 The Israeli hero who almost stopped 9-11. You probably never heard of him, but Danny Levine, an Israeli-American, is believed to be the very first victim of the 9-11 attacks. Danny was born in Colorado and made aliyah at age 14 to Israel. He served in the IDF Special Forces in Sayyid al-Madqal for four years and was a captain. After his service, he studied at Technion, then MIT. And while in grad school, he and his advisor created the algorithm for optimizing internet traffic that led the groundwork for Akamai Technologies, a company he co-founded that was actually a precursor to the internet we know today. Danny always stood out, but no one could have imagined what his military training prepared him for later. Danny was on American Airlines Flight 11 on September 11th, which al-Qaeda terrorists used to hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center. On September 11th, seated in business class 9B, he was next to three of the hijackers and witnessed what was beginning to happen when hijacker Muhammad Atal got up to begin the attack. Immediately, Danny attempted to foil the attack, fighting one of the terrorists. But not knowing, another was behind him. Danny's throat was slipped from behind by terrorist Sattdam Sukami and became the very first victim of 9-11. Today, his family friends continue to remember his legacy as well as his tremendous contribution to technology and the internet. Akamai's highest award for employees is named after Danny. And in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the city named a square in his memory. While Danny was unable to defeat all the hijackers single-handedly, he died a hero who inspired countless others to never give in to terrorism.