Soon after the September 11 attacks, Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Governor George Pataki, and President George W. Bush said that they would rebuild the World Trade Center. On the day of the attacks, Giuliani said, "We will rebuild. We're going to come out of this stronger than before, politically stronger, economically stronger. The skyline will be made whole again." During a visit to the site on September 14, 2001, Bush spoke to a crowd of workers through a megaphone. A person in the crowd shouted, "I can't hear you," to which Bush replied, "I can hear you. The rest of the world hears you. And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon."
In an address to Congress, the president said, "As a symbol of America's resolve, my administration will work with Congress, and these two leaders, to show the world that we will rebuild New York City." However, 12 years after the attacks, only two buildings, 4 World Trade Center and 7 World Trade Center, have been rebuilt. One building, One World Trade Center, is currently under construction.
In November 2001, Governor Pataki started the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC) to oversee the rebuilding of the World Trade Center. The LMDC leads federal help in the rebuilding, and works with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Larry Silverstein, and Studio Daniel Libeskind. It also communicates with the local community, businesses, the city of New York, and the families of the people who were killed in the September 11 attacks.
A memorial, "Reflecting Absence", honors the people killed in the September 11 attacks and the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. It was designed by Peter Walker and Israeli-American architect Michael Arad. It has a field of trees with the footprints of the original towers. The footprints are filled with pools of water. It opened on the tenth anniversary of the attacks, on September 11, 2011.
On October 12, 2004, the LMDC announced that Gehry Partners LLP and Snøhetta, an architectural company from Norway, would design a performing arts center and museum at the site. It is a museum and a visitors' center for the site. The museum opened in 2014.
An episode of CBS's "60 Minutes" in 2010 was about the lack of work done at Ground Zero. It focused on how most of the buildings did not have a date for completion, the main building, One World Trade Center (originally called the Freedom Tower), having gone through three different designs, and the delays and high amount of money that went into the rebuilding. Larry Silverstein said that the entire site would be completed in 2037, and that billions of dollars have been spent on rebuilding the site, even though Ground Zero "is still a hole in the ground." During an interview for the episode, Silverstein said, "I am the most frustrated person in the world...I'm seventy-eight years of age; I want to see this thing done in my lifetime". However, it was said in early 2011 that a lot of work has been done on the site, with all five buildings under construction. All of the buildings will be completed between 2012 and 2016. Criticism of the work being done at Ground Zero was made in 2008 and 2009, when there was no work being done at the site.
River Humber
The River Humber is a large deep water estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed by the River Ouse and the River Trent coming together. From here to the North Sea (about 40 miles) it forms part of the border between the East Riding of Yorkshire on the north side and Lincolnshire on the south side. The Humber's only modern crossing is the Humber Bridge. At one time it the longest single-span suspension bridge in the world. Now it is the fifth longest. Before the bridge was built in 1981, paddle steamers were used to cross the mile long span.
In the middle ages the tides of the Humber kept armies from crossing. At that time it was thought to be an arm of the ocean. During the Anglo-Saxon period, the Humber was a major boundary, separating Northumbria from the southern kingdoms. The name Northumbria came from Old English "Northanhymbre" meaning "the people north of the Humber". The Vikings used the Humber and its two tributaries, the Ouse and Trent, with their shallow-draft Longships to raid all over northeastern England.
Fort Paull was a Napoleonic era fort built in 1542 to protect the port there. The site dates back to 910 when it was a lookout for Viking raiders. The current fort is designed as a pentagon and was built from 1861–1864. It was disarmed at the beginning of the First World War and replaced by two nearby forts. One was on Sunk Island; the other was at Stallingborough. In 1960 the fort was finally closed down. But in 1964 a group of volunteers took over the fort and made it into a Museum.
France Roche
France Roche (2 April 1921 – 14 December 2013) was a French actress and screenwriter. She appeared in 17 movies between 1951 to 1979. She died on 14 December 2013 from natural causes, aged 92.
Ali Bongo Ondimba
Ali Bongo Ondimba (born Alain Bernard Bongo; February 9, 1959) is a Gabonese politician. He became President of Gabon on October 2009.
On 7 January 2019, soldiers in Gabon launched a coup d’etat attempt. The coup attempt failed, and the government successfully re-asserted control.
In October 2018, he was hospitalized due to a stroke in Riyadh. In August 2019, Bongo was hospitalized in London and his health was said to be deteriorating.
Raymond Ndong Sima
Raymond Ndong Sima (born 23 January 1955) is a Gabonese politician. He was Prime Minister of Gabon from February 2012 to January 2014.
Yahya Jammeh
Yahya Abdul-Aziz Jemus Junkung Jammeh (; born 25 May 1965) is a Gambian politician. He became the president of The Gambia in 1994.
Vano Merabishvili
Ivane "Vano" Merabishvili (; born 15 April 1968) is a Georgian politician. He became Prime Minister of Georgia on 4 July 2012. His term ended after his resignation on 25 October 2012.
Bidzina Ivanishvili
Bidzina Ivanishvili (, also known as Boris Ivanishvili; born 18 February 1956) is a Georgian businessman and politician. He became the Prime Minister of Georgia on 25 October 2012. He resigned his position as Prime Minister on 20 November 2013.
Irakli Garibashvili
Irakli Garibashvili (, also transliterated as Gharibashvili) (born June 28, 1982) is a Georgian politician and former business executive. He became Prime Minister of Georgia on 20 November 2013. He resigned as prime minister on 23 December 2015. He became prime minister again in 2021.
Giorgi Margvelashvili
Giorgi Margvelashvili (; born 4 September 1969) is a Georgian educator and politician. He served as President of Georgia from 17 November 2013 to 16 December 2018.
John Mahama
John Dramani Mahama (; born 29 November 1958) is a Ghanaian politician. He became President of Ghana in July 2012. He succeeded John Atta Mills after his sudden death.
In 2020, Mahama unsuccessfully ran for president again but lost to incumbent president Nana Akufo-Addo.
John Atta Mills
John Evans Fiifi Atta Mills (21 July 1944 – 24 July 2012) was a Ghanaian politician, a lawyer, a legal scholar, a tax expert and a sports administrator. He became President of Ghana after he was elected in 2009. He died on 24 July 2012 from throat cancer.
Jack McBrayer
Jack McBrayer (born May 27, 1973) is an American comedic actor. He became famous after appearing many times on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien". He won some Emmy Awards. He currently stars as the title character, Wander, in the Disney Channel original series Wander Over Yonder.
McBrayer was born in Macon, Georgia, and moved to Conyers, Georgia when he was 15. He studied theater administration at the University of Evansville, worked at The Second City and IO Theater (1995–2002), an experience that introduced him to "30 Rock" creator Tina Fey and prepared him "100%" for his role on her show.
He is also good friends with actress Tina Fey.
Karolos Papoulias