2011 — Rebels Storm Gaddafi's Fortress: Bab al-Aziziya Falls

On August 23, 2011, Libyan rebels stormed Bab al-Aziziya, Muammar Gaddafi's fortress compound in Tripoli, and raised the opposition flag over his personal residence. Fighters looted the weapons silos and climbed the golden fist monument crushing an American warplane, symbols of a regime suddenly open to the crowds it had ruled.

Gaddafi himself had slipped away, but August 23 was the day Tripoli knew his 42-year regime was finished. The capital had fallen, even if its ruler had not. Within two months, he would be captured and killed in Sirte, closing a long reign of more than four full decades.