File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship

Costa Concordia ''Costa Concordia'' () was a cruise ship operated by Costa Crociere. She was the first of her class, followed by sister ships ''Costa Serena'', ''Costa Pacifica'', ''Costa Favolosa'' and ''Costa Fascinosa'', and ''Carnival Splendor'' built for ...

lies capsized after the

Costa Concordia disaster On 13 January 2012, the eight-year-old Costa Cruises vessel ''Costa Concordia'' was on the last leg of a cruise around the Mediterranean Sea when she deviated from her planned route at Isola del Giglio, Tuscany, sailed closer to the island, an ...

; Damage to

Casino Pier Casino Pier is an amusement park situated on a pier, in Seaside Heights, New Jersey. The pier opened in 1932 and formerly extended approximately into the Atlantic Ocean from the narrow strip of the Barnegat Peninsula, including approximately s ...

Seaside Heights, New Jersey Seaside Heights is a borough in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the borough's population was 2,887,Hurricane Sandy Hurricane Sandy (unofficially referred to as ''Superstorm Sandy'') was an extremely destructive and strong Atlantic hurricane, as well as the largest Atlantic hurricane on record as measured by diameter, with tropical-storm-force winds spann ...

; People gather at a Mayan temple to commemorate the end of the Mayan calendar on

December 21 Events Pre-1600 *AD 69 – The Roman Senate declares Vespasian emperor of Rome, the last in the Year of the Four Emperors. * 1124 – Pope Honorius II is consecrated, having been elected after the controversial dethroning of Pope Cele ...

, when it was predicted a

doomsday event A global catastrophic risk or a doomsday scenario is a hypothetical future event that could damage human well-being on a global scale, even endangering or destroying modern civilization. An event that could cause human extinction or permanen ...

would occur;

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

Curiosity Rover ''Curiosity'' is a car-sized Mars rover designed to explore the Gale crater on Mars as part of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission. ''Curiosity'' was launched from Cape Canaveral (CCAFS) on November 26, 2011, at 15:02:00 UTC and lan ...

lands on the surface of

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...

; The

Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting The Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting occurred on December 14, 2012, in Newtown, Connecticut, United States, when 20-year-old Adam Lanza shot and killed 26 people. Twenty of the victims were children between six and seven years old, and t ...

caused shock and outrage across the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and the world;

K-pop K-pop (), short for Korean popular music, is a form of popular music originating in South Korea as part of South Korean culture. It includes styles and genres from around the world, such as pop, hip hop, R&B, experimental, rock, jazz, gos ...

artist

Psy Park Jae-sang (, ; born December 31, 1977), known professionally as Psy (stylized in all caps as PSY) (; ; ), is a South Korean singer, rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Psy is known domestically for his humorous videos and stage perf ...

performs his hit single

Gangnam Style "Gangnam Style" ( ko, 강남스타일, ) is a K-pop song by South Korean rapper Psy, released on July 15, 2012, by YG Entertainment as the lead single of his sixth studio album, ''Psy 6 (Six Rules), Part 1'' (''Ssai Yukgap Part 1''). The term ...

, which became a cultural phenomenon in 2012; the

elementary particle In particle physics, an elementary particle or fundamental particle is a subatomic particle that is not composed of other particles. Particles currently thought to be elementary include electrons, the fundamental fermions ( quarks, leptons, an ...

, the

Higgs boson The Higgs boson, sometimes called the Higgs particle, is an elementary particle in the Standard Model of particle physics produced by the quantum excitation of the Higgs field, one of the fields in particle physics theory. In the Stand ...

, dubbed "The God Particle", is discovered by

CERN The European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN (; ; ), is an intergovernmental organization that operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world. Established in 1954, it is based in a northwestern suburb of Gene ...

and revolutionizes

quantum physics Quantum mechanics is a fundamental theory in physics that provides a description of the physical properties of nature at the scale of atoms and subatomic particles. It is the foundation of all quantum physics including quantum chemistry, qua ...

; The

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

open in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

., 300x300px, thumb rect 0 0 200 200

rect 200 0 400 200

Hurricane Sandy Hurricane Sandy (unofficially referred to as ''Superstorm Sandy'') was an extremely destructive and strong Atlantic hurricane, as well as the largest Atlantic hurricane on record as measured by diameter, with tropical-storm-force winds spann ...

rect 400 0 600 200

2012 phenomenon The 2012 phenomenon was a range of eschatological beliefs that cataclysmic or transformative events would occur on or around 21 December 2012. This date was regarded as the end-date of a 5,126-year-long cycle in the Mesoamerican Long Count cale ...

rect 0 200 300 400

rect 300 200 600 400

rect 0 400 200 600

rect 200 400 400 600

rect 400 400 600 600

2012 was designated as: *

International Year of Cooperatives 2012 was designated as the International Year of Cooperatives by the United Nations General Assembly on 18 December 2009. The designation has honored the use of cooperative organizations to contribute to socio-economic development across the world. ...

*International Year of Sustainable Energy for All

Events

January

January 4 Events Pre-1600 *46 BC – Julius Caesar fights Titus Labienus in the Battle of Ruspina. * 871 – Battle of Reading: Æthelred of Wessex and his brother Alfred are defeated by a Danish invasion army. 1601–1900 *1649 – Engli ...

– The

Cicada 3301 Cicada 3301 is a nickname given to three sets of puzzles posted under the name "3301" online between 2012 and 2014. The first puzzle started on January 4, 2012, on 4chan and ran for nearly a month. A second round began one year later on January 4, ...

internet hunt begins *

January 12 Events Pre-1600 * 475 – Byzantine Emperor Zeno is forced to flee his capital at Constantinople, and his general, Basiliscus gains control of the empire. *1528 – Gustav I of Sweden is crowned King of Sweden, having already reigned s ...

– Violent protests occur in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

, Romania, as two-day-old demonstrations continue against President

Traian Băsescu Traian Băsescu (; born 4 November 1951) is a conservatism, conservative Romanian politician who served as President of Romania from 2004 to 2014. Prior to his presidency, Băsescu served as Romanian Minister of Transport on multiple occasions ...

's economic

austerity Austerity is a set of political-economic policies that aim to reduce government budget deficits through spending cuts, tax increases, or a combination of both. There are three primary types of austerity measures: higher taxes to fund spend ...

measures. Clashes are reported in numerous Romanian cities between protesters and law enforcement officers. *

January 13 Events Pre-1600 * 27 BC – Octavian transfers the state to the free disposal of the Roman Senate and the people. He receives Spain, Gaul, and Syria as his province for ten years. * 532 – The Nika riots break out, during the racing ...

– The passenger cruise ship ''

'' runs aground off the coast of Italy, causing 32 deaths. *

January 23 Events Pre-1600 * 393 – Roman emperor Theodosius I proclaims his eight-year-old son Honorius co-emperor. * 971 – Using crossbows, Song dynasty troops soundly defeat a war elephant corps of the Southern Han at Shao. *1264 & ...

–

Iran–European Union relations European Union–Iran relations are the bilateral relations between Iran and the European Union (EU). The EU is Iran's largest trading partner, along with China and the United Arab Emirates. Trade with Iran is subject to the general EU import regi ...

: the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

adopts an

embargo Economic sanctions are commercial and financial penalties applied by one or more countries against a targeted self-governing state, group, or individual. Economic sanctions are not necessarily imposed because of economic circumstances—they m ...

against

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

in protest of its continued effort to enrich

uranium Uranium is a chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium is weak ...

February

February 1 Events Pre-1600 * 1327 – The teenaged Edward III is crowned King of England, but the country is ruled by his mother Queen Isabella and her lover Roger Mortimer. * 1411 – The First Peace of Thorn is signed in Thorn (Toruń), Mon ...

– Egypt's deadliest football incident known as the

Port Said Stadium riot On 1 February 2012, a massive riot occurred at Port Said Stadium in Port Said, Egypt, following an Egyptian Premier League football match between Masry and Ahly. Seventy-four people were killed and more than 500 were injured after thousands ...

is sparked after local Port Said Al Masry fans attack supporters of Cairo-based team

Al Ahly SC AL, Al, Ål or al may stand for: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Al (''Aladdin'') or Aladdin, the main character in Disney's ''Aladdin'' media * Al (''EastEnders''), a minor character in the British soap opera * Al (''Fullmetal ...

. The massacre results in 74 deaths: 72 Al Ahly fans, 1 Al Masry fan and 1 police officer. Most of the deaths are caused by stabbing, fans thrown off the stands and a stampede. *

February 19 Events Pre-1600 * 197 – Emperor Septimius Severus defeats usurper Clodius Albinus in the Battle of Lugdunum, the bloodiest battle between Roman armies. * 356 – The anti-paganism policy of Constantius II forbids the worship of pagan ...

–

suspends oil exports to Britain and France, following sanctions put in place by the European Union and the United States in January. *

February 21 Events Pre-1600 * 452 or 453 – Severianus, Bishop of Scythopolis, is martyred in Palestine. * 1245 – Thomas, the first known Bishop of Finland, is granted resignation after confessing to torture and forgery. * 1440 – The Prus ...

–

Greek government-debt crisis Greece faced a sovereign debt crisis in the aftermath of the financial crisis of 2007–2008. Widely known in the country as The Crisis ( Greek: Η Κρίση), it reached the populace as a series of sudden reforms and austerity measures that ...

Eurozone The euro area, commonly called eurozone (EZ), is a currency union of 19 member states of the European Union (EU) that have adopted the euro (€) as their primary currency and sole legal tender, and have thus fully implemented EMU policies ...

finance ministers reach an agreement on a second,

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...

130-billion Greek

bailout A bailout is the provision of financial help to a corporation or country which otherwise would be on the brink of bankruptcy. A bailout differs from the term ''bail-in'' (coined in 2010) under which the bondholders or depositors of global sys ...

. *

February 27 Events Pre-1600 * 380 – Edict of Thessalonica: Emperor Theodosius I and his co-emperors Gratian and Valentinian II declare their wish that all Roman citizens convert to Nicene Christianity. * 425 – The University of Constantinople ...

–

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Ali Abdullah Saleh Ali Abdullah Saleh al-Ahmar (, ''ʿAlī ʿAbdullāh Ṣāliḥ al-Aḥmar;'' 21 March 1947There is a dispute as to Saleh's date of birth, some saying that it was on 21 March 1942. See: However, by Saleh's own confession, he was born in 1947 al ...

formally transfers power to

Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...

Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi ( ar, عبدربه منصور هادي, translit=ʿAbd Rabbih Manṣūr Hādī Yemeni pronunciation: ; born 1 September 1945) is a Yemeni politician and former field marshal of the Yemeni Armed Forces who served as the pres ...

, after a year of mass protests, ending his 33-year-long reign.

March

March 4 Events Pre-1600 *AD 51 – Nero, later to become Roman emperor, is given the title '' princeps iuventutis'' (head of the youth). * 306 – Martyrdom of Saint Adrian of Nicomedia. * 852 – Croatian Knez Trpimir I issues a st ...

– A series of explosions is reported at a munitions dump in

Brazzaville Brazzaville (, kg, Kintamo, Nkuna, Kintambo, Ntamo, Mavula, Tandala, Mfwa, Mfua; Teke: ''M'fa'', ''Mfaa'', ''Mfa'', ''Mfoa''Roman Adrian Cybriwsky, ''Capital Cities around the World: An Encyclopedia of Geography, History, and Culture'', ABC-CLI ...

, the capital of the

Republic of the Congo The Republic of the Congo (french: République du Congo, ln, Republíki ya Kongó), also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply either Congo or the Congo, is a country located in the western coast of Central Africa to the w ...

, with at least 250 people dead. *

March 5 Events Pre-1600 * 363 – Roman emperor Julian leaves Antioch with an army of 90,000 to attack the Sasanian Empire, in a campaign which would bring about his own death. * 1046 – Nasir Khusraw begins the seven-year Middle Eastern ...

– Air date of ''

KONY 2012 ''Kony 2012'' is a 2012 American short documentary film produced by ''Invisible Children'' creators Invisible Children, Inc. The film's purpose was to make Ugandan cult leader, war criminal, and ICC fugitive Joseph Kony globally known so as to ...

'' (

viral Viral means "relating to viruses" (small infectious agents). Viral may also refer to: Viral behavior, or virality Memetic behavior likened that of a virus, for example: * Viral marketing, the use of existing social networks to spread a marke ...

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

) on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

March 12 Events Pre-1600 * 538 – Vitiges, king of the Ostrogoths ends his siege of Rome and retreats to Ravenna, leaving the city to the victorious Byzantine general, Belisarius. * 1088 – Election of Urban II as the 159th Pope of the Cat ...

– A coach carrying school pupils and teachers crashes while travelling through

Sierre Tunnel The Sierre Tunnel (french: Tunnel de Sierre) is a tunnel near Sierre in the Swiss canton of Valais. It is part of the A9 Autobahn and is located between Sierre and Sierre-Est-Ouest. The tunnel was opened in 1999 and consists of two tubes of 2,460 ...

on the A9 motorway in western Switzerland. Of the 52 people on board, 28 are killed, among them 22 children. *

March 13 Events Pre-1600 *624 – The Battle of Badr, the first major battle between the Muslims and Quraysh. *1567 – The Battle of Oosterweel, traditionally regarded as the start of the Eighty Years' War. *1591 – At the Battle of Tond ...

– After 246 years since its first publication, the ''

Encyclopædia Britannica The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various time ...

'' discontinues its print edition. *

March 15 Events Pre-1600 * 474 BC – Roman consul Aulus Manlius Vulso celebrates an ovation for concluding the war against Veii and securing a forty years' truce. *44 BC – The assassination of Julius Caesar takes place. * 493 – Odoa ...

– Communist party chief of

Chongqing Chongqing ( or ; ; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), Postal Romanization, alternately romanized as Chungking (), is a Direct-administered municipalities of China, municipality in Southwes ...

Bo Xilai Bo Xilai (; born 3 July 1949) is a Chinese former politician who was convicted on bribery and embezzlement charges. He came to prominence through his tenures as Mayor of Dalian and then the governor of Liaoning. From 2004 to November 2007, ...

, well known for his neo-Maoist leanings and policies, is removed from his post after a large scandal involving the murder of British businessman Neil Heywood and an incident involving the Chongqing police chief Wang Lijun. *

March 22 Events Pre-1600 * 106 – Start of the Bostran era, the calendar of the province of Arabia Petraea. * 235 – Roman emperor Severus Alexander is murdered, marking the start of the Crisis of the Third Century. * 871 – Æthelr ...

– The

President of Mali This is a list of heads of state of Mali since the country gained independence from France in 1960 to the present day. A total of seven people have served as head of state of Mali (excluding three acting presidents). Additionally, two people, ...

Amadou Toumani Touré Amadou Toumani Touré (4 November 19489 November 2020) was a Malian politician. He supervised Mali's first multiparty elections as chairman of the transitional government (1991–1992), and later became the second democratically-elected Presiden ...

, is ousted in a

coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...

after mutinous soldiers attack government offices. *

–

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

wins the

2012 Asia Cup The 2012 Asia Cup (also called Micromax Asia Cup) was an international cricket tournament held in Bangladesh from 11 to 22 March 2012. Like the previous event, the tournament featured the four Test-playing nations from Asia: Bangladesh, India, P ...

cricket tournament.

April

April 6 Events Pre–1600 *46 BC – Julius Caesar defeats Caecilius Metellus Scipio and Marcus Porcius Cato (Cato the Younger) at the Battle of Thapsus. * 402 – Stilicho defeats the Visigoths under Alaric in the Battle of Pollentia. *132 ...

– The

National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad The National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad or the Azawad National Liberation Movement (Tamasheq: '; ar, الحركة الوطنية لتحرير أزواد ''al-Ḥarakat al-Waṭaniyat Litaḥrīr ʾĀzawād''; french: Mouvement nati ...

unilaterally declares the independence of

Azawad Azawad, or Azawagh (Tuareg: Azawaɣ, or Azawad; ar, أزواد) was a short-lived unrecognised state from 2012 to 2013. Azawagh (''Azawaɣ'') is the generic Tuareg Berber name of all Tuareg Berber areas, especially the northern half of Mal ...

from

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali ...

. *

April 11 Events Pre-1600 * 491 – Flavius Anastasius becomes Byzantine emperor, with the name of Anastasius I. * 1241 – Batu Khan defeats Béla IV of Hungary at the Battle of Mohi. * 1512 – War of the League of Cambrai: Franco-Ferra ...

– An 8.6 earthquake strikes Indonesia triggering a small tsunami that hits the coast of

Aceh Aceh ( ), officially the Aceh Province ( ace, Nanggroë Acèh; id, Provinsi Aceh) is the westernmost province of Indonesia. It is located on the northernmost of Sumatra island, with Banda Aceh being its capital and largest city. Granted a s ...

. *

April 12 Events Pre-1600 * 240 – Shapur I becomes co-emperor of the Sasanian Empire with his father Ardashir I. * 467 – Anthemius is elevated to Emperor of the Western Roman Empire. * 627 – King Edwin of Northumbria is converted ...

– Mutinous soldiers in

Guinea-Bissau Guinea-Bissau ( ; pt, Guiné-Bissau; ff, italic=no, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫 𞤄𞤭𞤧𞤢𞥄𞤱𞤮, Gine-Bisaawo, script=Adlm; Mandinka: ''Gine-Bisawo''), officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau ( pt, República da Guiné-Bissau, links=no ) ...

stage a

and take control of the capital city,

Bissau Bissau () is the capital, and largest city of Guinea-Bissau. Bissau had a population of 492,004. Bissau is located on the Geba River estuary, off the Atlantic Ocean, and is Guinea-Bissau's largest city, major port, and its administrative and m ...

. They arrest interim President

Raimundo Pereira Raimundo Rodrigues Pereira (born 1956) is a Bissau-Guinean lawyer and politician who was interim President of Guinea-Bissau from 3 March 2009 to 8 September 2009 and again in 2012, following the departure of President Malam Bacai Sanhá for medi ...

and leading presidential candidate

Carlos Gomes Júnior Carlos Domingos Gomes Júnior (born December 19, 1949)
(in Portuguese). is a Guinea-Bissau, Bissau-Guinean politician who was Head ...

in the midst of a

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The pre ...

campaign. *

April 13 Events Pre-1600 *1111 – Henry V is crowned Holy Roman Emperor. * 1204 – Constantinople falls to the Crusaders of the Fourth Crusade, temporarily ending the Byzantine Empire. 1601–1900 *1612 – In one of the epic samurai ...

–

Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3 Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3 () was a North Korean Earth observation satellite which, according to the DPRK, was for weather forecast purposes, and whose launch was widely portrayed in the West to be a veiled ballistic missile test. The satellite was la ...

, a

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

Earth observation satellite An Earth observation satellite or Earth remote sensing satellite is a satellite used or designed for Earth observation (EO) from orbit, including spy satellites and similar ones intended for non-military uses such as environmental monitoring, me ...

, explodes shortly after launch. The United States and other countries had called the impending launch a violation of

United Nations Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the Organs of the United Nations, six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international security, international peace and security, recommending the admi ...

demands. The launch was planned to mark the centenary of the birth of

Kim Il-sung Kim Il-sung (; , ; born Kim Song-ju, ; 15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was a North Korean politician and the founder of North Korea, which he ruled from the country's establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994. He held the posts of ...

, the founder of the republic. *

April 20 Events Pre-1600 * 1303 – The Sapienza University of Rome is instituted by a bull of Pope Boniface VIII. 1601–1900 * 1653 – Oliver Cromwell dissolves England's Rump Parliament. * 1657 – English Admiral Robert Blake destroy ...

–

Bhoja Air Flight 213 Bhoja Air Flight 213 was a domestic scheduled passenger flight operated by Pakistani airline Bhoja Air from Karachi to Islamabad. On 20 April 2012, the Boeing 737-236A aircraft serving the route crashed in bad weather during its final approach ...

crashes near Rawalpindi, Pakistan, killing all 127 people on board. *

April 25 Events Pre-1600 * 404 BC – Admiral Lysander and King Pausanias of Sparta blockade Athens and bring the Peloponnesian War to a successful conclusion. * 775 – The Battle of Bagrevand puts an end to an Armenian rebellion against the ...

– Former

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

n President Charles Taylor is found guilty on 11 counts of aiding and abetting war crimes and crimes against humanity during the

Sierra Leone Civil War The Sierra Leone Civil War (1991–2002), or the Sierra Leonean Civil War, was a civil war in Sierra Leone that began on 23 March 1991 when the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), with support from the special forces of Liberia, Liberian dictato ...

May

May 2 Events Pre-1600 * 1194 – King Richard I of England gives Portsmouth its first Royal Charter. * 1230 – William de Braose is hanged by Prince Llywelyn the Great. * 1536 – Anne Boleyn, Queen of England, is arrested and impris ...

– A

pastel A pastel () is an art medium in a variety of forms including a stick, a square a pebble or a pan of color; though other forms are possible; they consist of powdered pigment and a binder. The pigments used in pastels are similar to those use ...

version of ''

The Scream ''The Scream'' is a composition created by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch in 1893. The agonized face in the painting has become one of the most iconic images of art, seen as symbolizing the anxiety of the human condition. Munch's work, including ...

'', by the Norwegian painter

Edvard Munch Edvard Munch ( , ; 12 December 1863 – 23 January 1944) was a Norwegian painter. His best known work, ''The Scream'' (1893), has become one of Western art's most iconic images. His childhood was overshadowed by illness, bereavement and the dr ...

, sells for US$120 million in a New York City auction, setting a new world record for an auctioned work of art. *

May 6 Events Pre-1600 * 1527 – Spanish and German troops sack Rome; many scholars consider this the end of the Renaissance. *1536 – The Siege of Cuzco commences, in which Incan forces attempt to retake the city of Cuzco from the Spanis ...

–

Legislative elections A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

are held in

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

to elect all 300 members of the

Hellenic Parliament The Hellenic Parliament ( el, Ελληνικό Κοινοβούλιο, Elliniko Kinovoulio; formally titled el, Βουλή των Ελλήνων, Voulí ton Ellínon, Boule (ancient Greece), Boule of the Greeks, Hellenes, label=none), also kno ...

and the

New Democracy New Democracy, or the New Democratic Revolution, is a concept based on Mao Zedong's Bloc of Four Social Classes theory in Chinese Communist Revolution, post-revolutionary China which argued originally that democracy in China would take a path ...

party led by

Antonis Samaras Antonis Samaras ( el, Αντώνης Σαμαράς, ; born 23 May 1951) is a Greek politician who served as 14th Prime Minister of Greece from 2012 to 2015. A member of the New Democracy party, he was its president from 2009 until 2015. Samara ...

, comes out as the largest party winning 108 out of 300 seats. *

May 7 Events Pre-1600 * 351 – The Jewish revolt against Constantius Gallus breaks out after his arrival at Antioch. * 558 – In Constantinople, the dome of the Hagia Sophia collapses, twenty years after its construction. Justinian I imm ...

–

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...

is elected President of Russia. *

May 12 Events Pre-1600 * 254 – Pope Stephen I succeeds Pope Lucius I, becoming the 23rd pope of the Catholic Church, and immediately takes a stand against Novatianism. * 907 – Zhu Wen forces Emperor Ai into abdicating, ending the Tang d ...

–

August 12 Events Pre-1600 * 1099 – First Crusade: Battle of Ascalon Crusaders under the command of Godfrey of Bouillon defeat Fatimid forces led by Al-Afdal Shahanshah. This is considered the last engagement of the First Crusade. * 1121 – Ba ...

– The 2012 World Expo takes place in

Yeosu Yeosu (; ''Yeosu-si''), historically also Yosu, and known to the Japanese as Reisui during the period when Korea was under Japanese rule, is a city located on the southern coast of the Korean Peninsula in South Jeolla Province, South Korea and ...

, South Korea.2012 World Expo (English)
Retrieved January 23, 2012. *

May 19 Events Pre-1600 * 639 – Ashina Jiesheshuai and his tribesmen assaulted Emperor Taizong at Jiucheng Palace. * 715 – Pope Gregory II is elected. * 1051 – Henry I of France marries the Rus' princess, Anne of Kiev. *1445 &n ...

– Chelsea wins the 2011-12 UEFA Champions League held in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

by beating the home side

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which pla ...

in the final. *

May 20 Events Pre-1600 * 325 – The First Council of Nicaea is formally opened, starting the first ecumenical council of the Christian Church. * 491 – Empress Ariadne marries Anastasius I. The widowed '' Augusta'' is able to choose her ...

– An annular solar eclipse visible from Asia and North America is the 58th solar eclipse from 73 solar eclipses of

Solar Saros 128 Saros cycle series 128 for solar eclipse A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby obscuring the view of the Sun from a small part of the Earth, totally or partially. Such an alignment occurs during an e ...

. *

May 22 Events Pre-1600 * 192 – Dong Zhuo is assassinated by his adopted son Lü Bu. * 760 – Fourteenth recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet. * 853 – A Byzantine fleet sacks and destroys undefended Damietta in Egypt. * 11 ...

–

Tokyo Skytree is a broadcasting and observation tower in Sumida, Tokyo. It became the tallest structure in Japan in 2010tallest self-supporting tower in the world at 634 metres high, is opened to the public. *

– 26 – The

Eurovision Song Contest 2012 The Eurovision Song Contest 2012 was the 57th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Baku, Azerbaijan, following the country's victory at the with the song " Running Scared" by the duo Ell & Nikki. It was the first time Azerb ...

takes place in

Baku Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world a ...

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

, and is won by

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

entrant

Loreen Loreen may refer to: *Loreen (singer), Swedish singer *Loreen Rice Lucas (1914–2011), a Canadian author * "Loreen" (song), 1986 song by German singer Sandra See also *Loren (disambiguation) *Lorene *Loreena Loreena is a female given name. It may r ...

with the song "

Euphoria Euphoria ( ) is the experience (or affect) of pleasure or excitement and intense feelings of well-being and happiness. Certain natural rewards and social activities, such as aerobic exercise, laughter, listening to or making music and da ...

June

June 5 Events Pre-1600 *1257 – Kraków, in Poland, receives city rights. *1283 – Battle of the Gulf of Naples: Roger of Lauria, admiral to King Peter III of Aragon, destroys the Neapolitan fleet and captures Charles II of Naples, Charles ...

– 6 – The century's second and last solar

transit of Venus frameless, upright=0.5 A transit of Venus across the Sun takes place when the planet Venus passes directly between the Sun and a superior planet, becoming visible against (and hence obscuring a small portion of) the solar disk. During a trans ...

occurs. The next pair are predicted to occur in 2117 and 2125. *

June 6 Events Pre-1600 * 913 – Constantine VII, the eight-year-old illegitimate son of Leo VI the Wise, becomes nominal ruler of the Byzantine Empire under the regency of a seven-man council headed by Patriarch Nicholas Mystikos, appointed b ...

–

2012 Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus outbreak Since 2012, an outbreak of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus has affected several countries, primarily in its namesake, the Middle East. The virus, which causes Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), is a novel coronavirus that was ...

first identified. *

June 7 Events Pre-1600 * 421 – Emperor Theodosius II marries Aelia Eudocia at Istanbul, Constantinople (Byzantine Empire). * 879 – Pope John VIII recognizes the Duchy of Croatia under Duke Branimir of Croatia, Branimir as an independent ...

–

Morley Morley may refer to: Places England * Morley, Norfolk, a civil parish * Morley, Derbyshire, a civil parish * Morley, Cheshire, a village * Morley, County Durham, a village * Morley, West Yorkshire, a suburban town of Leeds and civil parish * M ...

and

Dianella Dianella may refer to: * ''Dianella'' (beetle), a species and genus of beetle in the family Carabidae now known as ''Diamella'' * ''Dianella'' (gastropod), a genus of freshwater snails in the family Hydrobiidae * ''Dianella'' (plant), a genus of ...

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, Western Australia, have a once in a decade tornado. *

June 8 Events Pre-1600 * 218 – Battle of Antioch: With the support of the Syrian legions, Elagabalus defeats the forces of emperor Macrinus. * 452 – Attila leads a Hun army in the invasion of Italy, devastating the northern provinces ...

–

July 1 Events Pre-1600 * 69 – Tiberius Julius Alexander orders his Roman legions in Alexandria to swear allegiance to Vespasian as Emperor. * 552 – Battle of Taginae: Byzantine forces under Narses defeat the Ostrogoths in Italy, and the ...

–

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

and

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

jointly host the

UEFA Euro 2012 The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th European Championship for men's national football teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament, held between 8 June and 1 ...

football tournament, which is won by

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. *

June 17 Events Pre-1600 * 653 – Pope Martin I is arrested and taken to Constantinople, due to his opposition to monothelitism. * 1242 – Following the Disputation of Paris, twenty-four carriage loads of Jewish religious manuscripts were bur ...

– Snap legislative elections are held in

, following failure to form a government, to elect all 300 members of the

and the

party, led by

, comes out as the largest party winning 129 out of 300 seats. *

June 18 Events Pre-1600 * 618 – Li Yuan becomes Emperor Gaozu of Tang, initiating three centuries of Tang dynasty rule over China. * 656 – Ali becomes Caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate. * 860 – Byzantine–Rus' War: A fleet of about ...

– ''

Shenzhou 9 Shenzhou 9 () was the fourth crewed spacecraft flight of China's Shenzhou program, launched at 18:37:24 CST (10:37:24 UTC), 16 June 2012. Shenzhou 9 was the second spacecraft and first crewed mission and expedition to dock with the Tiangong-1 ...

'', a Chinese

spacecraft A spacecraft is a vehicle or machine designed to fly in outer space. A type of artificial satellite, spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including communications, Earth observation, meteorology, navigation, space colonization, p ...

carrying three Chinese astronauts, including the first-ever female, docks manually with orbiting module

Tiangong-1 Tiangong-1 () was China's first prototype space station. It orbited Earth from September 2011 to April 2018, serving as both a crewed laboratory and an experimental testbed to demonstrate orbital rendezvous and docking capabilities during it ...

, making this the third country, after the United States and Russia, successfully to perform the mission. *

June 21 Events Pre-1600 * 533 – A Byzantine expeditionary fleet under Belisarius sails from Constantinople to attack the Vandals in Africa, via Greece and Sicily (approximate date). * 1307 – Külüg Khan is enthroned as Khagan of the Mo ...

– The

Congress of Paraguay Paraguay's bicameral Congress ''(Congreso)'' consists of a 45-member Senate and an 80-member Chamber of Deputies. It serves as the legislative branch of the Paraguayan state. Both chambers of Congress are elected concurrently with the pre ...

approves the impeachment of president

Fernando Lugo Fernando Armindo Lugo Méndez (; born 30 May 1951) is a Paraguayan politician and laicized Catholic bishop who was President of Paraguay from 2008 to 2012. Previously he was a Roman Catholic priest and bishop, serving as Bishop of the Diocese ...

. *

June 22 Events Pre-1600 * 217 BC – Battle of Raphia: Ptolemy IV Philopator of Egypt defeats Antiochus III the Great of the Seleucid kingdom. * 168 BC – Battle of Pydna: Romans under Lucius Aemilius Paullus defeat Macedonian King Perseus ...

–

is removed from power. Vice President

Federico Franco Luis Federico Franco Gómez (born 24 July 1962) is a Paraguayan politician who was President of Paraguay from June 2012 until August 2013. A member of the Authentic Radical Liberal Party (PLRA), he was elected as Vice President of Paraguay in th ...

becomes the new president of Paraguay. *

June 24 Events Pre-1600 * 1312 BC – Mursili II launches a campaign against the Kingdom of Azzi-Hayasa. * 109 – Roman emperor Trajan inaugurates the Aqua Traiana, an aqueduct that channels water from Lake Bracciano, northwest of Rome. * ...

–

Lonesome George Lonesome George ( es, Solitario George or , 1910 – June 24, 2012) was a male Pinta Island tortoise (''Chelonoidis niger abingdonii'') and the last known individual of the subspecies. In his last years, he was known as the rarest creat ...

, the last known individual of the

Pinta Island tortoise The Pinta Island tortoise (''Chelonoidis niger ''), also known as the Pinta giant tortoise, Abingdon Island tortoise, or Abingdon Island giant tortoise, was a subspecies of Galápagos tortoise native to Ecuador's Pinta Island. The subspecies wa ...

subspecies, dies in

Galápagos National Park Galápagos National Park ( es, Parque Nacional Galápagos) was established in 1959. It began operation in 1968, and it is Ecuador's first national park and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Park history The government of Ecuador has designated ...

, thus making the subspecies

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

. *

June 30 Events Pre-1600 * 296 – Pope Marcellinus begins his papacy. * 763 – The Byzantine Empire, Byzantine army of emperor Constantine V defeats the First Bulgarian Empire, Bulgarian forces in the Battle of Anchialus (763), Battle of Anc ...

–

Mohamed Morsi Mohamed Mohamed Morsi Eissa al-AyyatThe spellings of his first and last names vary. survey of 14 news organizations plus Wikipedia in July 2012 Muslim Brotherhood The Society of the Muslim Brothers ( ar, جماعة الإخوان المسلمين'' ''), better known as the Muslim Brotherhood ( ', is a transnational Sunni Islamist organization founded in Egypt by Islamic scholar and schoolteacher Hassan ...

, is elected 5th President of

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

, the first elected democratically by the Egyptian people, sparking mixed reactions and protests throughout the country.

July

July 4 Events Pre-1600 * 362 BC – Battle of Mantinea: The Thebans, led by Epaminondas, defeated the Spartans. * 414 – Emperor Theodosius II, age 13, yields power to his older sister Aelia Pulcheria, who reigned as regent and proclaim ...

–

announces the discovery of a new particle with properties consistent with the

after experiments at the

Large Hadron Collider The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the world's largest and highest-energy particle collider. It was built by the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) between 1998 and 2008 in collaboration with over 10,000 scientists and hundred ...

. *

July 20 Events Pre-1600 * 70 – Siege of Jerusalem: Titus, son of emperor Vespasian, storms the Fortress of Antonia north of the Temple Mount. The Roman army is drawn into street fights with the Zealots. * 792 – Kardam of Bulgaria defea ...

–

2012 Aurora, Colorado shooting On July 20, 2012, a mass shooting occurred inside a Century 16 movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, United States, during a midnight screening of the film ''The Dark Knight Rises''. Dressed in tactical clothing, James Holmes set off tear gas g ...

: 12 people are killed and 58 are injured in a

mass shooting There is a lack of consensus on how to define a mass shooting. Most terms define a minimum of three or four victims of gun violence (not including the shooter or in an inner city) in a short period of time, although an Australian study from 200 ...

at a movie theater in

Aurora, Colorado Aurora (, ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality located in Arapahoe County, Colorado, Arapahoe, Adams County, Colorado, Adams, and Douglas County, Colorado, Douglas List of counties in Colorado, ...

. The shooter, James Holmes, opens fire on a crowd during a screening of ''

The Dark Knight Rises ''The Dark Knight Rises'' is a 2012 superhero film directed by Christopher Nolan, who co-wrote the screenplay with his brother Jonathan Nolan, and the story with David S. Goyer. The film is based on the DC Comics character Batman, it is th ...

''. *

July 21 Events Pre-1600 * 356 BC – The Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, is destroyed by arson. * 230 – Pope Pontian succeeds Urban I as the eighteenth pope. After being exiled to Sardinia, he became the ...

– Turkish adventurer

Erden Eruç Erden Eruç (; born 14 July 1961) is a Turkish-American adventurer who became the first person in history to complete an entirely solo and entirely human-powered circumnavigation of the Earth on 21 July 2012 in Bodega Bay, California, United St ...

becomes the first person in history to complete a solo human-powered

circumnavigation Circumnavigation is the complete navigation around an entire island, continent, or astronomical object, astronomical body (e.g. a planet or natural satellite, moon). This article focuses on the circumnavigation of Earth. The first recorded circ ...

of the Earth. *

July 23 Events Pre-1600 * 811 – Byzantine emperor Nikephoros I plunders the Bulgarian capital of Pliska and captures Khan Krum's treasury. * 1319 – A Knights Hospitaller fleet scores a crushing victory over an Aydinid fleet off Chios. 16 ...

– The

Solar storm of 2012 The solar storm of 2012 was an unusually large and strong coronal mass ejection (CME) event that occurred on July 23 that year. It missed Earth with a margin of approximately nine days, as the equator of the Sun rotates around its own axis with ...

is an unusually large

coronal mass ejection A coronal mass ejection (CME) is a significant release of plasma and accompanying magnetic field from the Sun's corona into the heliosphere. CMEs are often associated with solar flares and other forms of solar activity, but a broadly accepted ...

emitted by the

Sun The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...

which barely misses the

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

by nine days. If it had hit, it would have caused up to US$2.6 trillion in damages to electrical equipment worldwide. *

July 27 Events Pre-1600 * 1054 – Siward, Earl of Northumbria, invades Scotland and defeats Macbeth, King of Scotland, somewhere north of the Firth of Forth. * 1189 – Friedrich Barbarossa arrives at Niš, the capital of Serbian King Ste ...

–

– The

are held in London, England, United Kingdom. *

July 30 Events Pre-1600 * 762 – Baghdad is founded. *1419 – First Defenestration of Prague: A crowd of radical Hussites kill seven members of the Prague city council. *1502 – Christopher Columbus lands at Guanaja in the Bay Islands ...

– 31 – In the worst power outage in world history, the

2012 India blackouts Two severe power blackouts affected most of northern and eastern India on 30 and 31 July 2012. The 30 July 2012 blackout affected over 400 million people and was briefly the largest power outage in history by number of people affected, beati ...

leave 620 million people without power.

August

August 6 Events Pre-1600 *1284 – The Republic of Pisa is defeated in the Battle of Meloria by the Republic of Genoa, thus losing its naval dominance in the Mediterranean. * 1538 – Bogotá, Colombia, is founded by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada ...

– ''

Curiosity Curiosity (from Latin '' cūriōsitās'', from ''cūriōsus'' "careful, diligent, curious", akin to ''cura'' "care") is a quality related to inquisitive thinking such as exploration, investigation, and learning, evident by observation in humans ...

'', the

Mars Science Laboratory Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) is a robotic spacecraft, robotic space probe mission to Mars launched by NASA on November 26, 2011, which successfully landed ''Curiosity (rover), Curiosity'', a Mars rover, in Gale (crater), Gale Crater on August ...

mission's

rover Rover may refer to: People * Constance Rover (1910–2005), English historian * Jolanda de Rover (born 1963), Dutch swimmer * Rover Thomas (c. 1920–1998), Indigenous Australian artist Places * Rover, Arkansas, US * Rover, Missouri, US * ...

, successfully lands on

. *

August 24 Events Pre-1600 * 367 – Gratian, son of Roman Emperor Valentinian I, is named co-Augustus at the age of eight by his father. * 394 – The Graffito of Esmet-Akhom, the latest known inscription in Egyptian hieroglyphs, is written. ...

– The

House of Representatives of Japan The is the lower house of the National Diet of Japan. The House of Councillors (Japan), House of Councillors is the upper house. The composition of the House is established by and of the Constitution of Japan. The House of Representatives ha ...

passes a resolution criticizing the

President of South Korea The president of the Republic of Korea (), also known as the president of South Korea (often abbreviated to POTROK or POSK; ), is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of Korea. The president leads the State Council, and is ...

Lee Myung-bak Lee Myung-bak (; ; ; born 19 December 1941) is a South Korean businessman and politician who served as the 10th president of South Korea from 2008 to 2013. Before his presidency, he was the CEO of Hyundai Engineering and Construction, and the ma ...

's visit to the disputed Liancourt Rocks. * August 31 – Armenia Armenia–Hungary relations, severs diplomatic relations with Hungary, following the extradition to

and subsequent pardoning of Ramil Safarov, who was convicted of killing an Armenian soldier in Hungary in 2004. The move is also met with fierce criticism from other countries.

September

* September 7 – Canada officially Canada–Iran relations, cuts diplomatic ties with

by closing its embassy in Tehran, and orders the expulsion of Iranian diplomats from Ottawa, over support for Syria, nuclear plans and human rights abuses. * September 11–September 27, 27 – A series of terrorist attacks are directed against United States diplomatic missions worldwide, as well as diplomatic missions of Germany, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. In the US, opinions are divided over whether the attacks are a Reactions to Innocence of Muslims, reaction to a

trailer for the film ''Innocence of Muslims''. In Libya, among the dead is United States Ambassador to Libya, US ambassador J. Christopher Stevens. * September 22 – The United Kingdom informs the World Health Organization about a 2012-nCoV, novel coronavirus case originating from Saudi Arabia.

October

* October 14 – Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner becomes the first person to break the sound barrier without any machine assistance, during a record space diving, space dive out of the ''Red Bull Stratos'' Gas balloon, helium-filled balloon from 128,000 ft () over Roswell, New Mexico in the United States. * October 16 – Seven paintings worth $25 million are stolen from the Kunsthal in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. * October 22 – November 2 –

, the largest Atlantic hurricane on record (as measured by diameter, with tropical-storm-force winds spanning 900 miles (1,400 km)), wreaks havoc, resulting in 233 total deaths and $68.7 billion (2012 USD) damage. * October 28 – Jorge Lorenzo becomes the World Champion of the 2012 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season.

November

* November 6 – 2012 United States presidential election: Barack Obama is reelected President of the United States, defeating his Republican challenger Mitt Romney. * November 13 – A total solar eclipse occurs in parts of Australia and the South Pacific. It is the 45th of 72 solar eclipses of Solar Saros 133. * November 14–November 21, 21 – Israel launches Operation Pillar of Defense against the Palestinian people, Palestinian-governed Gaza Strip, killing Hamas military chief Ahmed Jabari. In the following week 140 Palestinians and five Israelis are killed in an ensuing cycle of violence. A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is announced by Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton after the week-long escalation in hostilities in Southern District (Israel), Southern Israel and the Gaza Strip. * November 25–December 9 – Typhoon Bopha, known as "Pablo" in the Philippines, kills at least 1,067 with around 838 people missing. The typhoon causes considerable damage in the island of Mindanao. * November 29 – The United Nations General Assembly, UN General Assembly United Nations General Assembly resolution 67/19, approves a motion granting State of Palestine, Palestine United Nations General Assembly observers, non-member observer state status.

December

* December 6 – The U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington becomes the first jurisdiction in the modern world officially to legalize the possession of Cannabis (drug), cannabis for personal use. * December 8 – The 2012 United Nations Climate Change Conference, UN Climate Change Conference in Qatar agrees to extend the Kyoto Protocol until 2020. *December 12 –

successfully launches satellite Kwangmyongsong-3 Unit 2. *December 12 is the last time in the 21st century that the month, day and final two digits of the year are the exact same (12/12/12). The next time this will happen will be on New Year’s Day in 2101 (01/01/01). * December 14 –

: Twenty-eight people, including the gunman, are killed in Sandy Hook, Connecticut. * December 17 – Spanish bank Grupo Santander announces the acquisition of the remaining 10% of Banesto it did not yet own, effectively absorbing it into Banco Santander. * December 18 – At least 55 people drown after an December 2012 Gulf of Aden migrant boat disaster, overcrowded boat capsizes off the coast of Somalia. *

– Final year of the world as claimed by the Mayan calendar, ending on 12-21-12, stating that 2013 will not happen according to

Births

* January 7 – Blue Ivy Carter, American singer * January 24 – Princess Athena of Denmark * February 23 – Princess Estelle, Duchess of Östergötland

Deaths

January

* January 1 ** Bob Anderson (fencer), Bob Anderson, English fencer (b. 1922) ** Kiro Gligorov, 1st President of the Republic of Macedonia (b. 1917) * January 3 – Josef Škvorecký, Czech writer (b. 1924) * January 9 – Malam Bacai Sanhá, 4th President of Guinea-Bissau (b. 1947) * January 10 – Gevork Vartanian, Soviet intelligence officer (b. 1924) *

** Rauf Denktaş, 1st President of Northern Cyprus (b. 1924) ** Miljan Miljanić, Yugoslavian-born footballer (b. 1930) * January 15 – Manuel Fraga Iribarne, Spanish politician (b. 1922) * January 19 – Sarah Burke, Canadian Freestyle skier (b. 1982) * January 20 ** Etta James, American singer (b. 1938) ** Jiří Raška, Czech ski jumper (b. 1941) * January 22 – Joe Paterno, American football player and coach (b. 1926) * January 24 ** Theo Angelopoulos, Greek filmmaker (b. 1935) ** James Farentino, American actor (b. 1938) * January 29 ** François Migault, French racing driver (b. 1944) ** Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, 9th President of Italy (b. 1918)

February

Whitney Houston Welcome Home Heroes 1 cropped

** Don Cornelius, American television show host and producer (b. 1936) ** Angelo Dundee, American boxing trainer and cornerman (b. 1921) ** Wisława Szymborska, Polish Nobel poet (b. 1923) * February 3 ** John Christopher, English writer (b. 1922) ** Ben Gazzara, American actor (b. 1930) * February 4 – Florence Green, English supercentenarian (b. 1901) * February 6 ** Peter Breck, American actor (b. 1929) ** Antoni Tàpies, Spanish artist (b. 1923) ** Janice E. Voss, American engineer and astronaut (b. 1956) * February 11 – Whitney Houston, American singer and actress (b. 1963) * February 12 – David Kelly (actor), David Kelly, Irish actor (b. 1929) * February 15 – Lina Romay, Spanish actress (b. 1954) * February 18 – George Brizan, 8th Prime Minister of Grenada (b. 1942) *

– Renato Dulbecco, Italian-born American Nobel virologist (b. 1914) * February 25 – Maurice André, French trumpeter (b. 1933) * February 29 – Davy Jones (musician), Davy Jones, English singer and actor (b. 1945)

March

* March 1 ** Andrew Breitbart, American writer and publisher (b. 1969) ** Lucio Dalla, Italian singer-songwriter (b. 1943) * March 3 ** Ralph McQuarrie, American conceptual designer and illustrator (b. 1929) ** Ronnie Montrose, American guitarist (b. 1947) * March 6 ** Francisco Xavier do Amaral, 1st President of East Timor (b. 1937) ** Robert B. Sherman, American songwriter (b. 1925) * March 7 – Włodzimierz Smolarek, Polish footballer (b. 1957) * March 10 ** Jean Giraud, French comics artist (b. 1938) ** F. Sherwood Rowland, American Nobel chemist (b. 1927) * March 14 – Ċensu Tabone, 4th President of Malta (b. 1913) * March 16 – Estanislau Basora, Spanish footballer (b. 1926) * March 17 ** John Demjanjuk, Ukrainian-American Nazi war crimes defendant (b. 1920) ** Pope Shenouda III of Alexandria (b. 1923) * March 18 – George Tupou V, King of Tonga (b. 1948) * March 21 – Tonino Guerra, Italian screenwriter (b. 1920) * March 23 ** Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, 6th President of Somalia (b. 1934) ** Chico Anysio, Brazilian actor, comedian, writer, and composer (b. 1931) ** Naji Talib, 52nd Prime Minister of Iraq (b. 1917) * March 25 ** Antonio Tabucchi, Italian writer (b. 1943) ** Edd Gould, British animator and creator of Eddsworld (b. 1988) * March 27 ** Adrienne Rich, American writer and feminist (b. 1929) ** Warren Stevens, American actor (b. 1919) * March 28 ** Alexander Arutiunian, Armenian composer (b. 1920) ** Earl Scruggs, American bluegrass musician (b. 1924)

April

* April 1 ** Giorgio Chinaglia, Italian footballer (b. 1947) ** Miguel de la Madrid, 52nd President of Mexico (b. 1934) * April 2 – Elizabeth Catlett, American/Mexican artist (b. 1915) * April 5 – Bingu wa Mutharika, 3rd President of Malawi (b. 1934) * April 7 – Mike Wallace, American journalist (b. 1918) * April 9 – Takeshi Aono, Japanese voice actor (b. 1936) *

– Ahmed Ben Bella, 1st President of Algeria (b. 1916) * April 14 – Jonathan Frid, Canadian actor (b. 1924) * April 15 – Murray Rose, Australian swimmer (b. 1939) * April 16 – Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller, Danish shipping magnate (b. 1913) * April 18 – Dick Clark, American television host and producer (b. 1929) * April 19 – Levon Helm, American musician (b. 1940) *

– Valeri Vasiliev, Russian ice hockey player (b. 1949) * April 21 – Charles Colson, American evangelist (b. 1931) * April 28 – Ervin Zádor, Hungarian water polo player (b. 1934) * April 29 ** Shukri Ghanem, Prime Minister of Libya (2003–2006) (b. 1942) ** Joel Goldsmith, American composer (b. 1957) * April 30 – Alexander Dale Oen, Norwegian swimmer (b. 1985)

May

Nobel Peace Price Concert 2009 Donna Summer1 cropped

– Junior Seau, American football player (b. 1969) * May 3 – Jorge Illueca, 25th President of Panama (b. 1918) * May 4 ** Adam Yauch, American rapper and musician (b. 1964) ** Rashidi Yekini, Nigerian footballer (b. 1963) * May 5 – Carl Johan Bernadotte, Swedish prince (b. 1916) *

– George Lindsey, American actor (b. 1928) * May 8 – Maurice Sendak, American author (b. 1928) * May 9 ** Geoffrey Henry, 2-Time Prime Minister of Cook Islands (b. 1940) ** Vidal Sassoon, British hairdresser (b. 1928) * May 10 – Carroll Shelby, American automotive designer, racing driver, and entrepreneur (b. 1923) * May 14 – Taruni Sachdev, Indian actress (b. 1998) * May 15 ** Carlos Fuentes, Panamanian-born Mexican writer (b. 1928) ** Zakaria Mohieddin, Egyptian general and politician (b. 1918) * May 17 – Donna Summer, American singer (b. 1948) * May 18 – Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, German lyric baritone and conductor (b. 1925) *

– Bob Boozer, American basketball player (b. 1937) *

– Robin Gibb, British-Australian musician (b. 1949) * May 25 – Edoardo Mangiarotti, Italian fencer (b. 1919) * May 27 – Friedrich Hirzebruch, German mathematician (b. 1927) * May 29 ** Kaneto Shindo, Japanese film director (b. 1912) ** Doc Watson, American guitarist and songwriter (b. 1923) * May 30 – Andrew Huxley, British Nobel physiologist (b. 1917)

June

* June 2 ** Richard Dawson, British-American actor, comedian, game show host and panelist (b. 1932) ** Kathryn Joosten, American actress (b. 1939) ** Oliver (chimpanzee), Oliver, American chimpanzee performer, promoted as a "humanzee" (b. c.1957) * June 3 – Roy Salvadori, British racing driver (b. 1922) * June 4 – Eduard Khil, Soviet and Russian baritone singer (b. 1934) *

– Ray Bradbury, American author (b. 1920) *

– Manuel Preciado Rebolledo, Manuel Preciado, Spanish footballer and coach (b. 1957) *

– Bob Welch (musician), Bob Welch, American musician (b. 1945) *

– Frank Cady, American actor (b. 1915) * June 11 ** Ann Rutherford, Canadian-born American actress (b. 1917) ** Teófilo Stevenson, Cuban Olympic boxer (b. 1952) * June 12 – Elinor Ostrom, American Nobel economist (b. 1933) * June 13 – William Standish Knowles, American Nobel chemist (b. 1917) * June 14 – Yvette Wilson, American actress and comedian (b. 1964) * June 16 ** Nayef bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia (b. 1934) ** Susan Tyrrell, American actress (b. 1945) *

– Rodney King, American criminal and victim of police brutality (b. 1965) * June 19 – Richard Lynch, American actor (b. 1940) * June 26 – Nora Ephron, American film director and screenwriter (b. 1941) *

– Yitzhak Shamir, 7th Prime Minister of Israel (b. 1915)

July

Ernest Borgnine McHale McHale's Navy 1962

– Alan G. Poindexter, American astronaut (b. 1961) * July 3 ** Andy Griffith, American actor (b. 1926) ** Sergio Pininfarina, Italian automobile designer (b. 1926) ** Hollie Stevens, American pornographic actress and model (b. 1982) * July 8 – Ernest Borgnine, American actor (b. 1917) * July 9 – Terepai Maoate, 6th Prime Minister of the Cook Islands (b. 1934) * July 10 – Dolphy, Filipino actor and comedian (b. 1928) * July 12 – Dara Singh, Indian wrestler, actor, and politician (b. 1928) * July 13 ** Richard D. Zanuck, American film producer (b. 1934) ** Sage Stallone, American actor, film director, producer, and distributor (b. 1976) * July 14 – Sixten Jernberg, Swedish cross-country skier (b. 1929) * July 15 – Celeste Holm, American actress (b. 1917) * July 16 ** Stephen Covey, American author (b. 1932) ** Jon Lord, British musician and composer (b. 1941) ** Kitty Wells, American country music singer (b. 1919) * July 18 – Rajesh Khanna, Indian actor, producer and politician (b. 1942) * July 19 – Omar Suleiman (politician), Omar Suleiman, Egyptian general, diplomat, and intelligence officer (b. 1936) *

– Sally Ride, American astronaut and physicist (b. 1951) * July 24 ** Chad Everett, American actor (b. 1937) ** Sherman Hemsley, American actor (b. 1938) ** John Atta Mills, President of Ghana (b. 1944) * July 26 – Lupe Ontiveros, American actress (b. 1942) *

– Jack Taylor (referee), Jack Taylor, English football referee (b. 1930) * July 29 – Chris Marker, French writer and documentary filmmaker (b. 1921) *

– Maeve Binchy, Irish author (b. 1939) * July 31 – Gore Vidal, American author, playwright, screenwriter, and political activist (b. 1925)

August

* August 2 – Mihaela Ursuleasa, Romanian classical pianist (b. 1978) * August 5 – Chavela Vargas, Costa Rican-born Mexican singer (b. 1919) *

** Marvin Hamlisch, American composer and conductor (b. 1944) ** Bernard Lovell, British physicist and astronomer (b. 1913) * August 9 – Al Freeman Jr., American actor (b. 1934) * August 14 ** Svetozar Gligorić, Serbian chess grandmaster (b. 1923) ** Ron Palillo, American actor and teacher (b. 1949) * August 15 – Harry Harrison (writer), Harry Harrison, American author (b. 1925) * August 16 – William Windom (actor), William Windom, American actor (b. 1923) * August 18 – Scott McKenzie, American singer and songwriter (b. 1939) * August 19 – Tony Scott, English film director (b. 1944) * August 20 ** Phyllis Diller, American actress and comedian (b. 1917) ** Dom Mintoff, 8th Prime Minister of Malta (b. 1916) ** Meles Zenawi, 3rd President and 10th Prime Minister of Ethiopia (b. 1955) * August 21 – William Thurston, American mathematician (b. 1946) * August 23 – Jerry Nelson, American puppeteer (b. 1934) *

** Pauli Ellefsen, 6th Prime Minister of Faroe Islands (b. 1936) ** Félix Miélli Venerando, Brazilian footballer (b. 1937) * August 25 – Neil Armstrong, American astronaut (b. 1930) * August 31 ** Carlo Maria Martini, Cardinal Archbishop of Milan (b. 1927) ** Sergey Leonidovich Sokolov, Soviet military commander (b. 1911)

September

Santiago Carrillo firmando en la Feria del Libro de Madrid en 2006

* September 1 ** Hal David, American lyricist (b. 1921) ** Smarck Michel, 6th Prime Minister of Haiti (b. 1937) * September 3 ** Michael Clarke Duncan, American actor (b. 1957) ** Sun Myung Moon, Korean religious leader (b. 1920) * September 5 – Joe South, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer (b. 1940) * September 8 – Thomas Szasz, Hungarian-American psychiatrist (b. 1920) * September 11 – J. Christopher Stevens, American diplomat and lawyer (b. 1960) * September 12 – Sid Watkins, British neurosurgeon (b. 1928) * September 14 – Stephen Dunham, American actor (b. 1964) * September 16 – Princess Ragnhild, Mrs. Lorentzen, Ragnhild Alexandra Lorentzen, Princess of Norway (b. 1930) * September 18 – Santiago Carrillo, Spanish politician (b. 1915) * September 23 ** Pavel Grachev, Russian military commander (b. 1948) ** Corrie Sanders, South African boxer (b. 1966) * September 25 – Andy Williams, American singer (b. 1927) * September 26 – Johnny Lewis, American film and television actor (b. 1983) * September 27 – Herbert Lom, Czech-born actor (b. 1917) * September 28 – Michael O'Hare, American actor (b. 1952) * September 30 – Barbara Ann Scott, Canadian Olympic figure skater (b. 1928)

October

* October 1 – Eric Hobsbawm, British Marxist historian (b. 1917) * October 6 – Chadli Bendjedid, 3rd President of Algeria (b. 1929) * October 8 – Ken Sansom, American actor (b. 1927) * October 10 ** Alex Karras, American football player, professional wrestler and actor (b. 1935) ** Amanda Todd, Canadian student (b. 1996) * October 11 – Helmut Haller, German footballer (b. 1939) * October 13 – Gary Collins (actor), Gary Collins, American actor and television host (b. 1938) * October 14 – Arlen Specter, American politician (b. 1930) * October 15 – King Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia (b. 1922) * October 17 – Sylvia Kristel, Dutch actress (b. 1952) * October 20 – E. Donnall Thomas, American Nobel physician (b. 1920) * October 21 ** Yash Chopra, Indian film director and producer (b. 1932) ** George McGovern, American politician, historian, and author (b. 1922) * October 22 – Russell Means, American Sioux actor and activist (b. 1939) * October 24 – Margaret Osborne duPont, American tennis player (b. 1918) * October 27 – Hans Werner Henze, German composer (b. 1926)

November

* November 1 – Mitch Lucker, American singer (b. 1984) * November 2 – Milt Campbell, American decathlete (b. 1933) * November 5 – Elliott Carter, American composer (b. 1908) * November 8 – Lucille Bliss, American actress (b. 1916) * November 17 – Bal Thackeray, Indian politician (b. 1926) * November 23 – Larry Hagman, American actor (b. 1931) * November 25 ** Lars Hörmander, Swedish mathematician (b. 1931) ** Dave Sexton, English footballer and coach (b. 1930) * November 26 – Joseph Murray, American Nobel surgeon (b. 1919) * November 30 – I. K. Gujral, 12th Prime Minister of India (b. 1919)

December

* December 4 – Miguel Calero, Colombian footballer (b. 1971) * December 5 ** Dave Brubeck, American pianist (b. 1920) ** Oscar Niemeyer, Brazilian architect (b. 1907) * December 6 – Miguel Abia Biteo Boricó, 5th Prime Minister of Equatorial Guinea (b. 1961) * December 9 ** Jenni Rivera, Mexican-American singer-songwriter, producer and actress (b. 1969) ** Patrick Moore, British astronomer and broadcaster (b. 1923) * December 10 – Iajuddin Ahmed, 13th President of Bangladesh (b. 1931) * December 11 ** Ravi Shankar, Indian sitarist (b. 1920) ** Galina Vishnevskaya, Russian soprano (b. 1926) * December 17 – Daniel Inouye, American politician (b. 1924) * December 24 ** Charles Durning, American actor (b. 1923) ** Jack Klugman, American actor (b. 1922) * December 26 – Gerry Anderson, British puppeteer and TV producer (b. 1929) * December 27 ** Harry Carey Jr., American actor (b. 1921) ** Norman Schwarzkopf Jr., American general (b. 1934) * December 30 – Rita Levi-Montalcini, Italian Nobel neurologist (b. 1909)

Nobel Prizes

* Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemistry – Robert Lefkowitz and Brian Kobilka * Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, Economics – Alvin E. Roth and Lloyd Shapley * Nobel Prize in Literature, Literature – Mo Yan * Nobel Peace Prize, Peace –

* Nobel Prize in Physics, Physics – Serge Haroche and David J. Wineland * Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, Physiology or Medicine – John B. Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka

New English words

*deadnaming, ''deadname'' *''hot take'' *''escape room''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2012 2012, Leap years in the Gregorian calendar