TODAY, September, 11, 2021 marks the 20-year anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Nineteen men hijacked four commercial airplanes on the morning of September 11, 2001 and travelled towards major US landmarks in an attack orchestrated by al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

In total 2,977 lives were lost as a result of the attacks which sparked irreversible changes to the world, not least the 20-year war in Afghanistan.

Here are 10 staggering facts about the 9/11 attacks, some heart-breaking, some uplifting, that show why the day will be remembered forever.

10 facts about the 9/11 attacks you probably didn’t know

  1. The youngest passenger on the hijacked jets was Christine Hanson on United Airlines Flight 175. She was two and on her first trip to Disneyland.
  2. The New York City Fire Department lost 343 firefighters, almost half the number of on-duty deaths in the department's 100-year history.
  3. Sirius, one of the first bomb-sniffing K-9 dogs stationed near the World Trade Center after the 1993 terrorist bombing, died in the Sept. 11 attacks.
  4. 120 jets were stranded on the tarmac at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Sept. 11.
  5. 1.5 million working hours during 261 days were spent removing the debris at the World Trade Center site.
  6. The fires at Ground Zero burned for 99 days after the attack, until Dec. 19.
  7. The New York City Fire Department lost 343 firefighters, almost half the number of on-duty deaths in the department's 100-year history.
  8. The New York City Fire Department received more than 1 million pieces of mail following the attacks. The mementos filled two warehouses.
  9. $5 million has been sent to the White House by schoolchildren for America's Fund for Afghan Children.
  10. 48 countries held ceremonies on Dec. 11, 2001, to commemorate the victims.

 

Sources: USATODAY research by April Umminger, Joan Murphy, Lori Joseph, William Risser, Darryl Haralson, Mary Cadden