1Roselle
Roselle, a guide dog calmly led her owner and 30 other people down 1,463 steps out of the World Trade Center on 9/11 despite the confusion, smoke, and noise around them. After descending over half the distance, they passed the firemen who were heading up, who the dog stopped to greet. Once safe, the dog then helped a woman who was blinded by the debris.
2Ben Sliney
Ben Sliney, the chief of air-traffic-control operations at the FAA’s command center in Herndon, Virginia, gave the unprecedented order to ground 4,000-plus planes across the nation and redirect any in the sky to the nearest airport. It was his first day on the job.
39/11 Memorial
The names on the 9/11 Memorial are arranged by relationship, instead of alphabetically, in order to preserve the bonds of family and friendship and to show the connections between people who changed each other’s lives that day.
4Cantor Fitzgerald
Cantor Fitzgerald, an investment bank which lost 75% of its employees in 9/11 sued American Airlines for negligence in allowing terrorists on board and won $135 million.
5Snake antivenom
The only plane allowed to fly on 9/11 after the attacks was a plane from San Diego to Miami delivering anti-venom to a man bitten by a highly poisonous snake. It was accompanied by two jet fighters.
6Jan Demczur
Jan Demczur, a window washer working in the World Trade Center on 9/11, became trapped in an elevator in between floors after the first plane hit. Using his squeegee to pry open the doors, he then broke through the drywall and led the passengers out of the building moments before it collapsed.
7Saddam Hussein
Leaders that vehemently denounced the attacks included the Presidents of Egypt, the Palestinian Authority, Libya, Syria, Iran, and Pakistan. The sole exception was Saddam Hussein, who said that “the American cowboys are reaping the fruit of their crimes against humanity.”
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8North Tower
On 9/11, after the first plane hit the North Tower, people in the South Tower wanted to leave but were advised by an announcement to stay at their desks. Some of those who tried to leave anyway were turned back by security in the building before the exits. About 1,120 of them died.
9Ahmad Shah Massoud
Afghan resistance leader Ahmad Shah Massoud, who fought against the Soviets in the 1980s, was also against a fundamentalist interpretation of Islam. He was assassinated two days before 9/11, after warning of a major terrorist attack set to happen in the United States.
10World Trade Center
The company that owned the World Trade Center had scheduled a meeting for 9/11 on the 88th floor of tower 1 to discuss what to do in the event of a terrorist attack but rescheduled the night before because one participant could not attend.
