Today is the 15th anniversary of the 911 terrorist attacks in the United States. On this day in 2001, terrorists hijacked four commercial jets, crashing one each into the north and south towers of the World Trade Center in New York, and one into the Pentagon in Washington. The fourth hijacked airliner crashed into a field in Pennsylvania after scuffles broke out between the passengers and the terrorists on board. Nearly 3,000 people were killed and many thousands more were injured in the attacks. The United States would go on to wage warfare in Afghanistan and elsewhere in a protracted war on terror. The mastermind of the attacks, Osama bin Laden, was shot and killed in Pakistan on May 2, 2011, by US special forces.
On this day in 1984, the NT$17.7 billion construction of the Taipei Mass Rapid Transit system began.
On this day in 2009, the Taipei District Court gave former President Chen Shui-bian life imprisonment for involvement in four corruption cases.