Timeline

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Dec. 19, 2003 The design is unveiled for the 1,776-ft. (541 m) Freedom Tower--now 1 World Trade Center--the product of a difficult collaboration between Libeskind and lead architect David Childs. Libeskind will later distance himself from the design, which will be credited solely to Childs

Dec. 21, 2003 The American soldier is named TIME's 2003 Person of the Year

January 2004 A jury of 13--including artists, designers and a family member of a 9/11 victim--selects Michael Arad and Peter Walker's Reflecting Absence as the winner of the 9/11-memorial competition

March 11, 2004 Terrorists detonate 10 bombs by cell phone on Madrid's train lines, killing 191 people and injuring some 1,800. The perpetrators were reportedly inspired by al-Qaeda, although the group had no direct involvement in the blast

April 22, 2004 Army Corporal Pat Tillman, an NFL player who enlisted after 9/11, is killed in Afghanistan. His death, originally announced by the Army to be the result of enemy fire, is later discovered to have been caused by friendly fire

April 28, 2004 Photos and descriptions of torture at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq air on 60 Minutes II and are published in the New Yorker. The Department of Defense removes 17 soldiers and officers from duty. Eleven soldiers are charged with dereliction of duty, maltreatment, aggravated assault and battery; in the next two years they are each convicted by court-martial, sentenced to military prison and dishonorably discharged from service

July 5, 2004 New York Times: "Rebirth Marked by Cornerstone at Ground Zero"

July 22, 2004 The 9/11 Commission Report is released; it declares that both Presidents Bill Clinton and Bush were not well served by the FBI and CIA and notes numerous intelligence failings

Sept. 11, 2004 New York Post: "A WTC Site to Behold: Planners Debut New Vision; Rebuilding Steams Ahead"

October 2004 Days before the U.S. presidential election, bin Laden releases a videotape in which he publicly acknowledges for the first time al-Qaeda's involvement in the 9/11 attacks and warns of the possibility of repeat strikes

Nov. 2, 2004 Bush is re-elected President of the United States, with 50.7% of the vote

Nov. 9, 2004 New York Times: "U.S. Begins Main Assault in Fallujah, Setting Off Street Fighting"

Jan. 12, 2005 U.S. intelligence officials confirm that the U.S. has stopped searching for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. No WMD were ever found

April 27, 2005 George Tenet, former CIA director, reflects on his claim that the CIA had "slam dunk" evidence proving Iraq's possession of WMD: "Those were the two dumbest words I ever said."

July 7, 2005 Four suicide bombers detonate explosives on three London trains and one bus during morning rush hour in attacks that claim 52 lives. The bombings are later linked to al-Qaeda

Aug. 6, 2005 Cindy Sheehan, whose son Casey was killed in Iraq, vows to camp out near Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas, until the President agrees to meet with her

Nov. 4, 2005 New York Times: "Without Fanfare, Building of New Trade Center Starts"