Where were you? Events that Changed the World

The attacks on the World Trade Center towers in New York and the Pentagon in Washington will forever be referred to by a single date - September 11, 2001; or simply "9/11". Thatʼs all most of us need to hear, to recall the haunting visions of the towers being struck, and the resulting collapse of both structures, which caused the deaths of thousands.

Before the 1950ʼs, reaching the top of the worldʼs highest mountain seemed like nothing but a pipe dream, something mountaineers aspired to but never really thought they could achieve. Then, in May 1953, Edmund Percival Hillary, along with Sherpa Tenzig Norgay made the dream a reality.

Over two days, November 9-10 1989, history was made when the wall that separated East and West Berlin since 1961 was destroyed, reuniting families and unifying their city. After the end of the Second World War, the two halves of the German capital were split between the Allies and the USSR.

Where were you on Boxing Day, 2004, when one of the worldʼs largest natural disasters swept through paradise, destroying everything in its path? A massive earthquake set in motion a tsunami that would devastate parts of Asia and kill thousands of people, both residents and tourists.

Terrorism is everywhere, and impacts all countries and communities. But there are many different types of terrorists, and those who instigated the horrific attacks on Tokyoʼs subway system were influenced by an insidious cult. Monday, March 20, 1995 started out just like any other day for commuters until about 8.15 am when a man left a train wearing dark glasses and a gauze mask.

An estimated 3 million people were affected by the quake that devastated Haiti on January 12, 2010. Almost 250,000 were killed, 300,000 injured, and one million made homeless. Because of the scale of the disaster, the injured were ferried to hospital by any means possible - sometimes even via pickup trucks and wheelbarrows.

"One small step for man; one giant leap for mankind" were the immortal words of Neil Armstrong, the first man to set foot on the moon in July, 1969. Earlier attempts had cost the lives of many an astronaut, and the moon was considered the new final frontier, because of the dangerous journey required, just to get there.

When Nelson Mandela sought freedom from oppression for the people of South Africa, he paid with his own. The release of Mandela after 27 years of political imprisonment on Sunday, 11th February 1990 was an historic occasion, for both the man and his country.

One of the deadliest storms in US history struck the southern coast in August, 2005, leaving a trail of death and destruction so enormous, it practically levelled the states of Louisiana and Mississippi. Hardest hit was New Orleans, which was submerged when attempts to block the rising floodwater failed. Residents either drowned or became prisoners in their own homes.

Sunday January 30, 1972, was a landmark date in the history of Northern Irelandʼs Londonderry, better known to locals as "Derry", and the struggle for civil rights in the region. Scenes of violence and civil unrest were not uncommon, but on this Sunday a peaceful march turned into a bloody massacre.

After weeks of peaceful protest for democracy in Beijingʼs Tiananmen Square by civilians and students, the government grew sick of the situation, sending tanks and army in to force an end to the vigil. This they did - to violent and bloody effect, running down, crushing and killing thousands.

December 21, 1988 is a date many residents of Scottish town Lockerbie will never forget. It was the night Pan Am flight 103 plummeted to the ground, killing all on board and eleven residents of the town. The resulting investigation found that the crash was no accident.

Man had already set foot on the moon, in 1969, but that was not the end for the USʼs planned exploration of the lunar surface. Apollo 12 collected samples of soil and rock, and measured temperatures and other data for research on Earth some four months later.

The leak of a noxious gas from the Union Carbide factory in Bhopal, India on the night of December 3, 1984 was the worldʼs worst industrial disaster, and was blamed on cost-cutting measures affecting safety at the plant. Forty tonnes of a lethal gas, methyl isocyanate (used to make pesticide) was unleashed upon the city overnight.

Before April 1986, Chernobyl was just a small town in the USSR, but after a test on the reactor at the local nuclear power plant caused overheating and an explosion, the world would come to know Chernobyl as the home of the biggest industrial disaster in history.

The invasion of Nazi-occupied Western Europe by the Allies in 1944 remains one of the best-known battles of WWII. The term "D-Day" is often used to refer to the starting date of this battle - June 6, 1944. The operation began with overnight paratrooper landings, and a massive early morning assault from troops descending on the beach from boats.

A life in paradise for the residents of the tiny island of Montserrat in the Caribbean Sea came to an end on July 18, 1995. On that day, a volcano that had lain dormant throughout recorded history erupted, causing the south end of the island to become uninhabitable. Two years later, on June 25th, there was another unexpected eruption, sending clouds of dust and volcanic residue for miles.

In the past, London has been no stranger to bomb threats, thanks to the Irish Republican Army, but the wellplanned and co-ordinated attack on the London transport system left 52 people dead and seven hundred injured; and the entire United Kingdom - as well as the rest of the world - in shocked disbelief.

The end of World War 2 came about after the cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima in Japan, became the first to suffer the devastating effects of humankindʼs newest weapon - the atomic bomb. On August 6, 1945, a B29 bomber named Enola Gay delivered the fatal blow to the Japanese city of Hiroshima, killing 70,000 outright, and many more over time.

In the Russian town of Beslan in 2004, terrorists stormed a school, holding more than 1100 students and teachers hostage for three days. The terrorists were part of a militant separatist group whose issues had nothing to do with children; but it was the children who would pay the highest price of all - their lives.

On August 31st, 1997, Diana, former Princess of Wales, who still held the title of princess in the eyes of her adoring public despite her divorce from Prince Charles, died when her Mercedes (in which she was a passenger) crashed in a four lane tunnel in Paris, while fleeing paparazzi. On the announcement of her death, the entire world was gripped by sadness and a sense of disbelief.

On March 16, 1978 the tanker VLCC was hit by a massive storm and had to call for a tow boat. The sheer mass of the tanker was too great, however, and it ran aground, its hulk leaking oil. The next morning, the ship broke in two, spilling enormous amounts of oil into the ocean, causing a slick that ran for kilometres along coastline, threatening hundreds of species of marine and plant life.

In the aftermath of 9/11, President George Bush was under immense pressure to find those responsible for the worst terrorist attack on US soil. With support from Americaʼs allies, his administration embarked upon The War on Terror, sending troops to Afghanistan in the hunt for the worldʼs most wanted man - Al Quaeda chief Osama Bin Laden.

An eight-year reign of terror, torture and murder began in January 1971 in Uganda, when Idi Amin took control of the country via military coup. The takeover was executed with precision while the Ugandan prime minister was in Singapore. At first, the Ugandan people celebrated, believing that the tyranny of the former regime was at an end, but found a new horror awaiting them under Amin.

Genocide on a scale not seen since the Second World War is what set apart the tribal violence in Rwanda from most other civil wars in Third World countries to that time. The death of their president on April 6, 1994 in a suspicious plane crash sparked tensions already in existence for decades between Hutus and minority Tutsis, and as a result some 800,000 people were massacred in the streets.