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
_______________________________ 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
_____________________________ 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
___________________________ 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
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