Each September, two ample beams of light scope into the nighttime entity supra Manhattan's Financial District.
The installation commemorates those who were killed connected September 11, 2001.
This Friday marks 25 years since that day, erstwhile terrorists hijacked 4 commercial rider planes, crashing 2 into New York's Twin Towers.
Another level deed the Pentagon successful Arlington County, Virginia, and the 4th collapsed into a section successful Shanksville, Pennsylvania, aft passengers attempted to overpower the hijackers.
In total, 2,977 victims mislaid their lives and, much than 2 decades later, their loved ones proceed to stitchery to singing their names astatine the 9/11 Memorial astatine the World Trade Center analyzable successful New York.
These photos show really the attacks destroyed the towers that erstwhile defined the city's skyline, and really New York rebuilt Ground Zero.
The Twin Towers dominated the New York City skyline connected this June time successful 1999.
Just complete 2 years later, that skyline was horrifically altered.
The apical photograph was taken connected August 30, 2001, while the bottommost photograph was taken 16 days aft the attacks.
The first Tribute successful Light occurred connected March 11, 2002, crossed from Ground Zero.
In December 2003, a creation for the caller Freedom Tower was yet unveiled.
It would travel to see aggregate caller buildings, specified arsenic the 1,776-foot-tall One World Trade Center and a 9/11 Memorial and Museum.
The Tribute successful Light still shines each twelvemonth connected the tile of the Battery Parking Garage. Here it is, 5 years aft the attacks.
In precocious 2007, the tract still looked the same, arsenic building was hamstrung by lawsuits, fund overruns, creation changes, and a recession.
In 2009, the 9/11 memorial waterfalls started to return shape.
One World Trade Center, besides known arsenic the "Freedom Tower," was conscionable starting to emergence from the rubble.
By July 2011, the memorial waterfalls were tested, and One World Trade Center's destruction was opening to bespeak the sky.
The memorial waterfalls officially opened successful September 2011, and the museum, seen connected the right, opened successful May 2014.
By November 2014, One World Trade Center was complete, arsenic were 4 World Trade Center (left) and 7 World Trade Center (right). However, 3 World Trade Center still wasn't finished.
The WTC Transportation Hub, connected which the achromatic Oculus was built, was besides nether building successful precocious 2014.
The hub officially opened successful June 2016, while 3 World Trade Center was still nether construction.
The $50 cardinal Liberty Park besides opened successful June 2016. From there, visitors tin get an overhead position of the Ground Zero memorial.
This photograph from June 2018 shows 3 World Trade Center, One World Trade Center, 4 World Trade Center, the 9/11 Memorial and Museum, and Liberty Park, each of which were yet complete.
With building officially complete, the Manhattan skyline is now everlastingly changed.
Now the tallest building successful the US, the gleaming One World Trade Center, pictured successful August 2025, towers complete the Financial District.
The Tribute of Light was tested up of the 25th day of 9/11.
Daniel Brown contributed to an earlier type of this article.
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Ellen Ioanes is the Military & Defense Editorial Fellow astatine INSIDER. She is simply a postgraduate of Columbia Journalism School and Davidson College. Her activity appears successful the Guardian, the Center for Public Integrity, the Daily Dot, HuffPost India, and more. You tin travel her connected Twitter @girlstothefront.
Roya is simply a newsman connected Business Insider's Editorial Partnerships team. She is based successful London. Before joining Business Insider, she worked arsenic a newsman astatine financial newswire Alliance News and was an intern astatine The Wall Street Journal. Roya graduated from City St George's, University of London pinch an MA successful International Journalism.
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