American Airlines Flight 11 was American Airlines' morning, daily
scheduled transcontinental flight, from Boston, Massachusetts to Los
Angeles, California. On September 11, 2001, the aircraft flying this
route was hijacked by five al-Qaeda terrorists, and deliberately
crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York
City, as part of the September 11 attacks. Fifteen minutes into the
flight, the hijackers forcibly breached the cockpit, and overpowered
the pilot and first officer. Mohamed Atta, an al-Qaeda member and
trained pilot, took over the controls. Air traffic controllers noticed
the flight was in distress when the crew stopped responding to them.
They realized the flight had been hijacked when Atta mistakenly
transmitted announcements for passengers to air traffic control. On
board, Amy Sweeney and Betty Ong contacted American Airlines, and
provided information about the hijackers and injuries to passengers and
crew. The aircraft crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade
Center at 08:46 local time; the impact killed all 92 people aboard. The
impact and subsequent fire caused the North Tower to collapse, which
resulted in thousands of additional casualties. During the recovery
effort at the World Trade Center site, workers recovered and identified
dozens of remains from Flight 11 victims, but many other body fragments
could not be identified. (more...)
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<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Airlines_Flight_11>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1709:
An allied British-Dutch-Austrian force defeated the French at the
Battle of Malplaquet, one of the bloodiest battles of the War of the
Spanish Succession.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Malplaquet>
1914:
During World War I, the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary
Force invaded German New Guinea, winning the Battle of Bita Paka.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Bita_Paka>
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.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batu_Lintang_camp>
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 USD$1.8 billion dollars in damage.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Iniki>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
in memoriam (adv):
In memory (of); as a memorial
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/in_memoriam>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
We have entered the third millennium through a gate of fire. If today,
after the horror of 11 September, we see better, and we see further —
we will realize that humanity is indivisible. New threats make no
distinction between races, nations or regions. A new insecurity has
entered every mind, regardless of wealth or status. A deeper awareness
of the bonds that bind us all — in pain as in prosperity — has gripped
young and old.
--Kofi Annan
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kofi_Annan>
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