2012

Facts and Events That Happened in This Year

Nov 20

Toshiba rolled out a four-legged robot designed to clean up after nuclear disasters.

Nov 16

Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 earned a staggering $500 million within 24 hours of release.

Nov 13

The Northern Territory of Australia and the South Pacific were darkened by a total eclipse of the sun.

Nov 10

Seventeen soldiers lost their lives in a helicopter crash during bad weather in Turkey.

Nov 2

The New York City Marathon was canceled due to Hurricane Sandy.

Oct 30

Walt Disney bought out Lucasfilm Ltd for $4 billion.

Oct 23

The James Bond spy movie 'Skyfall,' starring Daniel Craig, premiered at the Royal Albert Hall, London, UK.

Oct 21

Native American Kateri Tekakwitha became the first native to become a saint.

Oct 13

A painting called 'Abstraktes' by Gerhard Richter sold for a record $34 million.

Oct 9

14-year-old girls-rights activist Malala Yousafzai was shot three times on her way to school.

Oct 9

German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited Athens and was met by 50,000 protestors.

Oct 6

Pope Benedict XVI's butler, Paolo Gabriele, was convicted and jailed for 18 months for leaking confidential documents.

Sep 24

China banned all literature from Japan or by Japanese authors.

Sep 23

A study was published by the journal Nature saying that scientists had identified four distinct types of breast cancer.

Sep 23

Iran blocked access to Google and Gmail due to an anti-Islam movie that triggered protests worldwide.

Sep 6

Former President Barack Obama gave his nominee acceptance speech.

Sep 2

Egypt's state TV lifted the ban on veiled news presenters.

Aug 25

NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft entered interstellar space, becoming the first artificial object to do so.

Aug 22

Both Russia and Vanuatu joined the World Trade Organization raising the total number of members to 157.

Aug 20

England was defeated by South Africa, who became top of the world Test cricket rank.

Aug 16

Julian Assange, who founded WikiLeaks, was given political asylum by Ecuador.

Aug 8

Flooding in Manila, Philippines, claimed the lives of at least 72 people, and 850,000 others were forced to leave their homes.

Aug 6

Flammable vapor caught fire at the Chevron Refinery in Richmond, California.

Aug 6

Mount Tongariro in New Zealand erupted for the first time in 115 years.

Aug 6

NASA's Curiosity rover landed on Mars' Aeolis Palus plain.

Aug 1

Female rowing duo Heather Stanning & Helen Glover claimed Team GB's first Olympic medal at the London Olympics.

Jul 31

Michael Phelps broke the world record for the most medals won at the Olympics.

Jul 27

Queen Elizabeth II of England declared the 30th Olympics opened in London, UK.

Jul 23

The first US woman in space, Sally Ride, died from pancreatic cancer at the age of 61.

Jul 18

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was named marshal, placing him at the highest rank in the military.