A day that shocked the world: Photos capture stunned planet after 9/11 terror attacks
James Powel, USA TODAY
The imagery of the 9/11 Attacks remains indelible, even as Wednesday marks 23 years since a cloudless morning in New York became a nightmare that shook this country to the core and altered the fate of millions around the world.
The horror of crowds realizing that a plane flew into the World Trade Center, lower Manhattan covered in ash like putrid snow, The Falling Man, destruction at the site of the core of a country's military might and a plane crash that at once symbolized the heroism of a group of average people and the possibility of the violence that could have been.
Each of these images contain 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 taken to school.
Spectators look up as the World Trade Center goes up in flames September 11, 2001 in New York City after two airplanes slammed into the twin towers in an alleged terrorist attack.
People run away as the second tower of World Trade Center crumbles down after a plane hit the building September 11, 2001, in New York City.
People walk in the street in the area where the World Trade Center buildings collapsed September 11, 2001, after two airplanes slammed into the twin towers in a suspected terrorist attack.
Pentagon workers watch the building burn after a plane crashed into it September11, 2001 in Arlington VA.
Investigators head into the debris field at the site of a commercial plane crash near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, September 11, 2001. The crash is one of four planes that were hijacked as part of a deadly and destructive terrorist plot. In the worst attack on American soil since Pearl Harbor, three hijacked planes slammed into the Pentagon and New York's landmark World Trade Center on Tuesday, demolishing the two 110-story towers that symbolize U.S. financial might.
US President George W. Bush has his early morning school reading event interrupted by his Chief of Staff Andrew Card (L) shortly after news of the New York City airplane crashes was available in Sarasota, Florida.
Patricia Petrowitz falls to her knees in prayer in Seattle's St. James Cathedral during a prayer service September 11, 2001 in the wake of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon. The Cathedral was filled to standing room only.
Stranded travelers wait in the United Airlines terminal at O'Hare International Airport September 11, 2001, in Chicago, Illinois. All air traffic at the airport was shut down after the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City.
A stranded United Airlines traveler looks towards a monitor September 11, 2001, at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. All air traffic at the airport was shut down after terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York.
Jossie Schumake, a US embassy representative in Mexico City, speaks to the press September 11, 2001 during a evacuation of the US embassy in Mexico City after attacks on New York City and Washington DC by alleged terrorists.
City workers in a London pub watch news of terrorist attacks on the United States September 11, 2001. Three aircraft crashed into the World Trade Centre in New York and The Pentagon in Washington in what was described as the biggest act of terrorism in history.
People line up with their blood types at St. Vincent Hospital September 11, 2001 in New York City after two airplanes slammed into the twin towers in an alleged terrorist attack.
Volunteers donate blood September 11, 2001, at Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, Illinois at a blood donation station set up to help victims of the World Trade Center attack in New York City.
Erin Jones, Bridget Opfer, and Kieran McCutcheon join thousands of people taking part in a candlelight vigil on the Mall in Washington D.C. September 12, 2001 in memory of the victims of the terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington D.C. yesterday. The United States vowed on Wednesday to strike back with a hammer of vengeance for the horrific attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, described across an angry nation as "an act of war" committed by an enemy whose name it doesn't even know.
American tourists Ted Barnett (C) and Jamie Otten look at news photos of the attacks on the World Trade Centre buildings in a cybercafe in Calcutta, September 12, 2001. Three planes commandeered by hijackers slammed into the Pentagon and the twin towers of the World Trade Center yesterday.
A woman reads about the terrorist attack on New York's World Trade Center with the Roman's ancient Colosseum in central Rome September 12, 2001. A saddened Pope John Paul on Wednesday condemned suicide attacks in the United States as a dark day in the history of humanity and urged the world not to allow a spiral of hate and violence to prevail.
A Japanese woman offers a prayer for victims of terrorist attacks on New York and Washington after laying flowers at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo September 12, 2001. A shocked United States shut embassies across Asia and put its forces on maximum alert on Wednesday as the region braced for more fallout from the extraordinary airplane attacks on New York and Washington.
