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Munich Massacre
At the 1972 Munich Olympic games, 11 Israeli olympic team members were held hostage and eventually killed by Palestinian extremists. This was the dawn of international modern terrorism. The Palestinians began to move away from classic guerrilla, typically rural-based, warfare toward urban terrorism. Utilizing technology and transportation. They launched a series of hijackings, kidnappings, bombings, and shootings, culminating in the kidnapping and subsequent deaths of Israeli athletes. -
The Original Logic Bomb
During the Cold War, the CIA found a way to disrupt the operation of a Siberian gas pipeline of Russia without using traditional explosive devices such as missiles or bombs. Instead, they caused the Siberian gas pipeline to explode using a portion of a code in the computer system that controls its operation in what they tagged as “logic bomb.” This is significant because it marked the first of many cyber terrorism attacks. -
Bombing at Marine Barracks in Beirut
A suicide bomber detonated a truck full of explosives at a U.S. Marine barracks located at Beirut International Airport; 241 U.S. Marines were killed and more than 100 others wounded. This is significant because it is the pioneer for suicide bombing. This attack was done by Hezbollah, the religious terrorist group. -
Lebanese Hostage Crisis
Militant Islamic extremists kidnapped a total of 30 Westerners. U.S. officials believed that the Iranian-backed Hezbollah was behind most of the kidnappings. Reagan planned to sell weapons to them in trade for the victims. Since the funds from the arms sales to Iran were secretly, and illegally, funneled to the U.S.-backed Contras fighting to overthrow the Sandinista regime in Nicaragua, the infamous episode became known as the "Iran-Contra affair." -
Pan Am Flight Bombing
Pan Am Flight 103 from London to New York exploded over the small town of Lockerbie, Scotland. All 259 people on board were killed, along with 11 on the ground. No one has ever taken credit for the bomb, however it played a significant role in embarking on mass transportation bombing. -
9/11
A series of coordinated terrorist attacks by Al-Qaeda, causing hundreds of deaths and mass hysteria throughout the U.S. This is significant because it led to more harshly enforced immigration and flight laws and protocols in the United States. -
Murder of Osama Bin Laden
Obama gave orders to navy seals to go find and kill the terrorist leader, Osama Bin Laden. They completed the mission successfully. This is significant because the U.S. has continued its strategy to target and eliminate other Al Qaeda leaders, which makes us more powerful because we have already killed one of their leaders. This was a major game changer for the U.S. -
Boston Marathon Bombing
2 homemade bombs were detonated near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing three people and injuring several hundred others, including 16 who lost limbs. This is significant because it was an example of domestic terrorism. These men were working for an Islamic extremist group, but they were inside the U.S. and this instilled a new fear in U.S. citizens.
