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2001 🌍 6.2 billion

Al-Qaeda attacks by flying planes into New York’s world trade center, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States.

Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, two of which were flown into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City and the third into the Pentagon, which is the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Defense, in Arlington County, Virginia. The fourth plane crashed in a rural Pennsylvania field during a passenger revolt, where the Flight 93 National Memorial was established.

In response to the attacks, the United States waged the global war on terror over decades, to eliminate hostile groups deemed terrorist organizations, and the governments purported to support them. Ringleader Mohamed Atta flew American Airlines Flight 11 into the North Tower of the World Trade Center complex at 8:46 a.m. Seventeen minutes later at 9:03 a.m., United Airlines Flight 175 hit the South Tower.

Some 2,750 people were killed in New York, 184 at the Pentagon, and 40 in Pennsylvania (where one of the hijacked planes crashed into the ground after the passengers attempted to retake the plane); all 19 terrorists died.

2003

Last flight of Concord, bringing the era of airliner supersonic travel to a close.

There was a time when you could fly from New York City to London at twice the speed of sound. Passengers dined on caviar and sipped champagne, all while zipping across the Atlantic Ocean in just 3 1/2 hours.

The plane had a slender white fuselage, a pointy nose that moved up and down, and a delta wing that formed a triangle.

Concord flying 1,350 mph

The plane's first commercial flight to the U.S. dates back to May 24, 1976. Concorde took off from London and landed with a roar at Dulles International Airport outside Washington, D.C.

Concorde guzzled four times more fuel than a jumbo jet like the Boeing 747, which could also carry nearly 500 passengers (Concorde's cramped seating arrangement could carry just 100). And a round-trip ticket in the 1990s could cost as much as $10,000 — about $20,000 in today's money.

People on the ground complained about the noise from Concorde's boisterous turbojet engines, and its alarming sonic booms as it broke the sound barrier over the Atlantic.

An Air France Concorde taking off from Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris struck a piece of metal debris left behind by another plane on the runway. The debris punctured one of the Concorde's tires, sending chunks of rubber into the fuel tank. The Concorde's left wing burst into flames, before the plane crashed into a roadside hotel.

All 109 people on board were killed, along with four people on the ground. Aviation authorities immediately grounded every Concorde still in service. The planes wouldn't return for over a year amid government investigations and intense regulatory scrutiny.

Concorde made its last-ever flight on Nov. 26, 2003, departing for London's Heathrow Airport and landing in Bristol, England, greeted by a cheering crowd gathered behind fences near the runway.

2004

Facebook created, by Mark Zuckerberg, an American social media and social networking service with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz, and Chris Hughes, its name derives from the face book directories often given to American university students.

Facebook can be accessed from devices with Internet connectivity, such as personal computers, tablets and smartphones. After registering, users can create a profile revealing personal information about themselves. They can post text, photos and multimedia which are shared with any other users who have agreed to be their friend or, with different privacy settings, publicly.

Users can also communicate directly with each other with Messenger, edit messages (within 15 minutes after sending), join common-interest groups, and receive notifications on the activities of their Facebook friends and the pages they follow.

Mark Zuckerberg