The World Trade Center was a world-famous center of seven buildings, housing an integral part of the commerce system for the entire world. It was located in lower Manhattan, New York City, USA. Seven buildings in all, the two most famous buildings were also known as "The Twin Towers." WTC1, the North Tower, was built in 1970. WTC2 was completed in 1972 and it was also known as the South Tower. Standing 110 stories tall, the Twin Towers were the tallest buildings ever in New York City, and one of the tallest in the world. On an average workday, as many as fifty thousand people would be working inside the Twin Towers. The World Trade Center was comprised of an extensive shopping center in the lower levels of the complex, with several subway lines intersecting down below. Above ground the majority of the Twin Towers contained office space for over 150 companies and organizations including AT+T, Delta Airlines, Infotech, Royal Thai Embassy Office, the New York Port Authority, Xerox, Metropolitan Life, Sun Microsystems, Oppenheimer Funds, and the New York Stock Exchange. The industries involved with the Twin Towers include law firms, insurance companies, employment agencies, financial institutions, transportation, manufacturing, computer, retail and agriculture. In June of 1980, a massive antenna was constructed which stood 360 feet tall above the North Tower, and supported ten major television stations as well as a number of other broadcasting companies.

In 1993, the World Trade Center was bombed by terrorists, leaving six people dead and over a thousand injured. The bombs were placed in the basement complex, but the towers remained standing for eight years. The morning of September 11th 2001, terrorists hijacked four commercial airplanes. Two of them crashed into the upper floors of the Twin Towers. The two buildings imploded and fell mere hours after the impact. Due in no small part to the heroic acts of the fire fighters, police and emergency teams of New York City (coached by Mayor Rudolph Giuliani), over fifteen thousand lives were known to be saved by an intense evacuation of the two buildings. Unfortunately, as of this writing approximately 6500 lives have been lost. Miraculously, though a terrible event, the fall of the Twin Towers managed to instill within the American people a renewed sense of patriotism. The terrorist attack was not only a threat on material possessions or corporate business, but the very concept of freedom in civilized society. This tragedy echoed throughout the civilized world, and on an international day of mourning less than a week later, there were people who shared in the mourning and loss of America, saying "on this day, we are all Americans."

Minoru Yamasaki, chief architect of the World Trade Center, once called it a standing monument to world peace and man's belief in humanity. Though the physical complex has been left in ruin, the tenets for which is stood still stand. Its loss is a tribute to the greatness that constructed it, the people who survived it, and the memory of the victims and the heroic men and women who tried to save them.

"Our most powerful weapon in this new war is love." - Julia Roberts, actress

• The World Trade Center Attack: A Chronicle of the Events of 11th September 2001
• Thoughts on the World Trade Center Tragedy
• An Eye Witness Account
• Talking Point: 11 September, 2001
• Reverend Mychal Judge
• The Star-Spangled Banner
• Words of Leonard Pitts