The World Trade Center was a complex of seven buildings in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City.
Built primarily between 1966 and 1975, it was officially dedicated on 4 April 1973. At the time of their completion, the 110-story-tall Twin Towers, including 1 World Trade Center (the North Tower, which incorporated a 362 foot (110 m) telecommunications mast on the roof) at 1,368 feet (417 m), and 2 World Trade Center (the South Tower) at 1,362 feet (415.1 m), were the tallest buildings in the world.
David Rockefeller suggested the complex to help stimulate urban renewal in Lower Manhattan. His brother Nelson – then the 49th governor of New York – signed the legislation to build it.
Although New Yorkers and architectural critics initially criticised their design (by Minoru Yamasaki), the Twin Towers became an icon of New York City – alongside the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, and the Statue of Liberty – and featured in over 470 films, and in Philippe Petit’s tightrope-walking performance on 7 August 1974.
The World Trade Center complex comprised 13,400,000 square feet (1,240,000 m²) of office space, housing more than 430 companies. On a typical weekday, an estimated 50,000 people worked in the complex and another 140,000 passed through as visitors.
The towers offered expansive views from the observation deck atop the South Tower and the Windows on the World restaurant on top of the North Tower (pictured below).
Windows on the World was developed by restaurateur Joe Baum at a cost of more than $17 million. By 2000 (its last full year of operation), the restaurant reported revenues of $37 million, making it the highest-grossing restaurant in the US.
A number of major crime and terrorist incidents took place at the complex, including a fire on 13 February 1975, a bombing on 26 February 1993, and a bank robbery on 14 January 1998.
The Twin Towers and other parts of the World Trade Center complex were destroyed by targeted terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001, when hijackers affiliated with the militant Islamist organisation al-Qaeda flew two Boeing 767 aircraft at the complex – one into each of the Twin Towers.
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 both towers to collapse, killing 2,606 people 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 initiated by falling debris, led to the partial or complete collapse of all the buildings in the World Trade Center complex and caused catastrophic damage to ten other large structures in the surrounding area.
A memorial and museum to those killed in the attacks – including two square reflecting pools in the centre – now mark where the Twin Towers stood.
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Built primarily between 1966 and 1975, it was officially dedicated on 4 April 1973. At the time of their completion, the 110-story-tall Twin Towers, including 1 World Trade Center (the North Tower, which incorporated a 362 foot (110 m) telecommunications mast on the roof) at 1,368 feet (417 m), and 2 World Trade Center (the South Tower) at 1,362 feet (415.1 m), were the tallest buildings in the world.
The World Trade Center complex comprised 13,400,000 square feet (1,240,000 m²) of office space, housing more than 430 companies. On a typical weekday, an estimated 50,000 people worked in the complex and another 140,000 passed through as visitors.
