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The Star Spangled Banner (Whitney Houston Song)

The Star Spangled Banner (Whitney Houston song)

"The Star Spangled Banner" was a single released by Whitney Houston to raise funds for soldiers and families of those involved in the Persian Gulf War. The song was re-released in 2001, following the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Song Information

The "The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States. It is performed at sports games in the United States. In 1991, Whitney Houston performed "The Star Spangled Banner" at the Super Bowl using a pre-recorded version of the song. The song was released as a single as the Persian Gulf War was drawing to a close to raise funds for the soldiers of the war and their families.

Chart Information

Houston's rendition of the song reached #20 on the Hot 100. The song debuted at #32, Houston's highest showing at that time, but remained in the Top 40 for only 7 weeks. It peaked at #3 on the Hot 100 Single Sales, but only reached #55 on the Hot 100 Airplay. Internationally, the song was not released. This may be because it is the US national anthem and is not as well-known outside the country. Also, Houston didn't have a steady fanbase overseas (compare her 9 #1's in America to 3 #1's in the UK).

Re-release

After the September 11 attacks, Arista Records decided that Houston's version of "The Star Spangled Banner" should be re-released with all profits going towards the firefighters and victims of the attacks. The single went to the top of the Hot 100 Singles Sales chart for 6 weeks, and topped the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles and Tracks Sales Chart for 2 weeks, and sold enough copies to be certified platinum soon after. This gave Whitney another Top 10 single as it peaked at #6.

Chart Trajectory

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Single Track Listing

1. "The Star Spangled Banner"
2. "America the Beautiful"

Music Video

There is no "actual" music video for the song. It is just the filmed recording of Houston performing it at the Super Bowl in 1991.

Comprehensive Charts

"The Star Spangled Banner" Debuted at #32 on The Billboard Hot 100
"The Star Spangled Banner" Debuted at #50 on The Billboard Hot 100 upon re-release
"The Star Spangled Banner" Was Not Ranked on The Billboard Year End Charts (1991)
"The Star Spangled Banner" Was Not Ranked on The Billboard Year End Charts (2001)
"The Star Spangled Banner" Remained in The Billboard Hot 100 for 11 weeks (1991)
"The Star Spangled Banner" Remained in The Billboard Hot 100 for 16 weeks (2001)
- USA Category:Whitney Houston singles Category:September 11, 2001 charity singles Category:1991 singles Category:2001 singles

Whitney Houston

Whitney Elizabeth Houston (born August 9 1963 in Newark, New Jersey) is an American Pop, R&B, Soul and Gospel singer, songwriter, record producer, film producer and actress. She was one of the most popular and successful singers of the 1980s and 1990s, receiving multiple Grammy Awards, American Music Awards, Billboard Music Awards, two Emmy Awards, an MTV Video Music Award, and an MTV Movie Award. Her vocals are considered to be some of the best ever among pop singers, influencing singers such as Monica, SWV and Brandy.

Biography

Early years

Whitney's mother (Cissy Houston), first cousin (Dionne Warwick) and Godmother (Aretha Franklin) were all established Gospel/R&B/Soul singers, which caused her to always be around the presence of music while she was growing up. At the age of 11, she started performing as a soloist in the junior gospel choir at the New Hope Baptist church in Newark, New Jersey, and would later go on to accompanying her mother in concert. Although a Baptist, she attended a Catholic high school. After appearing on her mother's 1978 album, Think It Over, she started as a backing singer for many other established acts, such as Chaka Khan, Jermaine Jackson, and Lou Rawls. At the age of 16, she was featured as the lead vocalist on the Michael Zager Band's single, "Life's a Party" in 1978. In the early-1980s, she started appearing as a model in various magazines (and even appeared on the cover of Seventeen magazine.) In 1982, she made her first recording as a featured vocalist with the Jazz-Funk ensemble, Material. The song is called "Memories" and was featured on the group's album, One Down.

1983–1991: Early music career

Material The signing of Whitney's record deal with Arista took place in 1983, after Arista chief Clive Davis heard her perform at a nightclub with her mother. Immediately, the process of starting her debut album began, with nothing but the best songwriters and producers being used in this project. In 1984, she had her first commercial success with "Hold Me", a duet with Teddy Pendergrass (which appeared on his album, Love Language, and later on her debut album.) The single eventually peaked into the top fifty on the U.S. pop chart and the top five of the R&B chart. It was during that time that she decided to audition for the part of Sondra Huxtable on The Cosby Show (which she lost to Sabrina Le Beauf) and guest star on shows like Gimme a Break and Silver Spoons. Whitney's popularity was beginning to grow fast. On February 14, 1985, her self-titled debut album was released. It's slow rise up the album charts was encouraged by the success of it's singles; with "You Give Good Love" cracking the top three and "Saving All My Love For You", "How Will I Know" and "Greatest Love Of All" going onto all hit number one. In March of 1986, Whitney Houston hit number one on the album charts. The album went onto sell over 22 million copies worldwide (with 13 million copies being sold in the U.S alone), making it the best-selling debut ever by a female artist. With this success came a series of prestigious awards, notably a 'Best Female Pop Vocal Performance' Grammy for "Saving All My Love for You" and an Emmy for 'Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety Program on TV'. For the remainder of 1986, she embarked on "The Greatest Love Tour". Released in June of 1987, Whitney was an immediate hit, as it became the first album by a female artist to ever debut at number one in the U.S. and U.K. The first single, "I Wanna Dance with Somebody" (originally titled "I'm Gonna Dance With Somebody" at her 1986 tour) shot straight to number one. Her next three singles; "Didn't We Almost Have It All", "So Emotional" and "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" also followed in that lead, giving her a total of seven consecutive number one hits in the U.S. This broke the previous record that was shared by The Beatles and The Bee Gees and to this day, she is still declared by the Guinness Book Of World Records for having the most consecutive number one hits. Unfortunately, the string of number one hits was broken in September of 1988, when "Love Will Save The Day" was only able to manage Number Nine on the Hot 100. The album eventually went onto sell 18 million copies worldwide (with over 9 million copies being sold in the U.S alone.) "The Moment Of Truth" tour and another series of awards followed, including the 'Best Female Pop Vocal Performance' Grammy for "I Wanna Dance with Somebody", and various female vocal categories at the American Music Awards. During the 1988 Olympics, her performance of "One Moment in Time" peaked in the U.S. top five and on the number one spot in the UK. Whitney's third studio album, I'm Your Baby Tonight was finally released in November of 1990, where it hit number three on The Billboard 200. The first two singles; "I'm Your Baby Tonight" and "All The Man That I Need" went straight to number one in U.S., giving her a total of nine U.S. number one singles at that point. The last two singles were not as successful, as "Miracle" was only able to reach number nine and "My Name Is Not Susan" reached an even lower peak at number twenty. "I Belong To You" and "We Didn't Know" (a duet with Stevie Wonder) were only released on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart, where they hit number ten and twenty. The album managed to sell 8 million copies worldwide with 4 million of those in the U.S. The album was followed by the "I'm Your Baby Tonight" world tour and four Billboard Music Awards at the 1991 ceremony. In January, 1991, she performed "The Star Spangled Banner" at Super Bowl XXV in Tampa. It was later released as a single, where it reached number twenty in the U.S. and became the only version of the National Anthem to be certified platinum. The single also helped to raise funds for the American Red Cross and was later performed (along with her other hits) at her highly rated HBO concert at Norfolk, VA, as she welcomed back US troops returning from the Gulf War.

1992–1997: Acting career

American Red Cross In July 1992, Whitney Houston married R&B singer Bobby Brown; the relationship proved turbulent. In the same year she made a credible acting debut in the film The Bodyguard alongside Kevin Costner. Houston recorded six songs for the phenomenally successful soundtrack album: cover versions of Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You", which topped the U.S. chart for fourteen weeks and the United Kingdom charts for ten, and Chaka Khan's "I'm Every Woman", in addition to "I Have Nothing", "Run to You", "Queen of the Night", and "Jesus Loves Me". The album went on to sell seventeen million copies in the U.S. and thirty-seven million worldwide, making it the best-selling soundtrack album of all time. The film went on to gross over $120 million in the U.S. and over $410 million worldwide, making Whitney Houston a film star was well as a pop star. Houston won numerous awards in 1993 including Grammy Awards for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, Record of the Year, and Album of the Year. In 1993, Houston gave birth to her only child, a daughter, whom she named Bobbi Kristina Brown. In 1994, Houston went on to win a record eight American Music Awards (tied with Michael Jackson's Thriller from 1984). Also in that year, Whitney Houston became the first American singer to perform in post-apartheid South Africa. Her concerts raised money to aid South Africa's children. In 1995, Waiting to Exhale was released. The film was very successful, earning over seventy million dollars in the U.S. alone. The soundtrack was an even bigger hit, selling over ten million copies worldwide. It was written and produced by Houston's close friend Babyface. It featured three songs by Houston, the number-one hit "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)", a top-ten duet with gospel artist CeCe Winans, "Count on Me", and "Why Does It Hurt So Bad". In 1996, Whitney Houston co-starred with Denzel Washington in The Preacher's Wife, a remake of the 1947 classic, The Bishop's Wife. The movie did not do as well as the others, but still brought over $48 million in the U.S. The soundtrack, a Gospel dominated album with fourteen new songs from Houston, sold poorly compared to her previous releases. However, it is still the best selling Gospel album of the Billboard Era with sales of more than 3 million copies. The two big singles from the album were the top five hit "I Believe in You and Me" and the surprise pop and dance hit "Step by Step". In 1997, Houston starred in and produced a multicultural version of the classic fairy-tale Cinderella featuring Brandy in the title role. When Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella premiered on ABC-TV on November 2 1997, it was watched by over sixty million Americans. The film went on to win an Emmy Award and has become the best selling video ever of a made-for-TV film.

1998–2002: Career development and controversy

Houston spent most of the 1990s concentrating on her acting career, but made a surprise return to the studio for 1998's My Love Is Your Love. The album, which was supposed to be a greatest hits collection, instead featured thirteen new tracks from Houston. Enlisting the songwriting help of Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott, Diane Warren, and Wyclef Jean, among others, the album was a confident attempt by Houston to reclaim her success of years past. "When You Believe", a duet with Mariah Carey taken from the animated DreamWorks film The Prince of Egypt, was a transatlantic hit. However, Houston's fortunes were revived by the U.S. number-two single, "Heartbreak Hotel". The atypical and hard-hitting "It's Not Right but It's Okay", and the reggae inspired title track, both were U.S./U.K. top-five hit singles. "Heartbreak Hotel", "It's Not Right, but It's Okay", "My Love Is Your Love", and the fifth single from My Love is Your Love, "I Learned from the Best" all went on to become number-one dance hits for Whitney, making her one of the club scene's hottest artists. Houston also performed at VH1's Divas Live! in 1999, helping to make it the highest rated show in VH1 history at that time. In 2000, Houston got into trouble as she was found with marijuana at an airport in Hawaii and she skipped out on a performance at the Oscars (Faith Hill was a last-minute replacement for Houston). Houston's public image was further tarnished when it was revealed that she had been battling spousal abuse with her husband. Additionally she had clearly lost a great deal of weight and this, coupled with shaky (sometimes cancelled) public performances gave way to rumours of cocaine addiction. Many thought that her vocals sounded strained, and that her voice was worn down. In 2000, Arista released, Whitney: The Greatest Hits, a two CD compilation of Houston's biggest hits. "Disc One — Cool Down" featured a collection of her ballads as well as two new tracks, "Could I Have This Kiss Forever" (a duet with Enrique Iglesias) and "Same Script, Different Cast" (a duet with Deborah Cox). Both songs received considerable airplay in the U.S. "Disc Two — Throw Down" is a collection of her dance songs and remixes. It also featured two new songs, "Fine" and "If I Told You That" (a duet with George Michael). Neither song made a splash in the U.S.; however they were hits internationally. Greatest Hits has sold over eleven million copies worldwide. In 2001, Houston and Arista Records agreed to re-release her version of the Star Spangled Banner to benefit the families of police officers and firefighters killed during the tragic events of September 11, 2001. It sold more than 300,000 copies, raised more than one million dollars, and earned Houston yet another top-ten single as it peaked at number six. On December 10th 2001 in the UK Love, Whitney was released and was the follow-up to her multi-platinum 'Greatest Hits' collection. The album is a collection of ballads that have become Whitney's trademark over the years. It includes a collection of nine top twenty hits, including "Saving All My Love For You", "I Have Nothing" and of course the number 1 smash hit "I Will Always Love You". The album has sold 500,000 copies worldwide. 2001 also brought Houston her first major producing assignment: the hit teen Disney comedy The Princess Diaries starring Anne Hathaway and Dame Julie Andrews, which grossed over $100,000,000 (USD) at the box office. She also produced two other major assignments for Disney: the 2003 TV film The Cheetah Girls, about the tribulations of an all-girl pop group, starring Raven-Symone, and The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (2004) grossed over $100,000,000 (USD). Although these efforts were very successful, Houston was criticized by her fans for producing "bubble-gum pop-ish" material. In 2002, Houston admitted in a television interview with TV journalist Diane Sawyer to abusing cocaine, marijuana, and various other drugs. She claimed to have stopped using illegal drugs, but seemed to be making the admission to address the rumours circulating about her lifestyle. During the interview, Houston's comment about having never used crack cocaine because it was "for poor people" caused a new uproar. In December 2002, Whitney released her fifth studio album, Just Whitney. The album reached number nine on The Billboard 200 and number three on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. The first single, "Whatchulookinat", did poorly on The Billboard Hot 100 (only reaching ninety-six), but it did manage to reach seventy-five on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart. The second single, "One of Those Days", reached seventy-two on The Billboard Hot 100 and twenty-nine on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart. While "Try It on My Own" only reached eight-four on The Billboard Hot 100 and eighty on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart, it did better on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart and the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart, where it reached number one and number twenty respectively. In mid-2003, the remixes of "Love That Man" also managed to reach number one on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart. All in all, the album definitely wasn't one of her most successful, but it still went on to sell over one million copies in the U.S. and two million copies worldwide.

2003–the present

In November 2003, Whitney released her first holiday album, One Wish. The album reached forty-nine on the Billboard 200, and fourteen on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. The album's single, "One Wish (for Christmas)", didn't chart on the Billboard Hot 100, but it did reach twenty on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. The album has sold over 500,000 copies worldwide. In March 2004, Houston entered a drug rehab program in California. Over the spring and summer of 2004, Houston performed at a few concerts in Europe (the Soul Divas Tour with Natalie Cole) and her own concert tour in Asia. In September 2004 she made a surprise appearance at the World Music Awards to sing for Clive Davis. They announced that they would soon start working on a new album for Houston, to be released in 2005, in which a duet with Alicia Keys is rumored to be featured. In March 2005, Houston's chances at a comeback appeared slim when she entered rehab for the second time. However, she finished rehab in May 2005. In an interview with Access Hollywood, Davis announced that he was returning to the studio with Houston to finish the album they had begun before she had started rehab (see [http://www.accesshollywood.com/music/4496021/detail.html]). Whitney spent the whole summer of 2005 working hard on her new album (which currently does not have a title). Five tracks have now been recorded according to Clive Davis, as the search for other songs continues. While it was rumored before that the album would be out in late 2005, it is now rumored for a April 2006 release. The album is rumoured to include duets with Wyclef Jean, Tony Bennet, R.Kelly, and Toni Braxton. Most recently, Whitney appeared at the BET 25th Anniversary Special on October 26, 2005 (which aired on November 1, 2005), where she showed off a refreshing and healthy new look. There are reports that Whitney has agreed to a Broadway musical based on her smash hit singles, much like ABBA has done with Mamma Mia. Recently American viewers have been able to watch Whitney Houston on her husband's reality TV show "Being Bobby Brown". The show was filmed before Houston's second stint at rehab and despite Houston's "Watchulookinat" song, the programme was candid and very revealing and of course introduced Houston's now famous phrase "Hell to the no".

Discography

For a full listing of albums and singles, with sales records and chart positions, see Whitney Houston discography.

Top Ten Singles

- 1985: "You Give Good Love" (#3 US)
- 1985: "Saving All My Love for You" (#1 US, #1 UK)
- 1985: "How Will I Know" (#1 US, #5 UK)
- 1986: "Greatest Love of All" (#1 US, #8 UK)
- 1987: "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" (#1 US, #1 UK)
- 1987: "Didn't We Almost Have It All" (#1 US)
- 1987: "So Emotional" (#1 US, #5 UK)
- 1988: "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" (#1 US)
- 1988: "Love Will Save the Day" (#9 US, #10 UK)
- 1988: "One Moment in Time" (#5 US, #1 UK)
- 1990: "I'm Your Baby Tonight" (#1 US, #5 UK)
- 1990: "All the Man That I Need" (#1 US)
- 1991: "Miracle" (#9 US)
- 1992: "I Will Always Love You" (#1 US, #1 UK)
- 1993: "I'm Every Woman" (#4 US, #4 UK)
- 1993: "I Have Nothing" (#4 US, #3 UK)
- 1995: "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)" (#1 (Debut) US)
- 1996: "Count On Me" (with CeCe Winans) (#8 US)
- 1996: "I Believe in You and Me" (#4 US)
- 1998: "When You Believe" (with Mariah Carey) (#4 UK)
- 1999: "Heartbreak Hotel" (featuring Faith Evans and Kelly Price) #1 US)
- 1999: "It's Not Right but It's Okay" (#4 US, #3 UK)
- 1999: "My Love Is Your Love" (#4 US, #2 UK)
- 2000: "If I Told You That" (with George Michael) (#9 UK)
- 2000: "Could I Have This Kiss Forever" (with Enrique Iglesias)(#7 UK)
- 2001: "The Star-Spangled Banner" (re-issue of 1992 single) (#6 US)

Filmography

- The Bodyguard (1992)
- Waiting to Exhale (1995)
- The Preacher's Wife (1996)
- Cinderella (1997)
- The Princess Diaries — producer (2001)
- The Cheetah Girls — executive producer (2003)
- The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement — producer (2004)

Chart Records and Achievements

- U.S. Sales records are certified by the RIAA and can be considered accurate. U.S. chart positions are official through Billboard Magazine. However, world sales are a close estimate, as no process exists that certifies global sales.

Sales records

- In 1994, Houston received an award from the World Music Awards show, for being the "best-selling artist of the era". To date she has sold over 63 million records in the U.S., and over 120 million worldwide.
- At the end of 1999, Houston was named the top-selling R&B female artist of the century.[http://www.riaa.com/news/newsletter/press1999/111099.asp]
- Houston's The Bodyguard was the first pop album in Korea to sell a million copies.
- The world's biggest selling soundtrack is The Bodyguard with over thirty-seven million units sold. It also ranks as the best-selling female album of all time.
- Houston has fourteen gold singles in the United States, behind only Janet Jackson andMadonna among female artists.
- The world's best selling debut album by a female is Whitney Houston, with over twenty-four million copies sold.
- Houston is the first female artist to have two diamond albums (as of January 1994, both Whitney Houston and The Bodyguard were over ten times platinum). To date, Houston, Madonna, Britney Spears, Mariah Carey, Céline Dion, Shania Twain, and The Dixie Chicks are the only female artists with multiple diamond albums.
- "I Will Always Love You" is the best-selling single by a female artist, and the biggest-selling non-charity single of all time, with world sales of ten million copies.
- The Bodyguard was the world's largest selling album of the 1990s with over thirty-three million copies sold from 1992 to 1999.
- The largest initial certification of any album by the RIAA was for The Bodyguard, whose first certification was for sales of over six million copies.
- Houston is one of only two female artists, the other being Mariah Carey, to have three albums sell over nine million copies each in the U.S.: Whitney Houston, Whitney, and The Bodyguard.
- In the 1990s, Houston was the best-selling soundtrack artist in the U.S., with her three soundtracks selling over twenty-five million copies in the United States throughout the decade.
- The Preacher's Wife soundtrack is the best-selling gospel album of all time.
- Houston's version of "The Star Spangled Banner" is the only version to be certified platinum.
- Houston holds the record for highest one week-single sales of 632,000 copies of "I Will Always Love You" in December 1992.

Chart records

Hot 100
- The longest stay at number one from a solo song is Houston's "I Will Always Love You", though tied with Elton John's "Candle in the Wind 1997/Something About the Way You Look Tonight" and Mariah Carey's "We Belong Together" with fourteen weeks.
- With seven songs, Houston holds the record for most number-one singles in the 1980s by a female artist (tied with Madonna).
- "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)" was the third single ever to debut at number one on the Billboard Hot 100.
- After spending one week at number one, "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)" spent the next eleven weeks at number two, the longest number-two stay in Hot 100 history.
- Houston is the only artist to claim seven consecutive number-one singles that charted on the Hot 100.
- Houston is the only artist to have charted from 1984 to 2003 (other artists such as Elvis Presley and Madonna have had longer streaks, but not during this time).
- Houston is the only artist to claim three Top Ten hits from all of her studio albums (in the 1980s and 1990s).
- Houston is the only artist to have three or more number-one singles from all of her albums (in the 1980s).
- Houston has the most number-one covers. She covered the songs "Saving All My Love for You", "Greatest Love of All", "All The Man That I Need", and "I Will Always Love You". Hot 100 Single Sales
- At fourteen weeks, Houston has the longest stay at number one on the Hot 100 Single Sales chart (shared with Elton John's "Candle in the Wind 1997/Something About the Way You Look Tonight").
- With fourteen songs, Houston holds the record for most consecutive Top Ten singles on the chart.
- With seven songs, Houston also holds the record for most consecutive number-one singles on the chart. Billboard 200
- The first album by a female to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 was 1987's Whitney.
- Houston is the only artist with three albums to remain on top of the Top 200 for over ten weeks (Whitney Houston (fourteen weeks), Whitney (eleven weeks), and The Bodyguard (twenty weeks)).
- The Bodyguard sold a million copies in the final week of 1992 — at the time it set a record for the most albums sold in a single week. The record was broken in 1998 and again in 1999, but this was due to changes in the way the Billboard 200 was compiled, adding extras days' sales for Garth Brooks and Backstreet Boys. More recently, 'N Sync, Britney Spears, and Eminem have followed in the million-plus league.
- Whitney Houston's albums have spent fifty weeks at number one on the Billboard 200, more than any other female artist. Top Gospel Albums
- Houston has the longest stay at number one on the Billboard Top Gospel Albums Chart, when The Preacher's Wife remained at number one for twenty-six weeks.

Other records

- Houston has won twenty-one American Music Awards, more than any other female artist and solo artist, and second only to Alabama's twenty-two awards.
- Houston won a record of eight American Music Awards for The Bodyguard back in 1994. She is tied only with Michael Jackson, who won eight AMA's for Thriller at the 1984 ceremony.
- Houston won a record 11 Billboard Music Awards at the 1993 ceremony for The Bodyguard.
- Houston is the only artist with at least one Grammy, Emmy, MTV Video Music Award, MTV Movie Award, People's Choice Award, and Billboard Music Award to their name.
- Houston won a record five World Music Awards at the ceremony in 1994, equalled only by Michael Jackson at the 1996 ceremony.
- Houston is the most covered artist on the TV Show American Idol with over 1,150 of 70,000 auditions being songs of hers during the show's third season.

International Records

- Houston is the first and only female artist to concurrently top the US, UK, and Australian charts with a single song ("I Will Always Love You").
- Houston has the longest concurrent topping of the US, UK, and Australian charts when "I Will Always Love You" spent 9 weeks simultaneously topping the charts.
- Houston is the only artist to have one song in the UK Year-End Singles Chart for two consecutive years. "I Will Always Love You" ranked #1 in 1992, and #9 in 1993.
- "I Will Always Love You" was named the Top Australian Single of the 1990's.
- "I Will Always Love You" is the only single to have a double-digit run at the top of the US, UK, and Australian charts.

External links

- [http://www.whitneyhouston.com/ whitneyhouston.com] — Official Website
- [http://www.classicwhitney.com/ classicwhitney.com]; Unofficial Website
- Houston, Whitney Houston, Whitney Houston, Whitney Houston, Whitney Houston, Whitney Houston, Whitney Houston, Whitney Houston, Whitney Houston, Whitney Houston, Whitney Houston, Whitney Houston, Whitney Houston, Whitney Houston, Whitney ja:ホイットニー・ヒューストン

September 11, 2001 attacks

The September 11, 2001 attacks were a series of coordinated suicide attacks upon the United States of America carried out on Tuesday, September 11, 2001, in which hijackers simultaneously took control of four U.S. domestic commercial airliners. The hijackers crashed two planes into the World Trade Center in Manhattan, New York City — one into each of the two tallest towers, about 18 minutes apart — shortly after which both towers collapsed. The hijackers crashed the third aircraft into the U.S. Department of Defense headquarters, the Pentagon, in Arlington County, Virginia. The fourth plane crashed into a rural field in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, 80 miles (129 km) east of Pittsburgh, following passenger resistance. The official count records 2,986 deaths in the attacks including the hijackers. The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (9/11 Commission) states in its final report that the nineteen hijackers who carried out the attack were terrorists, and were all affiliated with the Islamic Al-Qaeda organization. The report named Osama bin Laden, a Saudi national, as the leader of Al-Qaeda, and as the person ultimately suspected responsible for the attacks, with the actual planning being undertaken by Khalid Shaikh Mohammed. Bin Laden categorically denied involvement in two 2001 statements , although the denial is widely disbelieved in the West. Bin Laden himself remains at liberty at this time. The 9/11 Commission reported that these hijackers turned the planes into the largest suicide bombs in history. The September 11th attacks are among the most significant events to have occurred so far in the 21st century in terms of the profound economic, social, political, cultural and military effects that followed in the United States and many other parts of the world.

The attacks

The attacks started with the hijacking of four commercial airliners. With jet fuel capacities of nearly 24,000 U.S. gallons (91,000 litres) per aircraft [http://www.boeing.com/commercial/767family/pf/pf_200prod.html], the planes were turned into flying incendiary bombs. American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the north side of the north tower of the World Trade Center (WTC) at 8:46:40 AM local time (12:46:40 UTC). At 9:03:11 AM local time (13:03:11 UTC), United Airlines Flight 175 crashed into the south tower, covered live on television. American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon at 9:37:46 AM local time (13:37:46 UTC). The fourth hijacked plane, United Airlines Flight 93, crashed in a field near Shanksville and Stonycreek Township in Somerset County, Pennsylvania at 10:03:11 AM local time (14:03:11 UTC), with parts and debris found up to eight miles away. The crash in Pennsylvania is believed to have resulted from the hijackers either deliberately crashing the aircraft or losing control of it as they fought with the passengers. No one survived in any of the hijacked aircraft. The fatalities were in the thousands: 265 on the four planes; 2,595, including 343 New York City firefighters, 23 NYPD police officers, and 37 Port Authority police officers in the WTC; and 125 civilians and military personnel at the Pentagon. At least 2,986 people were killed in total. In addition to the 110-floor Twin Towers of the World Trade Center itself, five other buildings at the WTC site and four subway stations were destroyed or badly damaged. In total, on Manhattan Island, 25 buildings were damaged. Communications equipment such as broadcast radio, television and two way radio antenna towers were damaged beyond repair. In Arlington, a portion of the Pentagon was severely damaged by fire and one section of the building collapsed. Some passengers and crew members were able to make phone calls from the doomed flights. They reported that multiple hijackers were aboard each plane. A total of 19 were later identified, four on United 93 and five each on the other three flights (though confusion remains over their exact names and photographs, with some of those first identified still alive in Saudi Arabia [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/1559151.stm]). The hijackers reportedly took control of the aircraft by using box cutter knives to kill flight attendants and at least one pilot or passenger. The 9/11 Commission could only establish that two of the hijackers had recently purchased Leatherman multi-function hand tools [http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/01/27/911.commis.knife], but some form of noxious chemical spray, such as tear gas or pepper spray, was reported to have been used on American 11 and United 175 to keep passengers out of the first-class cabin. Bomb threats were made on three of the aircraft, but not on American 77.

The fourth aircraft

It has been speculated that the hijackers of the fourth hijacked aircraft, United Airlines Flight 93, intended to crash into the U.S. Capitol or the White House in Washington, D.C. Black box recordings reportedly revealed that passengers, led by Todd Beamer, Jeremy Glick and Mark Bingham, attempted to seize control of the plane from the hijackers, who then rocked the plane in a failed attempt to subdue the passengers. Soon afterwards, the aircraft crashed in a field near Shanksville in Stonycreek Township, Somerset County, Pennsylvania at 10:03:11 AM local time (14:03:11 UTC). There is a dispute about the exact timing of the crash, founded on the seismic evidence which indicates that the impact actually occurred at 10:06. [http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/timeline/nodate/seismicobservations.html] The 9/11 Panel reports that captured al-Qaeda mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed said that Flight 93's target was the U.S. Capitol, which was given the code name "The Faculty of Law".

9/11

The attacks are often referred to simply as September 11th, 9/11, or 9-11. The latter two are from the U.S. style for writing short dates, in which the month precedes the day. Both are pronounced "nine-eleven", though a few people prefer "nine-one-one" (the same as the telephone number for emergency services in the U.S., 9-1-1). Some people dislike the use of "nine-eleven" due to the similarity to "9-1-1" (which implies a call for help) and the obvious practical point - that this would be far more confusing and potentially ambiguous, and prefer to state the date as "September 11th"; this is also the preferred form in academic writing. Nonetheless, "nine-eleven" is the most common form. With the Madrid attacks on March 11, 2004 called "M11" and the London attacks 7/7, the convention has been extended.

Fatalities

At the World Trade Center, faced with a desperate situation of smoke and burning heat from the jet fuel, an estimated 200 people jumped to their deaths from the burning towers, landing on the streets and rooftops of adjacent buildings hundreds of feet below (a reaction to the attacks similar to the effects of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire and the burning of the General Slocum). In addition, some of the occupants of each tower above its point of impact made their way upward towards the roof in hope of helicopter rescue. No rescue plan existed for such an eventuality. By some accounts, fleeing occupants instead encountered locked access doors upon reaching the roof. As many as 1,366 people were trapped at and above the floors of impact in the North Tower (1 WTC). None of them survived. As many as 600 people were trapped at and above the floors of impact in the South Tower (2 WTC). Only about 18 managed to escape in time from above the impact zone and out of the South Tower before it collapsed. As the suburbs around New York City learned of the destruction so close to home, many schools closed for the day, evacuated or were locked-down. Other school districts shielded students from watching television because many parents held jobs in the World Trade Center towers. In New Jersey and Connecticut, private schools were evacuated. Scarsdale, New York schools closed for the day. In Greenwich, Connecticut, about 15 miles north of the city, hundreds of students had direct ties to victims of the attacks. Greenwich, one of the wealthiest towns in the world, had more residents killed than any other town in the area. According to Associated Press, the city identified over 1,600 bodies but was unable to identify the rest of the bodies (about 1,100 people). They report that the city has "about 10,000 unidentified bone and tissue fragments that cannot be matched to the list of the dead" (AP, 23 February 2005).

Responsibility

2005.]] 2005 2005 2005 (USGS)]] USGS The United States government has blamed al-Qaeda for the 9/11 attacks. al-Qaeda claims responsibility for several attacks on U.S. military and civilian targets in Africa and the Middle East. Osama bin Laden, a leader of al-Qaeda has denied involvement and knowledge of the incidents. Bin Laden earlier declared a holy war against the United States. Shortly after the attacks, the United States government declared al-Qaeda and bin Laden the prime suspects. According to U.S. military sources, in November 2001 U.S. forces recovered a videotape from a destroyed house in Jalalabad, Afghanistan which showed Osama bin Laden talking to Khaled al-Harbi. [http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/12/13/ret.bin.laden.videotape/] The U.S. military claims that bin Laden seems to admit planning the attacks in these tapes. The factuality of the tape is questioned in the Muslim world: "But the BBC's Middle East correspondent, Frank Gardner, says that at street level in the Arab world, many believe the tape is a fake, a PR gimmick dreamed up by the US administration." [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/1710483.stm]. The tape was broadcast on various news networks in December 2001. Osama bin Laden responded by reading a statement on September 16, 2001, "I stress that I have not carried out this act, which appears to have been carried out by individuals with their own motivation," which was broadcast by Qatar's Al-Jazeera satellite channel. [http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,34440,00.html][http://www.jsonline.com/news/nat/sep01/binladen-denial.asp][http://wildcat.arizona.edu/papers/95/20/05_1_m.html] This denial was broadcast on U.S. news networks and worldwide. The second public response was read on September 28 by Daily Ummat, a Pakistani newspaper. In it, bin Laden stated "I have already said that I am not involved in the 11 September attacks in the United States. As a Muslim, I try my best to avoid telling a lie. I had no knowledge of these attacks, nor do I consider the killing of innocent women, children and other humans as an appreciable act. Islam strictly forbids causing harm to innocent women, children and other people. Such a practice is forbidden even in the course of a battle." [http://www.public-action.com/911/oblintrv.html][http://911review.com/articles/usamah/khilafah.html] A United States government task force known as the 9-11 Commission, and calling themselves "The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States", released its report on July 22 2004, concluding that the attacks were conceived and implemented by al-Qaeda operatives. The Commission stated that "9/11 plotters eventually spent somewhere between $400,000 and $500,000 to plan and conduct their attack", but that the specific origin of the funds used to execute the attacks remained unknown. To date, only peripheral figures have been tried or convicted in connection with the attacks.

Motive

The September 11th attacks were consistent with the mission statement of Al-Qaeda. The group's involvement in the bombing of American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania is widely suspected, and Al-Qaeda had declared responsibility for the 2000 USS Cole attack in Yemen. The motivation for this campaign was set out in a 1998 fatwa [http://www.fas.org/irp/world/para/docs/980223-fatwa.htm] issued by bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri, Abu-Yasir Rifa'i Ahmad Taha, Shaykh Mir Hamzah, and Fazlur Rahman. The fatwa states that the United States:
- Plunders the resources of the Arabian Peninsula.
- Dictates policy to the rulers of those countries.
- Supports abusive regimes and monarchies in the Middle East, thereby oppressing their people.
- Has military bases and installations upon the Arabian Peninsula, which violates the Muslim holy land, in order to threaten neighbouring Muslim countries.
- Intends thereby to create disunion between Muslim states, thus weakening them as a political force.
- Supports Israel, and wishes to divert international attention from (and tacitly maintain) the occupation of Palestine. The Gulf War and the ensuing sanctions against and bombing of Iraq by the United States, were cited, in 1998, as further proof of these allegations. To the disapproval of moderate Muslims, the fatwa uses Islamic texts to explain violent action against American military and citizenry until the alleged grievances are reversed: stating "ulema have throughout Islamic history unanimously agreed that the jihad is an individual duty if the enemy destroys the Muslim countries". Statements of Al-Qaeda recorded after 9/11 confirm this motivation. In a 2004 video, apparently acknowledging responsibility for the attacks, bin Laden stated that he was motivated to "restore freedom to our nation", to "punish the aggressor in kind", and to inflict economic damage on America. He declared that a continuing objective of his holy war] was to "[bleed] America to the point of bankruptcy". [http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/79C6AF22-98FB-4A1C-B21F-2BC36E87F61F.htm] Both the United States and Al-Qaeda present the conflict as a battle between Good and Evil. The 9/11 Commission Report determined that the animosity towards the United States felt by Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the so-called "principal architect" of the 9/11 attacks, stemmed "by his own account ... from his violent disagreement with U.S. foreign policy favoring Israel." The same motivation has been imputed to the two pilots who flew into the WTC: Mohamed Atta was described by Ralph Bodenstein - who traveled, worked and talked with him - as "most imbued actually about... US protection of these Israeli politics in the region." Marwan al-Shehhi is said to have explained his humorless demeanour with the words: "How can you laugh when people are dying in Palestine?" By contrast, the Bush administration claims that Al-Qaeda was motivated by hatred of the freedom and democracy exemplified by the United States, and independent analysts claim that one major Al-Qaeda motive is to encourage Islamic solidarity focussed on a common enemy, and thus in the long term help pave the way for an Islamic world order. A relatively small minority reject the view that Al-Qaeda was responsible for the attacks, often citing the CIA, Mossad, or pro-Zionist elements as the likely perpetrators. Others, while accepting Al-Qaeda's culpability, allege that members of the American government withheld foreknowledge of the attacks, silently sanctioning them. In both cases, the suggested intent was to create a pretext for an American military expansion in the Middle East. Others suggest that the attacks were carried out by Palestinians or by Saddam Hussein's Iraqi government.

Aftermath

Saddam Hussein

International reaction

The attacks had major global political ramifications. They were denounced by mainstream media and governments world-wide, with the headline of Paris, France's Le Monde newspaper summing up the international mood of sympathy and sorrow [http://www.september11news.com/InternationalReaction.htm]: "Today We Are All Americans". Approximately one month after the attacks, the United States led a broad coalition of international forces into Afghanistan in pursuit of al-Qaeda forces in order to topple the Taliban Government for harboring what it referred to as a terrorist organization. [http://www.un.int/usa/01_162.htm] The Pakistani authorities moved decisively to align themselves with the United States in a war against Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda. It gave the U.S. a number of military airports and bases for its attack on Afghanistan, and arrested over six hundred supposed al-Qaeda members, whom it handed over to the U.S. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4513281.stm] Pakistan on December 7, 1941 in its headline.]] Numerous countries, including the UK, France, Germany, Indonesia, China, Russia, Pakistan, Jordan, Mauritius, Uganda and Zimbabwe [http://www.ifla.org/IV/ifla68/papers/156-079e.pdf] (PDF), introduced "anti-terrorism" legislation and froze the bank accounts [http://www.g8.fr/evian/english/navigation/g8_documents/archives_from_previous_summits/kananaskis_summit_-_2002/g8_counter-terrorism_cooperation_since_september_11th_backgrounder.html] of businesses and individuals they suspected of having al-Qaeda ties. Law enforcement and intelligence agencies in a number of countries, including Italy [http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0307/p07s02-woeu.html], Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines [http://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/southeast/05/07/seasia.terror.pact/] arrested people they labeled terrorist suspects for the stated purpose of breaking up militant cells around the world. This process aroused controversy, as critics such as the Bill of Rights Defense Committee argued that traditional restrictions on federal surveillance (e.g. COINTELPRO's monitoring of public meetings) were "dismantled" by the USA PATRIOT Act [http://www.bordc.org/resources/repeal.pdf] (PDF); civil liberty organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union [http://action.aclu.org/reformthepatriotact/primer.html] and Liberty [http://liberty-human-rights.org.uk/issues/terrorism.shtml] argued that certain civil rights protections were also being circumvented. The United States set up a detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to hold "illegal enemy combatants". The legitimacy of these detentions has been questioned by, among others, member states of the European Union, the Organization of American States, and Amnesty International. (See Camp X-Ray for further details.) In September, 2004 Yusuf Islam, a leading British Muslim noted for his peaceful charitable work and previously known as the singer Cat Stevens, was barred from entering the U.S. and was subsequently extradited to the UK after his flight was briefly diverted to Maine. [http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1310206,00.html] Yusuf Islam's expulsion led British foreign secretary, Jack Straw, to complain to the U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, who ordered a review of restrictions placed on people entering the United States.

Public response in the United States

The attacks also had immediate and overwhelming effects upon the United States population. Gratitude toward uniformed public-safety workers, and especially toward firefighters, was widely expressed in light of both the drama of the risks taken on the scene and the high death toll among the workers. The number of casualties among the emergency service personnel was unprecedented. The highly visible role played by Rudolph Giuliani, then Mayor of New York City, won him high praise nationally. He was named Person of the Year by Time magazine for 2001, and at times has had a higher profile in the U.S. than President George W. Bush. George W. Bush New York City bore the brunt of the attacks and will always bear physical and physiological scars from the events of the day. Blood donations saw a surge in the weeks after 9/11. According to a [http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/289/17/2246?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=1&andorexacttitle=and&andorexacttitleabs=and&andorexactfulltext=and&searchid=1119520325357_713&stored_search=&FIRSTINDEX=0&sortspec=relevance&volume=289&firstpage=2246&journalcode=jama report] by the Journal of the American Medical Association released on May 7 2003: "...the number of blood donations in the weeks after the September 11, 2001 attacks was markedly greater than in the corresponding weeks of 2000 (2.5 times greater in the first week after the attacks; 1.3–1.4 times greater in the second to fourth weeks after the attack)." [http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/289/17/2246?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=1&andorexacttitle=and&andorexacttitleabs=and&andorexactfulltext=and&searchid=1119520325357_713&stored_search=&FIRSTINDEX=0&sortspec=relevance&volume=289&firstpage=2246&journalcode=jama] There were some incidents of harassment and hate crimes against Middle Easterners and other "Middle Eastern looking" people, particularly Sikhs. A total of nine people were murdered within the United States as part of retaliation. Balbir Singh Sodhi, one of the first victims of this backlash, was shot dead on September 15. He, like many others, was a Sikh yet was mistaken for a Muslim.

Economic aftermath

The attacks had significant short-term economic impact for the United States and world markets. The New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange and NASDAQ did not open on September 11 and remained closed until September 17. New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) facilities and remote data processing sites were not damaged by the attack, but member firms, customers and markets were unable to communicate due to major damage to the telephone exchange facility near the World Trade Center. When the stock markets reopened on September 17, 2001, after the longest closure since the Great Depression in 1929, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (“DJIA”) stock market index fell 684 points, or 7.1%, to 8920, its biggest-ever one-day point decline. By the end of the week, the DJIA had fallen 1369.7 points (14.3%), its largest one-week point drop in history. U.S. stocks lost $1.2 trillion in value for the week. As of 2005 Wall and Broad Streets near the New York Stock Exchange remain barricaded and guarded to prevent a physical attack upon the building. The economy of Lower Manhattan, which by itself is the third-largest business district in the United States (after Midtown Manhattan and the Chicago Loop) was devastated in the immediate aftermath. 30% (28.7 million sq. ft) of Lower Manhattan office space was either damaged or destroyed. Much of what was destroyed was valuable Class-A space. The pre-2001 trend of moving jobs out of Lower Manhattan to Midtown and New Jersey was accelerated. Many questioned whether this loss of jobs and its associated tax based would ever be restored. The rebuilding has been inhibited by a lack of agreement on priorities. For example, Mayor Bloomberg had made New York's bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics the core of his capital development plan from 2002 until mid-2005, and Governor Pataki largely delegated his role to the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation [http://archrecord.construction.com/news/daily/archives/051205groundzero.asp] which has been widely criticized for doing little with the enormous funding directed to the rebuilding efforts. [http://www.nydailynews.com/news/local/story/371361p-315964c.html] On the sites of the totally destroyed buildings, one, 7 World Trade Center, has a new office tower. Only Ameriprise Financial, Inc., a spinoff of American Express Financial Advisors has been named as a potential tenant for it[http://www.boston.com/news/local/maine/articles/2005/11/19/portland_agency_takes_on_campaign_for_world_trade_center?mode=PF]. There is no consensus regarding the demand for office space looking forward to 2010, so the market for 7 WTC and other new construction in the financial district is soft. North American air space was closed for several days after the attacks and air travel decreased significantly upon its reopening. The attacks led to nearly a 20% cutback in air travel capacity, and exacerbated financial problems in the struggling U.S. airline industry. Many towers in the United States metropolitian areas were evacuated hours after the attacks, including Los Angeles, where traffic was at its lowest volume ever for that city, and the major downtown business district was virtually deserted.

Rescue, recovery, and compensation

Rescue and recovery efforts took months to complete. It took several weeks to simply put out the fires burning in the rubble of the WTC, and the clean-up was not completed until May 2002. Temporary wooden "viewing platforms" were set up for tourists to view construction crews clearing out the gaping holes where the towers once stood. Many relief funds were immediately set up to assist victims of the attacks. The task of providing financial assistance to the survivors and the families of victims is still ongoing.

Potential health effects

Thousands of tons of toxic debris resulting from the collapse of the Twin Towers included asbestos, lead and mercury, as well as unprecedented levels of dioxin and PAHs from the fires which burned for three months. This has led to debilitating illnesses among rescue and recovery workers, as well as some residents, students and office workers of Lower Manhattan and nearby Chinatown. There is scientific speculation that exposure to various toxic products and the pollutants in the air surrounding the Towers after the WTC collapse may have negative effects on fetal development. Due to this potential harm, a notable children's environmental health center is currently analyzing the children whose mothers were pregnant during the WTC collapse, and were living or working near the World Trade Center towers. The staff of this study assess the children using psychological testing every year and interviews the mothers every six months. The purpose of the study is to determine whether there is significant difference in development and health progression of children whose mothers were exposed versus those who were not exposed after the WTC collapse.

Collapse of the World Trade Center

Chinatown: A New York City firefighter looks up at what remains of the South Tower.]] There has been much speculation on the "performance" of the Twin Towers after the impacts, and the reasons for the collapse are under active debate by structural engineers, architects and the relevant U.S. government agencies. The design of the WTC included many basic innovations distinguishing it from all previous skyscrapers and from many built since. Although the kinetic energy of the jetliner impacts and the resulting fires were unprecedented in the history of building disasters, some engineers strongly believe skyscrapers of more traditional design (such as New York City's Empire State Building and Malaysia's Petronas Towers) would have fared much better under the circumstances, perhaps standing indefinitely. If they are correct, supertall buildings that share the WTC's major design elements (for example, Chicago's Sears Tower and John Hancock Center) could be considered particularly vulnerable. John Hancock Center 7 World Trade Center collapsed in the late afternoon of September 11. For details on its collapse see: Destruction of 7 World Trade Center. A federal technical building and fire safety investigation of the collapses of the Twin Towers and 7 WTC has been conducted by the United States Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The goals of this investigation — completed on April 6, 2005 — were to investigate the building construction, the materials used, and the technical conditions that contributed to the outcome of the WTC disaster. The investigation [http://wtc.nist.gov] was to serve as the basis for:
- Improvements in the way buildings are designed, constructed, maintained, and used
- Improved tools and guidance for industry and safety officials
- Revisions to building and fire codes, standards, and practices
- Improved public safety The report concludes that the fireproofing on the Twin Towers' steel infrastructures was blown off by the initial impact of the planes and that if this had not occurred the WTC would likely have remained standing. In addition, the report asserts that the Towers' stairwells were not adequately reinforced to provide emergency escape for people above the impact zones.

Survivors

Congressional inquiries

Speculation, alternative theories, and claims of further conspiracies

Since the attacks, there has been much speculation concerning their planning and execution. A [http://www.zogby.com/news/ReadNews.dbm?ID=855 Zogby International Poll] published August 30, 2004 reported that half (49.3%) of New York City residents and 41% of New York citizens overall believe that some U.S. leaders "knew in advance that attacks were planned on or around September 11, 2001, and that they consciously failed to act." There are stories of phone call warnings, even weeks in advance that went unheeded. Some theories include the President's behavior during the event as evidence. Others say the damage at the Pentagon and WTC does not correspond to the official narrative. Gaps within the public record, the lack of explanation for particular details, and contradictions which have later come to light, continue to fuel speculation. Some skeptics have formed what they call a "9/11 Truth Movement." There have been several books published detailing alternative narratives of the 9/11 attacks, and there are a large number of websites devoted to explaining and continuing to examine alternative theories of the September 11th attacks. Reasons behind questioning the official story derive from perceived benefits to the US, such as US access and control of Middle East oil, increased popularity ratings for some government officials, and large profit increases for insurance, oil and defense industries following 9/11. Others investigating alternative theories of the 9/11 attacks are concerned by what they see as a series of 'incompetent' or uninvestigated events and coincidences during the Bush Administration which they believe are not all without intention - they see the attacks of 9/11 as the original or largest 'lie,' (or misleading event) that promoted a wartime mentality which subseqently allowed otherwise contentious legislation (i.e., USA PATRIOT Act), authorizations of military force (Iraq War and U.S. invasion of Afghanistan), and even confirmations of what they consider to be questionable US elections (U.S. presidential election, 2004), to be more easily accepted. See: 9/11 conspiracy theories for more information.

20th hijacker

Twenty-seven members of al-Qaeda attempted to enter the United States to take part in the September 11 attacks. In the end, only nineteen participated. Other would-be hijackers are often referred to as the 20th hijackers. Ramzi Binalshibh meant to take part in the attacks, but he was repeatedly denied a visa for entry into the U.S. Mohamed al-Kahtani, a Saudi Arabian citizen, may also have been planning to join the hijackers but U.S. Immigration authorities at Orlando International Airport refused his entry into the U.S. in August 2001. He was later captured in Afghanistan and imprisoned at the U.S. military prison known as Camp X-Ray at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Zacarias Moussaoui was reportedly considered as a replacement for Ziad Jarrah, who at one point threatened to withdraw from the scheme because of tensions amongst the plotters. Plans to include Moussaoui were never completed because the al-Qaeda hierarchy had doubts about his reliability. However, in April 2005, Moussaoui pled guilty to involvement in the hijacking and al-Qaeda, a plea which made him eligible for the death penalty. He has yet to be sentenced. Other al-Qaeda members who may have attempted, but were unable, to take part in the attacks include Saeed al-Ghamdi (not to be confused with the successful hijacker of the same name), Mushabib al-Hamlan, Zakariyah Essabar, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali, and Tawfiq bin Attash. According to the 9/11 Commission Report, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the attack's mastermind, wanted to remove at least one member — Khalid al-Mihdhar — from the operation, but he was overruled by Osama bin Laden.

Other planned attacks

According to Mohammed Afroze, a planned simultaneous attack in London, on the House of Commons and Tower Bridge, was aborted at the last minute, when the would-be hijackers, waiting to board the planes they were to hijack, saw the damage in the USA, panicked and fled. Similar attacks may also have been planned in New Delhi, Melbourne and Montreal.

The "War on Terrorism"

In the aftermath of the attacks, many U.S. citizens held the view that they had "changed the world forever": that the United States was now vulnerable to terrorist attacks in a way that it had not yet experienced. The United States declared a war on terrorism, with the stated goals of bringing Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda to justice, and preventing the emergence of other terrorist networks. These goals would be accomplished by means including economic and military sanctions against states perceived as harboring terrorists, and increasing global surveillance and intelligence sharing. The biggest operations outside of the United States were the invasions of Afghanistan and then Iraq by U.S.-led coalitions. The U.S. was not the only nation to increase its military readiness, with other notable examples being the Philippines and Indonesia, countries that have their own internal conflicts with terrorists. Within the United States, President Bush created the Department of Homeland Security, representing the largest re-structuring of the U.S. government in contemporary history. Congress passed the USA PATRIOT Act, stating that it would help detect and prosecute terrorism and other alleged future crimes. Civil liberties groups have criticized the PATRIOT Act, saying that it allows law enforcement to invade the privacy of citizens and eliminates Judicial oversight over law-enforcement and domestic intelligence gathering.

Memorials

Memorials to the victims and heroes of the attacks of September 11 have been planned for the three sites. An outdoor memorial at the Pentagon, for the public, has been designed by Keith Kaseman and Julie Beckman of KBAS of New York City. [http://www.pentagonmemorial.net/site/PageServer?pagename=DesignSelection] Construction of the memorial is scheduled for completion in Fall 2006. Within the Pentagon itself, the America's Heroes Memorial was added in September 2002, when the building repairs were completed. Public access to this memorial is restricted to group tours, such as veteran's groups. The proposed design for Flight 93 National Memorial is called Crescent of Embrace, and it has created some controversy due to its large red crescent plan which also points toward Mecca. Recently, due to the amount of public pressure, it has been announced that the memorial will be redesigned as to avoid any confusion with the sign of Islam. Currently, there is no memorial at the World Trade Center site. There is one planned called Reflecting Absence, which was designed by Michael Arad and selected through a design competition. This memorial design been generally praised, while other proposed elements for the site have drawn controversy. Among these were the The Drawing Center and the International Freedom Center (IFC). The Drawing Center withdrew its proposal for the site, and in consideration of objections raised by some victims' families, New York Governor George Pataki has barred the IFC from building at the site. In addition to physical monuments, a number of September 11th family members and friends have set up memorial funds, scholarships, and charities in honor of lost loved ones.

Arts and Literature

The play "The Guys" by Anne Nelson explores the memories and emotions of a surviving fire captain and a writer who helps him writing eulogies for his lost comrades. The play was first performed on December 4, 2001. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, a 2005 novel by Jonathan Safran Foer, was one of the first books to deal with the attacks. The book follows the narrator, 9-year old Oskar Schell, whose father was in the upper floors of the World Trade Center when the jets crashed into the Twin Towers. To fight his unresolvable grief and quell his terrifying imagination, Oskar embarks on a quixotic quest to find what he hopes is his father's most illuminating secret. In service of this quest Oskar conquers many of his irrational fears and comforts other damaged souls. World Trade Center, a film by Oliver Stone, tells the story of two Port Authority police officers, John McLoughlin (played by Nicolas Cage) and Will Jimeno (played by Michael Peña), who were the last two rescue workers pulled from ground zero alive. It is billed as an uplifting story about everyday New Yorkers helping one another amid a cataclysmic tragedy. It is scheduled for release in August of 2006.

Media

External links

- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/americas/2001/day_of_terror/ BBC.co.uk] - 'America's Day of Terror: On 11 September 2001 a series of attacks were launched on America: It was a day that many around the world would never forget' (special 9/11 report compilation), British Broadcasting Corporation (11 September 2002)
- [http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/10/29/attack/main580620.shtml CBSNews.com] - 'New WTC Death Toll Is 2,752' (AP, 30 October 2003)
- [http://cnn.com/2001/US/09/11/chronology.attack/index.html CNN.com] - '9/11 Timeline'
- [http://www.ny1.com/WTC_Coverage/ NY1.com] - 'World Trade Center Special Section', New York One News Television (June 7 2005)
- [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/nation/specials/attacked/sept11/ WashingtonPost.com] - 'Terrorists Unleash Assault on US', Washington Post
- [http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/911_archive/ September 11, 2001, Documentary Project] from The Library of Congress
- [http://cryptome.org/wtc-collapse.htm Professional architect's comments on the WTC collapse] from Cryptome
- [http://www.cs.purdue.edu/cgvlab/projects/popescu/pentagonVis_files/paper_422.pdf Pentagon collision whitepaper (PDF)], from Purdue University
- [http://www.thememoryhole.org/911/fdny_dispatches.htm NY fire department audio tapes from September 11, 2001]
- [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10398375 Memo notes U.S. feared jet attack prior to 9/11]

Video

Purdue University memorial of the September 11 attacks.]]
- [http://www.airdisaster.com/download/wtc.shtml AirDisaster.com] - video of the World Trade Center crashes
- [http://www.archive.org/details/20041102-Last-Chance-911-Timeline 9/11 Timeline] - Chronology of events according to 9/11 Commission Report presented in 4-way split screen.
- [http://www.cnn.com/video/us/2001/09/12/first.plane.hits.gp.med.html CNN.com] - First plane hits World Trade Center
- [http://www.cnn.com/video/us/2001/09/12/2nd.plane.hits.cnn.med.html CNN.com] - Second plane hits World Trade Center
- [http://www.cnn.com/video/us/2001/09/11/exclusive.crash.cnn.med.html CNN.com] - Exclusive video of plane crashing into WTC
- [http://www.cnn.com/video/us/2001/09/11/vo.wtc.2nd.plane.pax.med.html CNN.com] - Video shows second WTC attack
- [http://ny1.com/pages/RRR/911timeline.html New York 1 channel coverage]
- [http://forums.putfile.com/viewtopic.php?t=1970 Various TV news coverage on Putfile.com]
- [http://www.ctdata.com/war_on_terror/2002/08/07/0115257.shtml CTData.com] - 'Naudet Documentary "9|11" to be Released on DVD and VHS on September 10' (documentary of Naudet brothers following firefighters during the event)
- [http://www.cs.purdue.edu/cgvlab/projects/popescu/pentagonVis_files/pentagonVis2003.mpg Pentagon impact simulation] from Purdue University (47 megabyte MPEG file)

Photos

- [http://www.internet-esq.com/worldtradecenter/index.htm World Trade Center Photos] by Robert Swanson
- [http://911digitalarchive.org/ 911DigitalArchive.org] - 'The September 11 Digital Archive' (in partnership with the Library of Congress)
- [http://www.interactivepublishing.net/september/ InteractivePublishing.net] - Media Sites on September 11
- [http://www.time.com/time/photoessays/shattered/ Time.com] - 'Shattered: a remarkable collection photographs', James Nachtwey
- [http://www.cruzate.com/nyhell Original footage of the WTC attacks] - 'NY Hell: videos, pictures and blog from a NYC neighbour'

Books

- [http://www.csmonitor.com/specials/oneyearlater/911books.html CSMonitor.com] - 'September 11 One Year Later: A Monitor Guide to Books of September 11: A year after the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the publishing industry has produced more than 300 related books', Christian Science Monitor
- [http://www.september11news.com/HistoricalBooks.htm September11News.com] - 'Historical 9-11-01 Books'
- The 9/11 Commission Report: Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Acts Upon The United States (2004)
- The Terror Timeline: a comprehensive chronicle of the road to 9/11 and America's response.

Victims and damage

- [http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/trade.center/victims/main.html CNN.com] - List of Victims
- [http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/trade.center/damage.map.html CNN.com] - In-Depth Specials - Damage report from the city of New York
- [http://www.newyorkmetro.com/news/articles/wtc/1year/numbers.htm NewYorkMetro.com] - 9/11 by the Numbers: Death, destruction, charity, salvation, war, money, real estate, spouses, babies, and other September 11 statistics', New York Times

Super Bowl

] In professional American football, the Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League (NFL) in the United States. Since 1967, it has been played annually after the regular season and the playoffs end, either on the last Sunday in January or the first Sunday in February. The game and its ancillary festivities constitute Super Bowl Sunday (sometimes "Super Sunday"), which over the years has almost become a de facto American national holiday. The Super Bowl is one of the most-watched American television broadcasts of the year, attracting many companies to spend millions of dollars (USD) on commercials. In addition, many popular singers and musicians have performed during the Super Bowl's pre-game and halftime ceremonies.

History

Origins

The Super Bowl was created as part of the merger agreement between the National Football League (NFL) and its rival, the American Football League (AFL). After its inception in 1920, the NFL fended off several rival leagues before the AFL began play in 1960. The intense competitive war for players and fans led to serious merger talks between the two leagues in 1966 (See AFL-NFL Merger for more information). One of the conditions of the agreement was that the winners of each league's championship game would meet in a contest to determine the "world champion of football". During the discussions to iron out the details, AFL founder and Kansas City Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt had jokingly referred to the proposed interleague championship as the "Super Bowl." Hunt thought of the name after seeing his daughter playing with a toy called a Super Ball. The ball is now on display at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. The name was feasible because postseason college football games had long been known as "bowl games" (The term originates with the Rose Bowl game, which was in turn named for the bowl-shaped stadium in which it is played). Hunt only meant his suggested name to be a stopgap until a better one could be found. Not having thought of one, the owners named the contest the NFL-AFL World Championship Game. Unsurprisingly, fans and media tended to use the shorter, unofficial name. Starting with the third contest in 1969, the name "Super Bowl" became official. After the NFL's Green Bay Packers won the first two Super Bowls in convincing victories, some team owners feared for the future of the merger, since many doubted that AFL teams could compete with their NFL counterparts. However, in one of the biggest upsets in American sports history, the AFL's New York Jets defeated the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III. One year later, the Chiefs won Super Bowl IV. When both the NFL and the AFL merged into one combined league before the 1970 season, three NFL teams joined the 10 AFL teams to form the American Football Conference (AFC), and the other 13 teams became the National Football Conference (NFC). Since then, the Super Bowl has featured the champions of the AFC and NFC. As of 2005, former AFL teams have won 10 Super Bowls, pre-1970 NFL teams have won 23 games, and two games have been won by teams created after 1970. The winning team receives the Vince Lombardi Trophy, named for the coach of the Green Bay Packers, who won the first two Super Bowl games. The trophy was named the Vince Lombardi Trophy prior to Super Bowl V in his honor following his death in 1970.

Ratings and commercials

The Super Bowl tends to have high Nielsen television ratings which usually come in around a 40 rating and 60 share (i.e. on average, 40 percent of all U.S. households, and 60 percent of all homes tuned into television during the game). This means that on average, 80 to 90 million Americans are tuned into the Super Bowl at any given moment. Also it is estimated that 130-140 million tune into some part of the game. The most watched Super Bowl was 1998's Super Bowl XXXII between the Denver Broncos and Green Bay Packers which received a 44.5 rating and 67 share, attracting 90 million viewers. In terms of household percentage, the most watched was Super Bowl XVI in 1982 which was watched in 49.1% of households (73 share) or 40,020,000 households at the time. Following Apple Computer's 1984 commercial introducing the Apple Macintosh computer, directed by Ridley Scott, the broadcast of the Super Bowl became the premier showcase for high concept or simply extravagantly expensive commercials. Famous commercial campaigns include the Budweiser "Bud Bowl" campaign, and the 1999 and 2000 dot-com ads. Prices have increased each year, with reports citing a record $2.5 million (US) for a 30 second spot during Super Bowl XL in 2006. In recent years, the NFL has denied the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority the opportunity to run Super Bowl ads for the city as a tourist destination. The ban includes the game, as well as the pre-game and post-game shows. Many groups are denied the chance to run Super Bowl ads on various grounds, but Las Vegas is the only city to be denied in such a fashion; the NFL has stated that it does not want the Super Bowl to be associated with the perception of Las Vegas as a gambling mecca. If the television show Las Vegas stays on the air when NBC gets their next Super Bowl Broadcast (which will be Super Bowl XLIII in 2009), they may not be allowed to promote the series during the entire block of programming. [http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/2005-08-04-las-vegas-ads_x.htm]

Entertainment

Because of the large number of viewers that the Super Bowl generates, a number of popular singers and musicians have performed during its pre-game ceremonies, the halftime show, or even just singing the national anthem of the United States, "The Star-Spangled Banner". Super Bowl XXXVII in 2003 alone had singers Carlos Santana, Beyonce Knowles, and Michelle Branch perform before the game; Celine Dion sing "God Bless America"; the Dixie Chicks perform the national anthem; and Shania Twain, No Doubt, and Sting featured during the halftime show.

Venue

The location of the Super Bowl is chosen by the NFL well in advance, usually 3-5 years before the game. Cities compete to host the game in a selection bidding process similar to ones used by the Olympic Games and the Football World Cup. To this date, the chosen venues have either been located in the southern regions of the United States where the wintertime weather is expected to be mild, or in domed stadiums where weather is not an issue. Over half of the Super Bowls have been played in one of the following three cities: New Orleans, Louisiana (9 times), Miami, Florida (8 times) and Los Angeles (7 total, 5 times at Pasadena's Rose Bowl stadium and twice at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum). Miami has been selected to host two future games: Super Bowl XLI in 2007 and Super Bowl XLIV in 2010. After Hurricane Katrina damaged the Louisiana Superdome and the city, the game might never return to New Orleans. And the last time the Los Angeles area hosted the game was Super Bowl XXVII in 1993; the area is currently not considered a possible venue after the league's two teams vacated the city in 1995: the Raiders moved back to Oakland, California and the Rams moved to St. Louis, Missouri. Coincidentally, no NFL team has ever played the Super Bowl on its own home turf. However, Super Bowl XIV (which involved the then-Los Angeles Rams) was played at nearby Pasadena's Rose Bowl stadium; and Super Bowl XIX (which involved the San Francisco 49ers) was played at the nearby Stanford Stadium on the Stanford University campus in Palo Alto. The designated "home team" alternates between the NFC team in odd-numbered years (the Philadelphia Eagles in 2005), and the AFC team in even-numbered years (the New England Patriots in 2004). The home team is given the choice of either wearing their colored jerseys or their white ones; this started with Super Bowl XIII. Prior to that, the home team always wore the dark jerseys. The Dallas Cowboys wore their rarely-used blue uniform tops in Super Bowl V, and lost to the then-Baltimore Colts, which has led to the widely-held belief that the Cowboys do not play well in their blue shirts. While most home teams in the Super Bowl choose to wear their colored jerseys, only the Cowboys in XIII and XXVII and the Washington Redskins in XVII have worn white as the home team. The television network showing the game changes from year to year. In the United States it is currently shared between three of the four major television networks - ABC, CBS, and FOX. Super Bowl XXXVIII was shown on CBS, Super Bowl XXXIX was shown on FOX, and Super Bowl XL will be shown on ABC, which will be the final NFL game broadcast on that network for the forseeable future. With the new television contracts beginning in 2006, NBC, which last telecast Super Bowl XXXII in 1998, will take ABC's place in the network rotation starting with Super Bowl XLIII in 2009.

Trivia

- The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather than the year it was held. The NFL season spreads over two calender years, so identifying the games by the year of the Super Bowl could cause some confusion. For example, the New England Patriots, winners of Super Bowl XXXIX are the champions of the 2004 NFL season, even though the championship game was played in February of 2005.
- In 1994, the 49ers became the first team to wear a throwback jersey during the Super Bowl. Since it was the league's 75th season, every team wore a throwback jersey during the season and San Francisco decided to continue to wear their jerseys all the way through the playoffs and into Super Bowl XXIX. The jerseys they wore paid tribute to the 1957 team.
- In the months leading up to Super Bowl XXX (or Super Bowl Thirty), some proxy servers were blocking the web site for the upcoming event. Many proxy servers' filters were configured to block the text string "XXX" whenever occuring to prevent access to pornography. As a result, ad

The Star Spangled Banner (Whitney Houston song)

Song Information

Chart Information

Re-release

Chart Trajectory

Single Track Listing

Music Video

Comprehensive Charts

Whitney Houston

Biography

Early years

1983–1991: Early music career

1992–1997: Acting career

1998–2002: Career development and controversy

2003–the present

Discography

Top Ten Singles

Filmography

Chart Records and Achievements

Sales records

Chart records

Other records

International Records

See also

External links

September 11, 2001 attacks

The attacks

The fourth aircraft

9/11

Fatalities

Responsibility

Motive

Aftermath

International reaction

Public response in the United States

Economic aftermath

Rescue, recovery, and compensation

Potential health effects

Collapse of the World Trade Center

Survivors

Congressional inquiries

Speculation, alternative theories, and claims of further conspiracies

20th hijacker

Other planned attacks

The "War on Terrorism"

Memorials

Arts and Literature

Media

See also

Victims

External links

Video

Photos

Books

Victims and damage

Further reading

Super Bowl

History

Origins

Ratings and commercials

Entertainment

Venue

Trivia