September 12, 2001

Remembering the day after 9/11

- Smoke from the remains of New York's World Trade Center shrouds lower Manhattan, September 12, 2001.
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Sixteen years have passed since the devastating attacks of September 11, 2001. And while most of us remember with unsettling clarity where we were when we heard that hijacked planes had crashed into the World Trade Center (and later, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field), killing nearly 3,000 people, it might be the next day — September 12, 2001 — that actually marked the beginning of a new era, one in which full-body scans at the airport, color-coded threat levels, slow-burn wars that never really end, and an undercurrent of fear running beneath the mundanity of life became the norm.

(Image credit: (REUTERS/Ray Stubblebine))

But, of course, we didn't know that then. On September 12, many Americans felt trapped in a confused and shocking state of limbo. School was canceled. Few people went to work. We were stuck. Some literally, as planes were grounded, subways and trains running minimally if not canceled altogether, and many streets clogged with vehicles. Others emotionally, trapped between grief, shock, fear, and anger.

(Image credit: (Harald Franzen/ZUMAPRESS.com))

(Image credit: (Harald Franzen/ZUMAPRESS.com))

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(Image credit: An interdenominational prayer service at Faithful Central Bible Church in Los Angeles. (David McNew/Getty Images))

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(Image credit: (REUTERS/Mike Segar))

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(Image credit: (JOHN MOTTERN/AFP/Getty Images))

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(Image credit: (REUTERS/Win McNamee)Editor's note: This article was first published on Sept. 12, 2016, and last updated on Sept. 12, 2017.)

Editor's note: This article was first published on Sept. 12, 2016, and last updated on Sept. 12, 2017.

Lauren Hansen
Lauren Hansen

Lauren Hansen produces The Week’s podcasts and videos and edits the photo blog, Captured. She also manages the production of the magazine's iPad app. A graduate of Kenyon College and Northwestern University, she previously worked at the BBC and Frontline. She knows a thing or two about pretty pictures and cute puppies, both of which she tweets about @mylaurenhansen.

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