Today is Thursday, Sept. 11, the 254th day of 2025, with 111 days remaining in the year.
On this date in history, nearly 3,000 people were killed on Sept. 11, 2001, when 19 al-Qaida hijackers took control of four jetliners. Two of these planes were flown into the World Trade Center in New York, another struck the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and the fourth crashed into a field in western Pennsylvania. This remains the deadliest terror attack in history.
Other significant events that happened on this date include: Alexander Hamilton being appointed as the first United States Secretary of the Treasury in 1789; an American fleet securing a decisive victory over British forces at the Battle of Lake Champlain during the War of 1812; Boulder Dam (later renamed Hoover Dam) beginning operations in 1936 after President Franklin D. Roosevelt activated its first hydroelectric generator from Washington; and groundbreaking for the Pentagon taking place in 1941.
Additional notable historical moments include: The Miss America pageant’s network television debut on ABC in 1954; Chilean President Salvador Allende’s death during a military coup led by General Augusto Pinochet in 1973; Pete Rose breaking Ty Cobb’s MLB career hits record with his 4,192nd hit as a member of the Cincinnati Reds in 1985; presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama visiting ground zero together to honor victims on Sept. 11, 2008; and an attack on a United States diplomatic outpost and CIA annex in Benghazi, Libya killing U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans in 2012.
In more recent years on this date: In 2023, over 4,000 people died after Mediterranean Storm Daniel caused two dams to collapse and flood Derna, Libya.
Birthdays for today include composer Arvo Pärt (90), film director Brian De Palma (85), singer-actor-dancer Lola Falana (83), musician Mickey Hart (82), guitarist Leo Kottke (80), actor Amy Madigan (75), rock musician Tommy Shaw of Styx (72), sportscaster Lesley Visser (72), actor Scott Patterson (67), actor/director Roxann Dawson (67), actor John Hawkes (66), actor Virginia Madsen (64), musician-composer Moby (60), singer Harry Connick Jr. (58), actor Taraji P. Henson (55), rapper Ludacris (48), Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinee Ed Reed (47), country singer Charles Kelley of Lady A (44), actor Elizabeth Henstridge (38) and actor Tyler Hoechlin (38).
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