This story was originally published on September 11, 2016, and was updated on September 11, 2018 to reflect current news.

Seventeen years later, the attacks of September 11, 2001, are still fresh in the memories of many Americans.

Nearly 3,000 people in New York, Virginia, and Pennsylvania lost their lives on 9/11 after terrorists orchestrated by Osama bin Laden hijacked airplanes as weapons. As the years pass, suffering continues alongside the memorializing—among those who lost loved ones and by survivors who sustained injuries or who were forever changed by the horrific events—even as the country, and the world, changes.

Now, the site of the New York City attacks is home to One World Trade Center, the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere and a marker of resilience in the face of tragedy. There are also memorials near the Pentagon and in Stoystown, Pennsylvania.

This year, to honor the anniversary, the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in New York City—which opened in 2014—will host its annual 9/11 Commemoration Ceremony, followed by the "Tribute in Light", in the evening, with twin beams of light representing the World Trade Center buildings illuminating the New York City skyline from 3 p.m. to midnight Eastern time.

The events will complement the permanent parts of the museum that document the tragedy of that day. Clifford Chanin, vice president of education and public programs at the museum, said in a previous interview that “many of the images from 9/11 still convey the rawness and brutality of the attack … they still have the capacity to shock.”