This Day in History: <br />9/11 Terrorist Attacks.<br />September 11, 2001.<br />Masterminded by Saudi <br />national Osama bin Laden, four <br />American airplanes were hijacked by 19 <br />members of the terrorist group, al Qaeda.<br />The terrorists flew two of the planes into the <br />Twin Towers of the World Trade Center <br />in New York City.<br />Hours later, a deeply shocked <br />nation watched the collapse of the <br />Twin Towers live on national television.<br />A third plane was flown into the <br />west side of the Pentagon <br />military headquarters.<br />Passengers on the fourth plane, United Flight 93, <br />overtook the terrorists. The plane crashed into a <br />Shanksville, PA, field rather than its unknown target.<br />Nearly 3,000 people <br />died in the attacks, the most <br />significant in American history.<br />Nearly 10,000 people <br />who were exposed to the debris <br />of the fallen towers have been <br />diagnosed with 9/11-related cancer.<br />The economic toll <br />of the attacks has <br />approached $1 trillion.<br />In response to 9/11, the <br />Department of Homeland <br />Security was created.<br />On the ten-year anniversary <br />of the attack, the World Trade <br />Center memorial "Reflecting <br />Absence" was opened to the public
