New York and Washington D.C. awoke on September 11, 2001, to an exceptionally clear blue sky, marking the start of what seemed to be an ordinary late-summer day. Twenty-five years after the event, a detailed reconstruction offers a minute-by-minute account of how the terrorist attacks unfolded.
The attacks on that day fundamentally altered the course of American history and its foreign policy. The morning began with a sense of normalcy across the country, a stark contrast to the tragedy that would soon transpire. The pristine weather provided no hint of the catastrophic events that were about to unfold, impacting cities and lives across the nation.