World Trade Center (1973–2001)

The original World Trade Center (WTC) was a complex of seven buildings in the <a href="/facts/Financial_District%2c_Manhattan/bfINlsva">Financial District</a> of <a href="/facts/Lower_Manhattan/bl6eMMHK">Lower Manhattan</a> in <a href="/facts/New_York_City/YlyvFmVC">New York City</a>. Built primarily between 1966 and 1975, it was dedicated on April 4, 1973, and was <a href="/facts/Collapse_of_the_World_Trade_Center/aCjr1jFw">destroyed</a> during the <a href="/facts/September_11_attacks/PfWQcQNx">September 11 attacks</a> in 2001. At the time of their completion, the 110-story-tall Twin Towers, including the original <a href="/facts/1_World_Trade_Center_(1971%25E2%2580%25932001)/UqmoMxrn">1 World Trade Center</a> (the North Tower) at 1,368 feet (417 m), and <a href="/facts/2_World_Trade_Center_(1971%25E2%2580%25932001)/1EgoyAMg">2 World Trade Center</a> (the South Tower) at 1,362 feet (415.1 m), were the <a href="/facts/History_of_the_world%2527s_tallest_buildings/VsvP7TLr">tallest buildings in the world</a>; they were also the <a href="/facts/List_of_tallest_twin_buildings_and_structures/LcuYjTCR">tallest twin skyscrapers in the world</a> until 1996, when the <a href="/facts/Petronas_Towers/keNn41dn">Petronas Towers</a> opened in <a href="/facts/Kuala_Lumpur/2dCzRWjL">Kuala Lumpur</a>, <a href="/facts/Malaysia/8zbUMzCP">Malaysia</a>. Other buildings in the complex included the <a href="/facts/Marriott_World_Trade_Center/hmUrAxKY">Marriott World Trade Center</a> (3 WTC), <a href="/facts/4_World_Trade_Center_(1975%25E2%2580%25932001)/C9YfYl32">4 WTC</a>, <a href="/facts/5_World_Trade_Center_(1970%25E2%2580%25932001)/a33tgKHF">5 WTC</a>, <a href="/facts/6_World_Trade_Center/HFWXtWMj">6 WTC</a>, and <a href="/facts/7_World_Trade_Center_(1987%25E2%2580%25932001)/nKzJYepM">7 WTC</a>. The complex contained 13,400,000 square feet (1,240,000 m2) of office space and, prior to its completion, was projected to accommodate an estimated 130,000 people.
The core complex cost about $400 million (equivalent to $2.31 billion in 2023). The idea was suggested by <a href="/facts/David_Rockefeller/sArdHJuU">David Rockefeller</a> to help stimulate <a href="/facts/Urban_renewal/xAKjesVQ">urban renewal</a> in Lower Manhattan, and his brother <a href="/facts/Nelson_Rockefeller/z8PypI6c">Nelson</a>, then New York's 49th governor, signed the legislation to build it. The buildings at the complex were designed by <a href="/facts/Minoru_Yamasaki/fnztjAMt">Minoru Yamasaki</a>. In 1998, the <a href="/facts/Port_Authority_of_New_York_and_New_Jersey/KjQdrqjD">Port Authority of New York and New Jersey</a> decided to privatize it by leasing the buildings to a private company to manage. It awarded the lease to <a href="/facts/Silverstein_Properties/LD38E3Uo">Silverstein Properties</a> in July 2001. During its existence, the World Trade Center symbolized <a href="/facts/Globalization/0locjSHH">globalization</a> and the economic prosperity of the U.S. Although its design was initially criticized by New Yorkers and architectural critics, the Twin Towers became an icon of New York City. It had a major role in <a href="/facts/World_Trade_Center_in_popular_culture/Uq3jBHUx">popular culture</a>, and according to one estimate was depicted in 472 films. The Twin Towers were also used in <a href="/facts/Philippe_Petit/cXXlzlJe">Philippe Petit</a>'s tightrope-walking performance on August 7, 1974. Following the September 11 attacks, mentions of the complex in various media were <a href="/facts/List_of_entertainment_affected_by_the_September_11_attacks/DFBJBdqT">altered or deleted</a>, and several dozen "memorial films" were created.
The World Trade Center experienced several major crime and terrorist incidents, including a fire on February 13, 1975; <a href="/facts/1993_World_Trade_Center_bombing/4kWK5Lrr">a bombing</a> on February 26, 1993; and <a href="/facts/1998_Bank_of_America_robbery/UUHD1KUd">a bank robbery</a> on January 14, 1998, before the complex was the target of terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. On that day <a href="/facts/Al-Qaeda/CIQSk3D7">al-Qaeda</a>-affiliated <a href="/facts/Hijackers_in_the_September_11_attacks/mbK0nyyU">hijackers</a> flew two <a href="/facts/Boeing_767/NJtTqBC4">Boeing 767</a> jets, one into each of the Twin Towers, seventeen minutes apart; between 16,400 and 18,000 people were in the Twin Towers when they were struck. The fires from the impacts were intensified by the planes' burning jet fuel, which, along with the initial damage to the buildings' structural columns, ultimately caused <a href="/facts/Collapse_of_the_World_Trade_Center/aCjr1jFw">both towers to collapse</a>. The attacks <a href="/facts/Casualties_of_the_September_11_attacks/BADU0jpY">killed 2,606 people</a> in and around the towers, as well as all 147 on board the two aircraft (not including the 10 hijackers). Falling debris from the towers, combined with fires in several surrounding buildings that were initiated by falling debris, led to the partial or complete collapse of all the WTC complex's buildings, including <a href="/facts/7_World_Trade_Center_(1987%25E2%2580%25932001)/nKzJYepM">7 World Trade Center</a>, and caused catastrophic damage to 10 other large structures in the surrounding area.
The <a href="/facts/Rescue_and_recovery_effort_after_the_September_11_attacks_on_the_World_Trade_Center/wnBeUzAW">cleanup and recovery process</a> at the <a href="/facts/World_Trade_Center_site/c9xgaWJH">World Trade Center site</a> took eight months, during which the remains of the other buildings were demolished. On May 30, 2002, the last piece of WTC steel was ceremonially removed. A <a href="/facts/World_Trade_Center_(2001%25E2%2580%2593present)/fEFWPGkg">new World Trade Center complex</a> is being built with six new skyscrapers and several other buildings, many of which are complete. A <a href="/facts/National_September_11_Memorial_%2526_Museum/g0lKrXlD">memorial and museum</a> to those killed in the attacks, a new <a href="/facts/World_Trade_Center_(PATH_station)/SBXaR7xX">rapid transit hub</a>, and an <a href="/facts/Liberty_Park/DvB1ezET">elevated park</a> have opened. The memorial features two square <a href="/facts/Reflecting_pool/EGrU4sJd">reflecting pools</a> in the center marking where the Twin Towers stood. <a href="/facts/One_World_Trade_Center/o35h6ac9">One World Trade Center</a>, the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere at 1,776 feet (541 m) and the lead building for the new complex, completed construction in May 2013 and opened in November 2014.

World Trade Center (1973–2001) open-in-new

World Trade Center (1973–2001)