The September 11 attacks
- Date
- 11 September 2001
- Category
- Military & conflict
- Region
- United States
- Era
- Contemporary
- Significance
On 11 September 2001 the militant group al-Qaeda carried out coordinated suicide attacks against the United States, hijacking four passenger airliners.
Two were flown into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York, which collapsed; a third struck the Pentagon outside Washington, D.C.; and a fourth crashed in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania after passengers fought the hijackers. Nearly 3,000 people from over 90 countries were killed, the deadliest terrorist attack in history. The attacks, masterminded by Osama bin Laden, triggered the US-led 'War on Terror', the invasion of Afghanistan and later Iraq, and sweeping new security, intelligence and surveillance regimes worldwide. They reshaped global politics, air travel, civil-liberties debates and US foreign policy for decades, and stand as the defining geopolitical turning point of the early twenty-first century.
One piece of history in your inbox, weekly
New empires, events and features as they land — one good email a week. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Related military & conflict events
- The Rwandan genocide against the Tutsi7 April – 19 July 1994
- Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine24 February 2022
- The 7 October Hamas attack and the Israel–Gaza war7 October 2023
- Fall of Saigon and reunification of Vietnam30 April 1975 (reunified 1976)
- Khmer Rouge Seize Cambodia and Declare Year Zero1975
- Cuban Missile Crisis16–28 October 1962
Also relevant
- The Darfur conflict and genocide in SudanFrom February 2003 (Darfur conflict)
- The Second Congo War, Africa's deadliest conflict1998–2003 (Second Congo War)
- The US-led invasion of Iraq20 March 2003
Further reading
If you read one book
The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11
Pulitzer-winning history of al-Qaeda and 9/11.
Get it on Amazon →Also worth reading
- The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11 — Amazon →
The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11
Bestselling oral history that recreates the day through survivors' own voices.
Get it on Amazon → - 102 Minutes: The Untold Story of the Fight to Survive Inside the Twin Towers — Amazon →
102 Minutes: The Untold Story of the Fight to Survive Inside the Twin Towers
Minute-by-minute account of the towers from the people trapped inside.
Get it on Amazon →
As an Amazon Associate, Human Saga earns from qualifying purchases.