September 2001
- Sept. 11, 2001: Terrorist attacks on World Trade Center and the Pentagon:
American Airline flights American Airlines flight 11 and United Airlines flight 175, hijacked and crashed into the twin towers; American Airlines flight 77 hijacked and crashed into the Pentagon; hijacked United Airlines flight 93 crashed into a field in Pennsylvania — passengers aboard tried to take over the flight and diverted it from its intended target in Washington D.C.
- Anthrax scare
- Bush declares War on Terror
October 2001
- Troops from the U.S. and Great Britain invade Afghanistan
- Oct. 26 — USA Patriot Act signed into law
December 2001
- Dec. 22 — Shoe-bomb plot thwarted. Richard C. Reid, who declared associations with al-Qaida, carried shoes with explosives on a flight from Paris to Miami. He was caught and detained by crew members.
January 2002
- President George W. Bush coins the term ‘Axis of Evil’ to describe the countries of Iraq, Iran and North Korea and others involved in terrorist activities in his State of the Union address
July 2002
- Office of Homeland Security created
March 2002
- Homeland Security Advisement System created, color coding national security risks from green (low) to red (severe)
March 2003
- U.S. troops invade Iraq; controversial War in Iraq begins
December 2003
- Dec. 13 — Former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein captured by U.S. forces near his home in Tikrit, Iraq
October 2004
- Oct. 29 — Osama bin Laden admits involvement in the 9/11 terrorist attacks
January 2005
- U.S. President George W. Bush officially begins second term
December 2006
- Dec. 29 — Saddam Hussein executed
January 2009
- Barack Obama begins term as President of the United States
February 2009
- Feb. 27, 2009 — President Barack Obama announces the withdrawal of all but 35,000 to 50,000 U.S. troops in Iraq by August 2010
September 2010
- Sept. 1 — Official end of U.S. military involvement in Iraq; 50,000 U.S. troops left to ensure stability
May 2011
- May 1 — Announcement that U.S. troops found and killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden
September 2011
- Sept. 12 — National September 11 museum and memorial open to the public in lower Manhattan
