9/11 attacks among ‘most important historic events’ in US adults’ lifetimes: Poll

Nearly half of American adults consider the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks among the “most important historic events” in their lifetimes, a new poll found.

In an Ipsos survey published Tuesday, 47 percent of respondents listed 9/11 when asked to identify up to five of the most significant historic events they had lived through. Other top responses to the question included the COVID-19 pandemic, mentioned by 31 percent of those polled, and former President Obama’s presidency, reaching 16 percent.

Ipsos conducted its poll Aug. 21-23, surveying around 1,000 Americans older than 18, ahead of the 25th anniversary of 9/11. Out of those surveyed, 75 percent said they “personally remember” where they were when they found out about the attacks on American soil, which killed nearly 3,000 people.

Since the attacks, many Americans are still scarred from the trauma of the day and its aftereffects — including the U.S.’s subsequent conflicts in the Middle East and drastic changes to American security policy.

Just 13 percent of respondents said they didn’t remember where they “heard the news about the attacks,” while 11 percent responded that they were not alive during 9/11 and 1 percent skipped the question. Adults aged 18 to 24, along with some 25-year-olds, were not yet born when the attacks took place.

The attacks killed 2,977 people at New York City’s World Trade Center, the Pentagon and on board United Airlines Flight 93 , which crash landed in Pennsylvania after passengers overtook hijackers.

The attacks also left many with lasting health issues in the years following, with more than 400,000 people exposed to toxic substances due to the attacks on the World Trade Center, according to the 9/11 Memorial & Museum .

On Tuesday, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) released records linked to the city government’s response to diminished air quality following the 9/11 attacks, saying city leaders “lied” about the safety of the air.

The Ipsos poll surveyed 1,013 people and had a margin of sampling error of 3.5 percentage points.