Monday, September 13, 2021

Let's Not Forget What Followed 9/11

In the weeks following 9/11 America was also the victim of one of the deadliest bio-terrorism attacks in U.S. history.  The long-running series of events in the months following 9/11 were a constant source of dread for all Americans:

10/2/01: American Media Inc. employee Robert Stevens, is diagnosed with inhalation anthrax and hospitalized in Florida.

10/5/01: Robert Stevens dies.

10/12/01:  NBC anchor Tom Brokaw’s assistant revealed to have contracted skin form of anthrax after opening tainted mail.

10/15/01: Reports surface that a letter sent to Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle had anthrax on it.

10/17/01: Anthrax spores are found in a Senate mailroom located in an office building near the Capitol. At least thirty Senate staffers test positive for traces of anthrax.

10/20/01: Two postal employees in Washington die from inhalation anthrax.  Anthrax is confirmed at the Ford building on Capitol Hill.  The FBI locates the mailbox in New Jersey where anthrax letters were dropped.

10/21/01:  It is announced that two postal workers at the Brentwood postal facility in Washington, D.C. are confirmed with anthrax and are hospitalized.  Tests begin on hundreds of Washington postal workers.

10/22/01: A third postal worker in Washington tested positive for inhalation anthrax.

10/23/01: Anthrax is found in off-site White House mail center.

10/24/01: Postmaster General John Potter tells Americans, “There are no guarantees that mail is safe.” Six Washington, D.C. postal workers, from the Brentwood sorting office, hospitalized for suspected anthrax.

10/25/01: Anthrax is found in another part of the Hart Senate Office Building.

10/26/01: A small amount of anthrax spores is found in a CIA mail room, due to mail that went through the Brentwood mail facility.  A U.S. State Department mail handler is hospitalized with inhalation anthrax, and anthrax is found at a New York postal facility.  Anthrax is also confirmed in an off-site U.S. Supreme Court mail facility.

10/29/01:  Traces of anthrax are found in the mailrooms of the Supreme Court, the State Department, and the DC Health Department. Two new cases of anthrax are reported in New Jersey, bringing the number of confirmed cases to 15.

11/5/01: Anthrax is found in a Pentagon post office.

11/16/01: Investigators find an anthrax-tainted letter addressed to U.S. Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy. The handwriting on the letter is similar to the letter sent to Tom Daschle.

12/7/01:  The U.S. Federal Reserve cancels a board meeting after anthrax is discovered in sacks of mail sent to the central bank.

12/19/01:  After 99 days, the World Trade Center fires are extinguished, becoming the longest burning commercial fire in U.S. history.

12/20/01: The last remaining building at the World Trade Center site is taken down.

 

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