United Airlines Flight 93 was a passenger flight that was hijacked by
four al-Qaeda terrorists in 2001 as part of the September 11 attacks.
The hijackers stormed the westbound aircraft's cockpit 46 minutes after
its takeoff from Newark, New Jersey, and diverted it in the direction of
Washington, D.C., the U.S. capital. Several passengers and flight
attendants learned of the other 9/11 suicide attacks from phone calls,
sparking an attempt to retake the plane. During the struggle, the
hijackers deliberately crashed the plane into a field near a reclaimed
strip mine in Stonycreek Township, Pennsylvania; all 44 people on board
(including the hijackers) were killed. A temporary memorial was built
near the crash site soon after the attacks. The permanent Flight 93
National Memorial was dedicated on September 10, 2011; it has a
concrete and glass visitor center overlooking the crash site.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Airlines_Flight_93>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1851:
In a fight near Christiana, Pennsylvania, a group of escaped
slaves and free Blacks led by William Parker fought off a federal posse
seeking to arrest and return the escapees to slavery.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christiana_Riot>
1893:
Swami Vivekananda gave a speech introducing Hinduism on the
opening day of the first Parliament of the World's Religions in Chicago.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parliament_of_the_World%27s_Religions>
1914:
First World War: The Australian Naval and Military
Expeditionary Force invaded German New Guinea, winning the Battle of
Bita Paka.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Bita_Paka>
1981:
Iranian politician Ayatollah Madani and three others were
assassinated by an agent of the MEK who detonated a grenade during
Friday prayers in Tabriz.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mir_Asadollah_Madani>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
ground zero:
1. Originally, the point on the land or water surface below which a
nuclear bomb detonates in the air; now also the point on such a surface
at or above the detonation.
2. (by extension) The location of any disaster or violent assault.
3. (figuratively) The point at which something begins.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ground_zero>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
On a day when buildings fell, heroes rose: Pentagon employees ran
into smoke-filled corridors to guide their friends to safety.
Firefighters rushed up the stairs of the World Trade Center as the
towers neared collapse. Passengers aboard Flight 93 charged the cockpit
and laid down their lives to spare countless others. One of the worst
days in America's history saw some of the bravest acts in Americans'
history. We'll always honor the heroes of 9/11.
--George W. Bush
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_W._Bush>