The memories of the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States remain indelible, even though Wednesday marks 23 years since a cloudless morning in New York turned into a nightmare that shook the nation to its core and changed the fate of millions of people worldwide.
The horror of crowds realizing that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center skyscraper in Manhattan, covered in dust like decayed snow, the man falling, and the plane crash itself symbolized both the heroism of a group of ordinary people and the potential for violence. Each of these photographs captures a snapshot of the terror that spread across the country, whether one was at the epicenter of the tragedy or on the other side of the country watching television while waiting to be woken up for school.
Nearly 3,000 people died as a result of the attacks, with thousands more suffering and dying from work-related cancers afterward. Here, we present some of the unforgettable images from that cloudless Tuesday morning that terrorized the US and the entire world.
