On September 11, 2001, nineteen al-Qaeda hijackers took control of four commercial airliners and used them to attack the United States. This episode traces the plot from its origins with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's 1996 proposal to Osama bin Laden, through the missed intelligence warnings that might have stopped it, to the events of that Tuesday morning. It follows the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the passenger revolt aboard United Flight 93, and the firefighters, office workers, and officials who lived through the deadliest terrorist attack in world history.

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On September 10, 1984, the syndicated version of Jeopardy! premiered, with Alex Trebek stepping behind the podium for the first time. The show's format traced back two decades to an airplane conversation, when Julann Griffin suggested flipping the quiz show on its head after the 1950s scandals had scared networks away from big money games. Merv Griffin built it into a hit, watched it get cancelled twice, and finally handed it to Trebek for a syndicated relaunch that would outlast them both.

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On September 9, 1971, prisoners at Attica Correctional Facility in upstate New York seized control of the prison. What followed was a five day standoff in which more than a thousand men held hostages in D Yard and listed their demands: better food, real medical care, and an end to censored mail. Corrections Commissioner Russell Oswald and Governor Nelson Rockefeller faced a crisis with no easy answers, and the state's ultimate response would leave a lasting mark on American prison history.

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