent a huge dust cloud rushing toward the school. Nordstrom and her classmates evacuated about 30 minutes later, just as the North Tower came crashing down.

Everyone around Nordstrom started running. Along the way, she bumped into some of her classmates. They walked uptown through the city, which now resembled an apocalyptic movie. Cars jammed the streets, their radios blaring so people walking could hear the news. There were reports of all sorts of rumors and misinformation. Some news stations even reported that more attacks were coming.

“That was the scariest part,” Nordstrom says. “You can run on pure adrenaline to escape, but you just don’t know what else is going to happen.”

Nordstrom couldn’t get hold of her parents because the closest cell tower, on top of the World Trade Center, had collapsed. So she and a classmate walked about 10 miles to her classmate’s home in Queens, across the river from Manhattan. Nordstrom spent the night there, before reuniting with her parents the next day.

The attacks left the nation in mourning. The rubble of the World Trade Center would smolder for months, blanketing lower Manhattan in a toxic haze.

But from those ashes also arose a great outpouring of national unity. People across the country put up American flags in their front yards, and the nightly news told stories of incredible acts of heroism: office workers who had carried injured colleagues down smoke-filled stairwells and first responders who had charged into the burning buildings, risking their lives—and in many cases losing them—to save others. However, for many Muslim Americans, Arab Americans, and immigrants, the aftermath of 9/11 was also marked by an increase in racial profiling and hate crimes.

The political response, meanwhile, was swift. On September 14, President George W. Bush visited Ground Zero, the site of the World Trade Center wreckage. As he stood atop the rubble and spoke into a megaphone, rescue workers called out, “We can’t hear you!”

“I can hear you! The rest of the world hears you,” Bush yelled back. “And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon.”

Bush’s “bullhorn address” echoed around the world, essentially kicking off what he called the War on Terror. A month later, American troops invaded Afghanistan to topple the Taliban, an extreme religious group that controlled most of the country and had been harboring bin Laden when he planned the attacks. Then in 2003, an American-led coalition invaded Iraq. Bush portrayed the war as part of the larger fight against terror, since officials believed Iraq’s leader, Saddam Hussein, had hidden weapons of mass destruction, though none were ever found.

The attacks left the nation in mourning. The rubble of the World Trade Center would burn for months, covering lower Manhattan in a toxic haze.

But from those ashes also arose a great outpouring of national unity. People across the country put up American flags in their front yards. The nightly news told stories of incredible acts of heroism. People learned of office workers who had carried injured colleagues down smoke-filled stairwells. Stories also highlighted the first responders who had charged into the burning buildings, risking their lives—and in many cases losing them—to save others. However, the aftermath of 9/11 also led to an increase in racial profiling and hate crimes. Many Muslim Americans, Arab Americans, and immigrants became targets.

Meanwhile, the political response was swift. On September 14, President George W. Bush visited Ground Zero, the site of the World Trade Center wreckage. As he stood atop the rubble and spoke into a megaphone, rescue workers called out, “We can’t hear you!”

“I can hear you! The rest of the world hears you,” Bush yelled back. “And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon.”

Bush’s “bullhorn address” echoed around the world. It essentially kicked off what he called the War on Terror. A month later, American troops invaded Afghanistan to topple the Taliban, an extreme religious group that controlled most of the country. The Taliban had been providing shelter for bin Laden when he planned the attacks. Then in 2003, an American-led coalition invaded Iraq. Bush portrayed the war as part of the larger fight against terror. U.S. officials believed Iraq’s leader, Saddam Hussein, had hidden weapons of mass destruction, though none were ever found.

In 2011, U.S. commandos killed bin Laden in a compound in Pakistan. But both wars have had long-lasting consequences. More than 7,000 U.S. troops have died in the fighting, and more than 53,000 have been wounded. President Biden has announced that the U.S. is withdrawing all remaining troops from Afghanistan by September 11 of this year, finally ending what became America’s longest war. But many experts say the Taliban may soon regain control.

The War on Terror is just one of the many ways that 9/11 changed the world. In the U.S., it spurred a heightened focus on national security. President Bush created a new agency called the Department of Homeland Security and put into place new procedures and laws, such as the Patriot Act, that gave the government more power to protect against future terrorist attacks.

Debates have since raged over whether the added security measures—such as the government’s expansion of phone and email monitoring—have come at the expense of civil liberties, like the right to privacy. Still, in the two decades since 9/11, there hasn’t been another successful large-scale attack on U.S. soil by a foreign terrorist organization, though individuals inspired by extreme ideologies have carried out smaller attacks.

In 2011, U.S. commandos killed bin Laden in a compound in Pakistan. But both wars have had long-lasting consequences. More than 7,000 U.S. troops have died in the fighting, and more than 53,000 have been wounded. President Biden has announced that the U.S. is withdrawing all remaining troops from Afghanistan by September 11 of this year. Their departure will finally end what became America’s longest war. But many experts say the Taliban may soon regain control.

The War on Terror is just one of the many ways that 9/11 changed the world. In the U.S., it gave way to a heightened focus on national security. President Bush created a new agency called the Department of Homeland Security. He also put into place new procedures and laws. One of them, the Patriot Act, gave the government more power to protect against future terrorist attacks.

Debates have since raged over whether the added security measures have come at the expense of civil liberties. For example, the government’s expansion of phone and email monitoring has called into question the right to privacy. In the two decades since 9/11, individuals inspired by extreme ideologies have carried out smaller attacks. Still, there hasn’t been another successful large-scale attack on U.S. soil by a foreign terrorist organization.

Perhaps most of all, experts say, 9/11 shook Americans’ sense of safety, opened people’s eyes to the threat of terrorism, and altered the way they go about their lives. Ever since 9/11, soldiers with automatic weapons in airports, taking off our shoes before boarding a plane, and surveillance cameras on city streets have all become commonplace.

For many survivors, the physical and emotional scars also remain. Nordstrom and her classmates went back to Stuyvesant High School about a month after the attack, when health officials said the surrounding air was safe to breathe.

To Nordstrom, it felt like returning to a war zone. Friends and relatives of missing people had posted signs around the city. Cleanup crews continued to clear the burning rubble. And investigations would later reveal that the air near Ground Zero was then still toxic. As a result, Nordstrom and many classmates—as well as first responders— have suffered from health issues, ranging from asthma to rare cancers—not to mention post-traumatic stress disorder from witnessing the attack.

In 2006, Nordstrom started the organization StuyHealth to help ensure that former lower-Manhattan students receive health care and monitoring. For Nordstrom, helping other survivors of 9/11 has also helped her heal.

“Being able to turn it into something that felt productive and helpful,” she says, “has really been central to my ability to deal with it.”

Perhaps most of all, experts say, 9/11 shook Americans’ sense of safety. It opened people’s eyes to the threat of terrorism and altered the way they go about their lives. Ever since 9/11, soldiers with automatic weapons in airports, taking off our shoes before boarding a plane, and surveillance cameras on city streets have all become commonplace.

For many survivors, the physical and emotional scars also remain. Nordstrom and her classmates went back to Stuyvesant High School about a month after the attack. At the time, health officials said the surrounding air was safe to breathe.

To Nordstrom, it felt like returning to a war zone. Friends and relatives of missing people had posted signs around the city. Cleanup crews continued to clear the burning rubble. And investigations would later reveal that the air near Ground Zero was then still toxic. As a result, Nordstrom and many classmates have suffered from health issues. Many first responders have as well. They’ve grappled with a range of diseases and conditions, from asthma to rare cancers. And many of them have dealt with post-traumatic stress disorder from witnessing the attack.

In 2006, Nordstrom started the organization StuyHealth to help ensure that former lower-Manhattan students receive health care and monitoring. For Nordstrom, helping other survivors of 9/11 has also helped her heal.

“Being able to turn it into something that felt productive and helpful,” she says, “has really been central to my ability to deal with it.”