History/Terrorism
1920 Wall Street Bombing
On September 16, 1920 , a bomb went off near 23 Wall St., the offices of J.P. Morgan & Company. Brokers, clerks and receptionists were headed out for lunch at noon when the bomb exploded. The bomb was roughly made of 100 pounds of TNT. It was strategically placed in an old single-top wagon, drawn by a horse. Five hundred pounds of fragmented weights piled around the bomb tore into the surroundings.
Motive of Bombing
The motive of the attack is not a definite one, as the people behind the attacks were not found. It is assumed that anarchic terrorists fighting to destroy American capitalism were behind the attack. J.P. Morgan & Co. seemed to be the target of the attack, as he was one of the biggest symbols of capitalism in the US.
(Image Source: http://recollectionbooks.com/bleed/images/anarchist/WallStreetBomb.jpg)
Hours after the explosion, the post office found printed circulars that had been picked up from the post box at Cedar St. and Broadway during the 11:58 AM mail collections. These circulars strengthened the suspicion of anarchist terrorists. The circular read:
“Remember we will not tolerate any longer. Free the political prisoners or it will be sure death for all of you. American Anarchists Fighters.”
Effects
The explosion was so powerful that glass windows of far-away buildings shattered. A nearby vehicle flipped twenty feet into the air and a huge smoke soared into the skies. Awnings twelve stories high caught fire. The massive iron bars across the windows of the nearby Assay Office bent. Thirty people died instantly and two hundred lay wounded, of which 10 would later die.
Many of the victims were either burned or injured due to shrapnel and glass. The streets were filled with men and women dying. Within minutes of the attack, relief efforts were mobilized. Due to the large number of victims, trucks, automobiles and taxicabs acted as ambulances. Police officers, guns drawn, stood before the Assay Office and Subtreasury. Federal troops from the Governor's Island garrison arrived at the scene forty minutes later.
Today, the wall facing 23 Wall St. of the J.P. Morgan building is pockmarked (see images). These pockmarks were the result of the bomb that went off in 1920. According to Morgan Inc., these pockmarks will never be repaired and will stay as long as the building stands. Only one employee of J.P. Morgan was killed. The large steel wires in the windows prevented a greater loss of life. Within four hours of the explosion, repairs were being done on the building and it was reopened the next day. 
After the explosion, William H. Remick, the president of the Stock Exchange at that time suspended trading for the day. This is significant because this was the first time in the Stock Market's history that trading was suspended for the day.
1993 World Trade Center Bombing
On February 26, 1993, a car bomb exploded in the underground garage of the World Trade Center. The explosion killed six people and injured at least 1,040 others.
Effects of the Bombing
The bomb left a 30-meter wide hole through four sublevels of concrete. The huge explosion caused smoke to rise up to 93rd floor. However, the tower was not completely destroyed.
The smoke rose through the floors of the tower trapped office workers. Four stairwells, the emergency lighting system, and elevators were cut off due to the explosion. People tried to get out of the building through the smoke filled stairways and smashed windows. Many people made their way out of the building as rescue workers tried to get oxygen to people in the upper floors. In the end, six people were dead and about 1040 were injured.
The explosion cut off the center's main electrical power line. The loss of electricity caused radio and television stations in N.Y.C. to lose their over-the-air broadcast signal for almost a week. Most people of New York City also lost their telephone service.
Memorial
A granite memorial to the six victims of the bombing was erected between the Twin Towers, directly above the site of the explosion. Unfortunately, the attack in 2001 that destroyed both towers also destroyed this memorial. A part of the memorial is being used as the centerpiece of a new memorial honoring the victims of the attack.
Al-Qaeda
The terrorist group Al Qaeda was responsible for the 1993 World Trade Center bombings. It has been an enemy of the U.S. because the U.S. is a strong ally of Israel. Also, the presence of U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East had angered the terrorists.
Many people convicted in the bombing had connections with Al Qaeda. Four of these men had links with Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman. Rahman is a blind Egyptian cleric who spiritually led the Egyptian Islamic Jihad. He was convicted of conspiracy to blow up N.Y.C. landmarks and was sentenced to life in prison.
Ramzi Ahmed Yousef, an Al Qaeda operative was believed to be the mastermind behind the bombings. He had escaped to Pakistan from the United States several hours after the attack. Two years later, on February 7, 1995, Yousef was arrested by a group of F.B.I. agents, U.S. Diplomatic Security Service, and Pakistani police officers in Islamabad, Pakistan. He was found guilty of masterminding the 1993 bombings on November 12, 1997.
September 11 Attacks
The attacks on September 11, 2001, were the deadliest attacks on the mainland of the United States. The death toll of 2,986 was greater than the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, which killed about 2,400 people. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial aircrafts and turned them into flying bombs. These terrorists belonged to the militant Islamist group, Al-Qaeda, which is headed by Osama Bin Laden.
Two planes crashed into the Twin Towers in Manhattan. A third aircraft crashed into the Pentagon, in Virginia, and the fourth plane crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Two airplanes crashed into the Twin Towers with about 10,000 gallons of fuel each. The first plane crashed into the North Tower at 8:46am whereas the second crashed into the South Tower at 9:03am. Afterwards, there were big holes in the towers and smoke blackening the sky. Many people ran out of the buildings and some, who were trapped, jumped out. A few hours after the collision, both of the Twin Towers collapsed, killing many firefighters, rescue personnel and people trapped inside.
Economic Impact
The collapse of the World Trade Center had a huge economic impact. The New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange and NASDAQ did not open on September 11 and remained closed until September 17. Even though facilities of The N.Y.S.E. were not damaged, many member firms, customers and markets were cut off. On September 17, the Stock Exchange reopened. However it was a bad day for the markets. The Dow Jones Industrial Average index fell 684 points, the biggest one-day decline in its history. By the end of the week, it had fallen by 1397.7 points, also the biggest in its history. U.S. stocks lost $1.2 trillion in value for the week.
The airline industry was also hit hard by the attacks. North American air space was closed for days after the attack and people became paranoid about air travel. The U.S. airline industry suffered heavy losses and has not fully recovered as of 2005.
Aftermath
Three years after the attacks, things are getting back to normal. However, security has been a great concern. The streets surrounding the Stock Exchange on Wall Street are still barricaded to prevent physical attacks on the building. There is also a huge presence of police and security personnel.
Reconstruction
The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation was tasked with the reconstruction of the WTC site. On January 2004 Michael Arad and Peter Walker's Reflecting Absence was chosen as the design for WTC Memorial. Architect Daniel Libeskind's design was chosen for the reconstruction of the WTC site. The site will be rebuilt as a complex of buildings. A Freedom Tower is the highlight of the design. It will reach a height of 1776 feet, symbolizing the year of American Independence. This would show “the durability of democracy,” according to Libeskind.