Today Marks the 44th Anniversary of Philippe Petit's High-Wire Walk
During the early morning hours of Aug. 7, 1974, 24-year-old French high-wire artist Philippe Petit took his position at 1,350 feet above ground on the edge of the South Tower. High above the streets of New York, Petit began the 131-foot walk between the Twin Towers with no net.
Six years prior, Petit had started planning “le coup,” which is what he called the unauthorized performance in the sky. He spent the ensuing years learning everything he could about the buildings and their construction. “If I see two towers, I have to walk,” said Petit. “Anything that is giant and manmade strikes me in an awesome way and calls me.”
Petit didn’t just walk; he performed for the crowd of thousands that gathered as he walked back and forth for 45 minutes, laid down, saluted the sky and waved hello to birds in flight. Called the “artistic crime of the century,” Petit was arrested after his performance, but the charges were dropped in exchange of a free kids show in Central Park.
By 9/11 Memorial Staff
While attending an IndyCar race at Nazareth Speedway in Pennsylvania, Karen Juday sat down next to a New Yorker named Richard Pecorella. Karen was there to cheer on her brother, a mechanic with Team Penske. She would often drive from her hometown of Elkhart, Ind., to support her brother’s team as they travelled around the country. Rich had received tickets from a friend, and this was his first auto race as a spectator.
Since the special exhibition “Comeback Season: Sports After 9/11” opened at the 9/11 Memorial Museum in June, museum visitors have gotten a chance to revisit the unifying power of sports in the days, weeks and months following the 9/11 attacks.