Vladimir Putin signed a law banning the US adoption of Russian children.
Eleven kindergarten children were killed after a minivan plunged into a roadside pond in Jiangxi, China.
Psy's music video for 'Gangnam Style' surpassed one billion views on YouTube, becoming the first video to do so in the website's history.
Gunmen killed six health workers in Pakistan.
NASA completed a successful mission to map the Moon's gravity field.
After countless failures, North Korea launched its first satellite.
Bombs in Hilla and Karbala, Iraq, killed 30 Shias and wounded 100 others.
Psy's 'Gangnam Style' music video became the most viewed video on YouTube, passing 800 million views.
A 100-vehicle pile-up on a highway in Texas killed two people and injured 120 more.
Toshiba rolled out a four-legged robot designed to clean up after nuclear disasters.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 earned a staggering $500 million within 24 hours of release.
The Northern Territory of Australia and the South Pacific were darkened by a total eclipse of the sun.
Seventeen soldiers lost their lives in a helicopter crash during bad weather in Turkey.
The New York City Marathon was canceled due to Hurricane Sandy.
Walt Disney bought out Lucasfilm Ltd for $4 billion.
The James Bond spy movie 'Skyfall,' starring Daniel Craig, premiered at the Royal Albert Hall, London, UK.
Native American Kateri Tekakwitha became the first native to become a saint.
A painting called 'Abstraktes' by Gerhard Richter sold for a record $34 million.
14-year-old girls-rights activist Malala Yousafzai was shot three times on her way to school.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited Athens and was met by 50,000 protestors.
Pope Benedict XVI's butler, Paolo Gabriele, was convicted and jailed for 18 months for leaking confidential documents.
China banned all literature from Japan or by Japanese authors.
A study was published by the journal Nature saying that scientists had identified four distinct types of breast cancer.
Iran blocked access to Google and Gmail due to an anti-Islam movie that triggered protests worldwide.
Former President Barack Obama gave his nominee acceptance speech.
Egypt's state TV lifted the ban on veiled news presenters.
NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft entered interstellar space, becoming the first artificial object to do so.
Both Russia and Vanuatu joined the World Trade Organization raising the total number of members to 157.
England was defeated by South Africa, who became top of the world Test cricket rank.
Julian Assange, who founded WikiLeaks, was given political asylum by Ecuador.
Flooding in Manila, Philippines, claimed the lives of at least 72 people, and 850,000 others were forced to leave their homes.
Flammable vapor caught fire at the Chevron Refinery in Richmond, California.
Mount Tongariro in New Zealand erupted for the first time in 115 years.
NASA's Curiosity rover landed on Mars' Aeolis Palus plain.
Female rowing duo Heather Stanning & Helen Glover claimed Team GB's first Olympic medal at the London Olympics.
Michael Phelps broke the world record for the most medals won at the Olympics.
Queen Elizabeth II of England declared the 30th Olympics opened in London, UK.
The first US woman in space, Sally Ride, died from pancreatic cancer at the age of 61.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was named marshal, placing him at the highest rank in the military.
SpaceX's Dragon became the first commercial spacecraft to dock at the International Space Station.
President Barack Obama officially declared his support of same-sex marriage.
The Avengers premiered in Los Angeles, California, US.
Apple Inc became the largest company in the world.
James Cameron dove into the deepest point of the Marianas Trench, Challenger Deep.
Wendy's became the world's second best-selling hamburger chain, overtaking Burger King.
Wayne Rooney apologized to a 9-year-old fan after accidentally breaking his wrist.
George Clooney and Martin Luther King III were arrested at the Sudanese Embassy in Washington, DC.
The dystopian science fiction-adventure movie 'The Hunger Games' premiered in Los Angeles.
The hashtag #5secondsofsummer trended worldwide for the first time on Twitter.
A tropical storm named Irina on the island of Madagascar killed 65 people.
