Little Known 9/11 Facts

September 11, 2001 is one of those events in one’s life where you always remember where you were and what you were doing when you received the news of that event. I was sitting on the edge of my bed, sipping my first cup of coffee when the second plane hit. It was an event that changes the lives of most Americans whether they were New York residents or not.

Here are a few 9/11 reports you might have missed:

• A Princeton University machine called a Random Event Generator predicted a cataclysmic event would take place just three hours before the 9/11 attack.
• Rescue workers would eventually sift through more than 1 million metric tons of debris.
• The ringleader of the 9/11 attacks, Mohammed Atta, triggered a security alert at the Logan Airport in Boston. His bags were not checked in or loaded onto the fatal flight.
  • Top Google searches for the week of 9/11 included CNN, The World Trade Center, Osama bin Laden and the number one predictor of world events, Nostradamus.
  • I guess a stiff drink helps us cope. Alcohol consumption in Manhattan went up 25% the week after the attack from the previous year.
  • Not to be outdone, both cannabis and tobacco consumption also rose by 10 percent.
  • I hope God was watching as church and synagogue increased by 20 percent.
  • The Black Boxes from Flight 77 (the plane that hit the Pentagon) was found the day after the attacks and it was later discovered that the voice recordings were unrecoverable. First time in 40 years something like that has happened. Hummmm?
  • The death toll affected many as a total of 3,051 children lost a parent in the attack and 17 babies were born to widows whose husbands had been 9/11 victims.
  • Identifying the dead was an arduous task. Two hundred ninety-one bodies were classified as “intact” and for one family it was nearly a year before their child was found and identified.
  • Over 65,000 personal items were found that helped identify bodies and to give to family members as remembrances. One display contained 437 watches and 144 wedding rings.
  • Many might be surprised to know that a Muslim prayer room and a Koran store were destroyed in the attack.
  • The NSA listening in? Not really, since five of the 9/11 hijackers stayed at a motel directly across from the infamous spying organization.
  • Flight 77 hit a section of the Pentegon that had just undergone a $258 million remodel complete with reinforced walls and windows.
  • Over $100 million in artwork was lost in the devastation including works by Picasso and David Hockney

The Number 11

• New York City and Afghanistan both have 11 letters.
• A man named Ramsin Yuseb threatened to destroy the towers in 1993 has 11 letters in his name.
• The name George W. Bush has 11 letters.
• The Twin Towers formed a giant 11.
• The 11^th state in the union — New York
• The first plane to hit the towers — Flight #11
• Flight 11 had ninety-two passengers (9+2= 11)
• Flight 77 had 65 passengers, you do the math.
• September 11 is the 254th day of the year. Number of passengers on board the four planes 254. And (2+5+4 = 11)

Some Final Thoughts

There are more 11 facts but my space is limited but I will give you one more that will really make you think. If you have Microsoft Word on your computer, give this a try.

Type the flight number of the first plane to hit the twin towers — Q33 NY — in all caps. Highlight Q33 NY and change the font to “Wingdings” and set the font size to 72. See what you get.

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