The Triangle awoke on Sept. 11, 2001, to a sunny fall Tuesday.
But things would take a dark turn about 8:45 a.m. With no smartphones pinging news headlines, many people first started hearing the news on the network morning shows or on the radio during their commutes to work.
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A plane had crashed into one of the two World Trade Center towers in New York City. Within minutes, a second plane had flown into the other tower.
Both towers would soon collapse into rubble.
In Washington, a third plane would crash into the Pentagon. And a fourth plane — thought to be en route to a target in Washington — crash-landed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
The News & Observer quickly assembled a Special Late Edition of the print newspaper with the headline “UNDER ATTACK.” The presses ran, and the edition was soon being read across the Triangle by people trying to absorb what was happening.
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The rest of the day was a blur. So many dead and missing. Such horrific images from Ground Zero. A declaration of terrorism, and President George W. Bush’s speech to the nation.
It was a day that forever changed the United States. It was a day that changed anyone who experienced it.
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Today, 25 years later, we remember.
This story was originally published September 11, 2026 at 5:00 AM.