January 1st:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIsvm-hI_P4
January 13th: The massive Costa Concordia cruise ship runs aground near Italy at around 9:45pm. Shortly thereafter, the ship began sinking. Images of the ship half-submerged seemed something from the big screen. The captain was blamed for the disaster and was found to have fled the ship even with the evacuation still ongoing and passengers in the ship. In all, 30 people were killed and 2 missing presumed dead. Over 64 others were seriously injured in the horrific crash.
February 5th: The New England Patriots and New York Giants battle for the NFL Superbowl Championship. In the end, the Giants beat the Pats 21-17 led by MVP quarterback Eli Manning.
February 6th: Queen Elizabeth II reaches 60 years on the throne and celebrates the Diamond Jubilee. The longest monarch to have served prior was Queen Victoria, thus after this year, Queen Elizabeth will become the longest ruling British monarch in history.
February 11th: Music legend Whitney Houston tragically dies at the age of 48. She was found in her room at the Beverly Hills Hotel by her bodyguard at around 6:55pm ET. The icon famously belted songs known the world over, selling over 170 million records worldwide and winning Grammy's. Her commanding stage presence even brought her roles in major films. But sadly, her personal struggle with drug addiction dominated much of her image and ultimately attributed to her sudden death.
February 12th: A town in Sanford, FL takes international spotlight when an unarmed 17-year-old boy was shot by an overzealous neighborhood watch head. The young African-American boy was named Treyvon Martin. He was visiting the gated community with his father to spend time with his father's fiance. He walked down the street to a 7/11 and purchased a bottle of sweet tea and Skittles, basically an average American kid. It was raining a bit, so he had his hoodie up in the store and on the walk home. Neighborhood Watchman George Zimmerman called 911, tapes that would be made public. He claimed the boy looked suspicious and took it upon himself to chase the boy down, despite the dispatcher's firm instruction not to do so. The details of the confrontation remain obscure, but somehow or another, the 2 ended up in a brawl that left the 17-year-old shot to death by Zimmerman. Zimmerman was taken from the scene but was released as he claimed self defense. Given the details of the death of the young boy, negative attention around the world sparked massive protests over the lack of arrest made in the case. People around the world gathered to march wearing hoodies and carrying a bottle of sweet tea. All different races and ages joined together to say "we are all treyvon martin" and "i am carrying candy. please don't shoot me." Even President Obama spoke about it saying that his son would look like this boy. Protests continued for weeks in the wake of the controversial case.
March 2nd: A significant tornado outbreak tore across the midwest prompting 297 tornado warnings in one day. Over March 2nd and 3rd, one of the largest tornado outbreaks erupted producing massive tornadoes across the nation's midsection. One of the hardest hit areas was Henryville, IN which took an EF-4 tornado with winds over 170mph. In West Liberty, Kentucky, the most deaths occurred from a dangerous twister. The damage was catastrophic, and the death toll ended with about 40 deaths from these storms. By the end of it, there were 27 confirmed EF-0, 18 EF-1, 14 EF-2, 9 EF-3, and 2 EF-4. The storm ravaged 7 states.
April 9th: "The Lion King" becomes the highest grossing Broadway show taking the prize from "Phantom of the Opera."
April 10th: Apple Inc. becomes the largest by marketing capitalization in the world claiming a value of $600 billion!
April 11th: After weeks and weeks of intense protests and scrutiny, George Zimmerman is charged with 2nd degree murder for the death of Treyvon Martin. He turned himself into custody without a fight.
April 13th: North Korea causes international uproar when they break sanctions and unsuccessfully attempt to launch a long-range rocket. It crashed, but the fact that they did this caused tensions around the world.
April 30th: As work continues on the World Trade Center's new Freedom Tower, it surpasses the Empire State Building and becomes the tallest building in New York.
May 4th: The highly anticipated film "The Avengers" rocks box offices everywhere becoming one of the biggest openings and highest grossing movies in history!
May 5th: Japan shuts down its nuclear reactors leaving the country without nuclear power for the 1st time since 1970. A year before, several major nuclear power plants/reactors were compromised and melted down due to a massive earthquake and tsunami. This prompted massive negative attention to the nuclear power program, and when the reactors were shut down, thousands celebrated.
May 9th: President Barrack Obama sits down with ABC News' Robin Roberts and says, "It is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married." The president's views were heavily influenced and evolved during his time in office. The gay community took this as a huge triumph for the most powerful man in the world to offer words of support.
May 12th: Up until this point, many believed in the theory that when the Mayan calendar ended in the year 2012, so would the world. But on this day, a missing piece of the calendar was discovered that disproved the theory. Some still believe in the end of the world, but others laugh at the affirmation.
May 25th: A SpaceX Dragon becomes the 1st commercial spacecraft to dock with the International Space Station.
June 3rd: Tiger Woods makes a comeback after years of negative attention following his cheating scandal and public divorce. He lost major endorsements and a great deal of his image. But he came back to win in his 73rd PGA tour victory. Think what you want about his personal life, but the man is a living golf legend!
June 21st: The Miami Heat win the NBA Finals and become the 2012 champions!
July 3rd: We were forced to say goodbye to tv legend Andy Griffith as he passed away at age 86. He will always be America's most famous and favorite small town sheriff. (Let the whistling commence!)
July 20th: A terrifying shooting took place in a Century 16 movie theater in Aurora, CO. The shooter walked into a showing of the new film "The Dark Knight Rises" and opened fire on unsuspecting people. The man killed 12 people and injured dozens more. Little understanding has been found in the horrible act. The man was arrested and is awaiting trial.
July 27th: The Summer Olympics kick off in London in an epic ceremony. The Olympics took place from July 27th-August 12th.
July 30th-31st: The world's worst power outage hits India leaving 620 million people without power for 2 days.
August 25th: Neil Armstrong passes away at the age of 82. The space legend became the first man to set foot on the moon and gave us the icon quote, "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." He was on board the Apollo 11 crew who made their landing on the mood and broadcast to millions back on earth on July 20, 1969 at 10:56pm ET. He was 38 years old then. He is immortalized for his space steps and is paid tribute at American history and space museums across the country.
August 28th: Mitt Romney is officially nominated as the Republican Party's Presidential candidate for the 2012 election. From the start, he was very vocal about his distaste for the president's actions since in office and platformed his candidacy around changing all that. From the start, he looked like a serious threat to the current president...
August 29th: Banana spider venom is discovered to relieve erectile dysfunction. (I would have included a picture, but 8-legged beasts and I have a serious problem with each other, and I don't want to cry!)
August 29th: The USADA strips Lance Armstrong of his 7 Tour de France medals in the wake of his steroid scandal.
September 6th: President Barrack Obama accepts the Democratic Party's nomination to be their presidential candidate.
September 9th: Serena Williams wins her 4th US women's tennis singles at the US Open.
September 10th: Chicago teachers go on strike affecting 350,000 students in Chicago Public Schools.
September 11th: Patriot Day marks the somber anniversary of the 9/11/01 attacks on America. Flags fly at half mast, and the country observes moments of silence to commemorate each attack. It was named Patriot Day and National Day of Service and Remembrance by the president just prior.
September 11th: Uproar in the Middle East leads a group of Muslims to tear down the US flag outside the US embassy in Cairo, Egypt and replace it with an Islamic banner.
September 11th: Further unrest over the US in the Middle East turns to tragedy when a mob overruns the US consulate in Benghazi and kills US ambassador Chris Stevens 3 other Americans.
September 12th: Apple unveils iPhone 5 and iOS 6.
September 18th: Chicago Teachers Union and Chicago Public Schools finally reach an agreement and end the 8-day strike.
September 23rd: Iran blocks google as a search engine and bans gmail.
September 23rd: Scientists discover 4 genetically-distinct types of breast cancer, marking major strides in breast cancer research in the hope for a cure.
September 27th: Mars Curiosity rover lands on Mars sending back live feed and giving evidence that fast-moving streambeds exist leading to the belief that water was once present, huge discovery!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZlo0wHx9bk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oLaC1VYoTM
September 27th(roughly): A video was leaked displaying Mitt Romney's candid speech about 47%. This would become one of the biggest political blunders in history that very likely greatly contributed to him losing the presidency. The Obama campaign had been unexpectedly quiet. It seemed a useful tactic for in the absence of the president's swings came Mitt Romney's ability to insult most of America and stick his foot in his mouth. The Obama campaign used the video/audio to create a moving ad about Romney's jab at "47%" of America. Ironically enough, Romney would end the election by gathering 47% of the votes-behold the definition of irony! The number and this became the biggest quote of the entire year and made this presidential hopeful immortally infamous.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9xCCaseop4
October 17th: In the 2nd presidential debate, tens of millions of viewers watched as the candidates turned up the heat and gave us some seriously tense moments when squaring off. Some heated words were exchanged. There were tense expressions, interruptions, uncomfortable tones, accusations, and jabs. It was a true debate. The president was quiet during the 1st debate, but he came out swinging in this one. Americans look at these debates to see who will be a strong representative, who can handle the stresses of the job, and who is willing to fight for what they believe in. Needless to say, these 2 men had passion in this televised debate!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSyv2p0hBn4
October 28th: The San Francisco Giants win the World Series!
October 29th: The unstoppable superstorm Hurricane Sandy continues its rampage by hitting New Jersey and NYC directly! Given that it took place on the Halloween holiday, the storm was named "Frankenstorm." The storm left millions without power for weeks, caused massive fires in the northeast, $50 billion in damage, and cost about 110 deaths. The storm flooded famous New York subways, destroyed the famous Jersey Shore, and forced the New York Stock Exchange to close for 2 days for the 1st time in history. It was thought that the storm would also affect voting turnouts a week later. Efforts to rebuild and restore continue still. A recent concert raised over $30 million for Sandy relief, and the Red Cross along with other organizations have helped people with the devastation of the massive storm.
October 29th: Penguin Publishing and Random House merge to become the world's largest publisher.
October 30th: The Walt Disney Company purchases Lucasfilm Ltd. and its rights for Star Wars and Indiana Jones $4.05 billion! Disney and Lucasfilm have worked together in the past where Star Wars weekends and the Star Tours ride dazzle Walt Disney World every year. They also boast a famous Indiana Jones stunt show that brings in the crowds. Now Disney makes the partnership more official and ensures more to come for fans worldwide.
October 31st: The New York Stock Exchange reopens after being closed for 2 days due to flooding on the famous floor from "Frankenstorm."
November 1st: Gmail becomes the most popular email service in the world!
November 6th: US Presidential and other elections take place across the country. It was a tight race, but in the end, incumbent President Barrack Obama won a second term.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4lPb5tAJyA
November 7th: Maine, Maryland, and Washington approve same-sex marriage following the election results. It is another major stride for gay rights in the US.
November 10th: Once again, Florida is the last to finalize the votes along with a few other states, but in the end the final election results show President Obama winning with 332 electoral votes to Romney's 206. A candidate needs only 270 to win the presidency.
November 16th: Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 breaks records with its massive release raking in $500 million in just 24 hours to become the biggest entertainment release of all time!
November 20th: Toshiba unveils a robot designed to help with nuclear disasters.
November 22nd: Dense fog near Houston, TX causes a 100-car pile-up in which 2 people were killed and 120 others were injured.
November 24th: "Gangnam Style" becomes the most viewed video on youtube of all time receiving over 808 million views, launching the phenomenon even further. (You know you know the dance!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYPvAMrMzwI
November 24th: The continued NHL lockout forces the league to cancel all games through December 14th.
December 1st: The Voyager 1 spacecraft reaches the end of our solar systems and enters instellar space-big year for space travel, even with the end of space shuttle launches and missions in the US.
December 3rd: It is officially announced that Kate Middleton is pregnant. (Not that you could tell-she is stunning and slim!) The future king and queen are expecting their first royal baby a year and a half after their iconic wedding took place. She was hospitalized as a precaution for a few days, likely prompting the announcement. Is it appropriate to say, "good work, kids?" ... Hmm, sad that making a baby is literally all their career asks of them. Congratulations! (green with envy)
December 14th: A horrific shooting follows the recent spike in public shootings. Unlike the others, though, this tragedy pricked the heart of Americans and people around the world when a man walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown,CT. He killed 26 people, 20 of those being children ages 5-10. The event shocked the nation with absolute disgust and brought the most powerful man in the world, President Barrack Obama to tears on national television. The shooter killed himself in the end, but all the questions remain why these innocent children? The event brings further attention to the rising number of these events and the need for reformation.
December 21st: *It's the end of the world as we know it...
... Okay, not so much. Another doomsday theory was disproved.
December 24th: Santa was a very busy man. It's said that Rudolph was pulling a triple shift tonight ;)
December 25th: It was a very Merry Christmas in 2012... minus the massive storm that ravaged the nation and even spawned deadly tornadoes in the southeast.
