The United States marks the 11th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks on Tuesday. For the first time since the attacks, no politicians will speak at the 9/11 memorial service at Ground Zero in Manhattan.
However, President Barack Obama is scheduled to visit the Pentagon Memorial for an observance ceremony, while Vice President Joe Biden heads to Shanksville, Pennsylvania, to deliver remarks at the Flight 93 National Memorial Commemorative Service.
Below, RTTNews looks back at events that have shaped the U.S. - from the institution of the USA PATRIOT Act to the killing of Osama bin Laden - and the world - including the Bali, London and Mumbai bombings - since the 9/11 attacks.
June 2001: Journalist Charles Krauthammer first uses the term "Bush Doctrine" to refer to the administration of President George W. Bush "unilaterally withdrawing from the [Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty] and rejecting the Kyoto protocol." The term is later used to refer to Bush's use of a preventative war strategy.
September 11, 2001: 19 al-Qaeda operatives hijack four passenger jets. Two of these jets are flown on a collision course with the World Trade Center complex in New York City, killing 2,606 people in the towers and on the ground. One other plane hits the Pentagon, killing 125 people. The third plane was meant to be flown into the U.S. Capitol building but crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, killing all 40 passengers plus the four hijackers. The total casualties came to 2,977 plus the 19 hijackers.
September 20, 2001: President George W. Bush demands Afghanistan hand over al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden for his role in the 9/11 attacks. The Taliban-run government demands evidence of bin Laden's involvement, which the U.S. refuses to give. Bin Laden denies involvement in attacks.
September 20, 2001: Bush formally declares a worldwide "War on Terror" to catch and kill the perpetrators behind the 9/11 attacks, saying, "Our 'war on terror' begins with al-Qaeda, but it does not end there. It will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped and defeated."
October 7, 2001: U.S./U.K. forces strike Afghanistan to oust the Taliban-backed government.
October 26, 2001: Bush signs Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001(USA PATRIOT Act) into law. The Act reduces restrictions around law enforcement gathering of intelligence information and extends definition of terrorism to domestic acts as well.
November 2001: Kabul falls to U.S./U.K. forces.
December 2001: UN establishes International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), often called the Coalition Forces, to head operations in Afghanistan.
December 22, 2001: U.K.-born Islamic fundamentalist Richard Reid unsuccessfully tries to detonate bomb material kept in his shoe on American Airlines Flight 63 from Paris to Miami.
January 12, 2002: Pakistani government bans all Islamic extremist militant groups, arrests various leaders.
October 12, 2002: Al-Qaeda/Taliban-linked South Asian Islamic militant group Jemaah Islamiyah detonates bombs outside of two Bali clubs popular with tourists and backpackers. 202 people are killed and 240 injured. Audio tape connecting Osama bin Laden found at the scene. Three of the perpetrators are subsequently executed for their role in November 2008.
March 2003: Operation Iraqi Freedom officially kicked off in response to Iraq's refusal to dismantle its weapons of mass destruction and turn over all missile technology under UN Security Council Resolution 1441.
April 2003: Baghdad falls to U.S. forces.
May 1, 2003: Bush declares end of major combat missions in Iraq, although an insurgent war will wage on for another seven years.
April 2004: the Department of Defense ceases to use the term "War on Terror," instead referring to the fight against Islamic extremism worldwide as the "Overseas Contingency Operation" (OCO).
July 7, 2005: Four bombs detonated by homegrown U.K. Islamic terrorists inside the London Underground. 52 people and the four bombers are killed, over 700 injured.
July 2006: Osama bin Laden urges Somalis to build an Islamic state, begins strengthening now most prevalent branch of al-Qaeda, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).
December 30, 2006: former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein executed by hanging on 1982 charges of killing Iraqi Shiites.
December 30, 2006: Al-Qaeda deputy head Ayman al-Zawahiri calls for Africans in Ethiopia and Somalia to fight against Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and declare an Islamic state.
January 2007: Bush announces an additional 20,000 U.S. forces will be deployed to Iraq to carry out a "surge" campaign to root out remaining insurgency elements.
April 2007: the British government ceases using the term "War on Terror."
December 27, 2007: former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto killed in operation led by Al-Qaeda financial chief Saeed al-Masri. 139 bystanders killed. [al-Masri later killed in U.S. drone strike in May 2010]
November 26, 2008: 11 coordinated attacks by South Asian jihadist group Lashkar-e-Taiba in Mumbai, India, result in the deaths of 164 people. 308 others are injured.
November 5, 2009: Army psychiatrist Nidal Malik Hasan goes on a shooting spree at Ford Hood in Killeen, Texas. 13 are killed and 29 injured in the attack, which Hasan said was planned with the help of U.S.-born Yemeni-schooled cleric Anwar al-Awlaki.
December 25, 2009: Nigerian-born Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab fails to detonate bomb materials kept in his underwear on Northwest Airlines Flight 253 flying from Amsterdam to Detroit.
May 1, 2010: Pakistani-born citizen Faisal Shahzad fails to detonate a car bomb in Times Square. Shahzad later sentenced to life in prison.
September 1, 2010: Under President Barack Obama, the end of U.S. operations in Iraq announced.
May 2, 2011: Osama bin Laden killed by U.S. Navy SEALs in raid on his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
September 30, 2011: Anwar al-Awlaki killed in an American drone attack in Yemen.
December 18, 2011: last U.S. combat troops exit Iraq.
September 11, 2012: New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg along with the Port Authority agree to resume construction of 9/11 memorial at Ground Zero, to be opened in late 2013.
December 2014: scheduled pull-out date for remainder of foreign troops from Afghanistan.
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