At what time did the first tower of the World Trade Center fall on September 11?
Ben Swann
Swann has questioned whether 7 World Trade Center collapsed on September 11, 2001, the way authorities said it did. See also 9/11 conspiracy theories. The National Institute of Standards and Technology  (NIST) investigated the events of 7 World Trade Center. NIST determined that diesel fuel did not play an important role, nor did the structural damage from the collapse of the Twin Towers. Fires burned out of control during the afternoon, buckling critical columns, and ultimately causing the building to fall downward as a single unit. The fires, which were fueled by office contents and burned for seven hours, along with the lack of water, were the key reasons for the collapse. This made the old 7 WTC the only steel skyscraper at the time to have collapsed from fire. The NIST report found no evidence supporting the conspiracy theories that 7 World Trade Center was brought down by controlled demolition.
History of the United States
On September 11, 2001 ("9/11"), the United States was struck by a terrorist attack when 19 al-Qaeda hijackers commandeered four airliners to be used in suicide attacks and intentionally crashed two into both twin towers of the World Trade Center and the third into the Pentagon, killing 2,937 victims—206 aboard the three airliners, 2,606 who were in the World Trade Center and on the ground, and 125 who were in the Pentagon. The fourth plane was re-taken by the passengers and crew of the aircraft. While they were not able to land the plane safely, they were able to re-take control of the aircraft and crash it into an empty field in Pennsylvania, killing all 44 people including the four terrorists on board, thereby saving whatever target the terrorists were aiming for. Within two hours, both Twin Towers of the World Trade Center completely collapsed causing massive damage to the surrounding area and blanketing Lower Manhattan in toxic dust clouds. All in all, a total of 2,977 victims perished in the attacks. In response, President George W. Bush on September 20 announced a "War on Terror". On October 7, 2001, the United States and NATO then invaded Afghanistan to oust the Taliban regime, which had provided safe haven to al-Qaeda and its leader Osama bin Laden.