American Airlines Flight 77 was a daily morning transcontinental flight
from Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia to Los Angeles
International Airport. On September 11, 2001, the flight's Boeing 757
aircraft was hijacked by five men affiliated with al-Qaeda, and
deliberately crashed into the Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia,
near Washington, D.C., as part of the September 11 attacks. Less than 35
minutes into the flight, the hijackers stormed the cockpit, and Hani
Hanjour, a trained pilot, took over the controls. The six crew members
and the passengers were forced to the rear of the aircraft, where they
relayed information on the hijacking. The hijackers crashed the aircraft
into the western side of the Pentagon at 09:37 EDT, severely damaging
the building and causing a large fire, and at 10:10 a portion of the
Pentagon collapsed. All 64 people on board including the five hijackers
were killed, as well as 125 people in the building. The victims of the
attack are honored in the Pentagon Memorial adjacent to the Pentagon.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Airlines_Flight_77>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1775:
American Revolutionary War: Benedict Arnold's expedition
departed from Cambridge, Massachusetts, as part of the invasion of
Quebec.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benedict_Arnold%27s_expedition_to_Quebec>
1897:
Gaki Sherocho was captured by the forces of Emperor of Ethiopia
Menelik II, bringing an end to the Kingdom of Kaffa.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Kaffa>
1945:
The Japanese-run camp at Batu Lintang, Sarawak, in Borneo was
liberated by the Australian 9th Division, averting the planned massacre
of its 2,000-plus Allied POWs and civilian internees by four days.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batu_Lintang_camp>
1965:
Indo-Pakistani War: Indian infantry captured the town of Burki
near Lahore, Pakistan.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Burki>
1992:
The eye of Hurricane Iniki, the most powerful hurricane to
strike the state of Hawaii and the Hawaiian Islands in recorded history,
passed directly over the island of Kauai, killing six people and causing
around US$1.8 billion dollars in damage.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Iniki>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
rivalrous:
1. Having a relationship of rivalry.
2. (economics, of a good) Which can be consumed by no more than one person
at the same time.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/rivalrous>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
The fundamentalist seeks to bring down a great deal more than
buildings. Such people are against, to offer just a brief list, freedom
of speech, a multi-party political system, universal adult suffrage,
accountable government, Jews, homosexuals, women’s rights, pluralism,
secularism, short skirts, dancing, beardlessness, evolution theory, sex.
These are tyrants, not Muslims. … The fundamentalist believes that we
believe in nothing. In his worldview, he has his absolute certainties,
while we are sunk in sybaritic indulgences. To prove him wrong, we must
first know that he is wrong. We must agree on what matters: kissing in
public places, bacon sandwiches, disagreement, cutting-edge fashion,
literature, generosity, water, a more equitable distribution of the
world’s resources, movies, music, freedom of thought, beauty, love.
These will be our weapons. Not by making war but by the unafraid way we
choose to live shall we defeat them. How to defeat terrorism? Don't be
terrorized. Don't let fear rule your life.
--Salman Rushdie
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Salman_Rushdie>