On September 11, 2001, 19 al-Qaida operatives hijacked four planes in the Eastern United States; the significance of why 9/11 was chosen for the date of the attacks has been widely debated since. The hijackers crashed two planes into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, one into the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Defense at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and a fourth into a field in Pennsylvania after passengers attempted to regain control of the plane.
The attacks are often referred to simply as September 11 or 9/11. The latter is from the U.S. style for writing short dates, and is pronounced "nine-eleven." Within the United States, the typographic styling of the 9/11 designation alludes to 9-1-1 (also written 911, pronounced "nine-one-one" in either case), the emergency telephone number used by the U.S. and Canada. Furthermore, the two "ones" in 9/11 are seen by some as being representative of the two towers of the World Trade Centers. For these symbolic reasons and for convenience, 9/11 has become a common domestic term for the attacks.
There was some initial speculation that the correspondence between 911 and the date 9/11 as mentioned above was intentional, to communicate something along the lines "Starting now, life in America is about emergencies rather than ease." It was also suggested, but apparently never confirmed, that the number may have had some religious significance to the hijackers. Most Americans seemed to quickly accept press commentators' opinion that the date carried no symbolic significance. The coincidence in any case has emotional resonance, and may contribute as much as slips of the tongue to Americans sometimes saying "nine-one-one" when they mean "9/11." Subconscious awareness of it may also contribute to the enhanced identification with public-safety personnel.
Historians noted that September 11 was the date in 1683 when the Battle of Vienna by Ottoman Empire Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa was routed by Polish king, Jan Sobieski. September 11 was also the date in 1922 when the British Mandate of Palestine was promulgated at Jerusalem. Construction of The Pentagon began on September 11, 1941, exactly 60 years before the building was nearly destroyed. It is also the anniversary of the Chilean coup of 1973. Although these symbolic and historically significant events occurred on the same date in the solar Gregorian calendar, the corresponding dates vary in the lunar Islamic calendar.
Others speculated that the date of 9/11 was chosen for purely operational reasons, that the attack timetable was accelerated due to the arrest of Zacarias Moussaoui or because on that date many New York fire and rescue vehicles were out of the state for training purposes. It was also the day of the New York City mayoral primary, which was postponed to a later date after the attacks.
After the attacks, the number appeared again: the terrorist attacks in Madrid on March 11, 2004 occurred exactly 911 days after September 11 2001. In shorthand, 3/11 resembles 9/11. But yet again, this might be merely coincidental.
Reportedly, the name of the Porsche 911 car model was used as a codeword by two of the conspirators in reference to the date 9/11.
See also
Last updated: 06-05-2005 09:55:52
