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 ...

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, ...

; Damage to Casino Pier in

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 span ...

; 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, succeedi ...

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 ...

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. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin atmos ...

; 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 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

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, g ...

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, antiq ...

, 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 St ...

, dubbed "The God Particle", is discovered by CERN 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, q ...

; The 2012 Summer Olympics open in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

., 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 span ...

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 2012 Summer Olympics 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 – E ...

– 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 reig ...

– 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 ...

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

Traian Băsescu Traian Băsescu (; born 4 November 1951) is a 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 between 1991 a ...

'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 spendi ...

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 racin ...

– 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 &n ...

–

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 r ...

: 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 ...

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 ...

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 Turkm ...

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 weakly ...

February

* February 1 – 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 o ...

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 ...

–

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 ...

–

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 le ...

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 polic ...

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 –

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 north and Oman to the northeast an ...

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 f ...

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 o ...

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 pr ...

, 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 (title), Knez Trpimir I of Cr ...

– A series of explosions is reported at a munitions dump in Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of the Congo, 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 j ...

– 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 ...

'' ( viral

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...

) on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and 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 Google, and is the second most ...

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 C ...

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

– 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 ...

'' 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 – ...

– Communist party chief of

Chongqing Chongqing ( or ; ; Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Chungking (), is a municipality in Southwest China. The official abbreviation of the city, "" (), was approved by the State Cou ...

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, h ...

, 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, ...

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. * ...

– 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 M ...

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. Ma ...

. *

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-Fer ...

– 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 t ...

– 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. 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

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 pr ...

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 l ...

, 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 Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and ...

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 monitorin ...

, 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 approac ...

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 t ...

– Former Liberian President Charles Taylor (Liberian politician), Charles Taylor is found guilty on 11 counts of aiding and abetting war crimes and crimes against humanity during the Sierra Leone Civil War.

May

* May 2 – A pastel version of ''The Scream'', by the Norwegian painter Edvard Munch, sells for US$120 million in a New York City auction, setting a new world record for an auctioned work of art. * May 6 – May 2012 Greek legislative election, Legislative elections are held in Greece to elect all 300 members of the Hellenic Parliament and the New Democracy (Greece), New Democracy party led by Antonis Samaras, comes out as the largest party winning 108 out of 300 seats. * May 7 – Vladimir Putin is elected President of Russia. * May 12–August 12 – The Expo 2012, 2012 World Expo takes place in Yeosu, South Korea.2012 World Expo (English)
Retrieved January 23, 2012. *May 19 – Chelsea wins the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League, 2011-12 UEFA Champions League held in Munich, Germany by beating the home side FC Bayern Munich, Bayern Munich in the final. * May 20 – An annular solar eclipse visible from Asia and North America is the 58th solar eclipse from 73 solar eclipses of Solar Saros 128. * May 22 – Tokyo Skytree, the List of tallest towers in the world, tallest self-supporting tower in the world at 634 metres high, is opened to the public. * May 22–May 26, 26 – The Eurovision Song Contest 2012 takes place in Baku, Azerbaijan, and is won by Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest, Swedish entrant Loreen (singer), Loreen with the song "Euphoria (Loreen song), Euphoria".

June

* June 5–June 6, 6 – The Transit of Venus, 2012, century's second and last solar transit of Venus occurs. The next pair are predicted to occur in 2117 and 2125. * June 6 – 2012 Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus outbreak first identified. * June 7 – Morley, Western Australia, Morley and Dianella, Western Australia, Dianella in Perth, Western Australia, have a once in a decade tornado. * June 8–July 1 – Poland and Ukraine jointly host the UEFA Euro 2012 football tournament, which is won by Spain national football team, Spain. *June 17 – June 2012 Greek legislative election, Snap legislative elections are held in Greece, following failure to form a government, to elect all 300 members of the Hellenic Parliament and the New Democracy party, led by Antonis Samaras, comes out as the largest party winning 129 out of 300 seats. * June 18 – ''Shenzhou 9'', a Chinese spacecraft carrying three Chinese astronauts, including the first-ever female, docks manually with Space station, orbiting module Tiangong-1, making this the third country, after the United States and Russia, successfully to perform the mission. *June 21 – The Congress of Paraguay approves the impeachment of president Fernando Lugo. *June 22 – Fernando Lugo is removed from power. Vice President Federico Franco becomes the new president of Paraguay. * June 24 – Lonesome George, the last known individual of the Pinta Island tortoise subspecies, dies in Galápagos National Park, thus making the subspecies Extinction, extinct. * June 30 – Mohamed Morsi, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, is elected 5th President of Egypt, the first elected democratically by the Egyptian people, sparking mixed reactions and protests throughout the country.

July

* July 4 – CERN announces the discovery of a new particle with properties consistent with the

after experiments at the Large Hadron Collider. * July 20 – 2012 Aurora, Colorado shooting: 12 people are killed and 58 are injured in a mass shooting at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado. The shooter, James Holmes, opens fire on a crowd during a screening of ''The Dark Knight Rises''. * July 21 – Turkish adventurer Erden Eruç becomes the first person in history to complete a solo human-powered circumnavigation of the Earth. * July 23 – The Solar storm of 2012 is an unusually large coronal mass ejection emitted by the Sun which barely misses the Earth 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–August 12 – The 2012 Summer Olympics are held in London, England, United Kingdom. * July 30–July 31, 31 – In the worst power outage in world history, the 2012 India blackouts leave 620 million people without power.

August

* August 6 – ''Curiosity (rover), Curiosity'', the Mars Science Laboratory mission's Mars rover, rover, successfully lands on

. * August 24 – The House of Representatives (Japan), House of Representatives of Japan passes a resolution criticizing the President of South Korea Lee Myung-bak's visit to the disputed Liancourt Rocks. * August 31 – Armenia Armenia–Hungary relations, severs diplomatic relations with Hungary, following the extradition to Azerbaijan 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

* February 1 ** 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

* May 2 – 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) * May 6 – 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) * May 19 – Bob Boozer, American basketball player (b. 1937) * May 20 – 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) * June 5 – Ray Bradbury, American author (b. 1920) * June 6 – Manuel Preciado Rebolledo, Manuel Preciado, Spanish footballer and coach (b. 1957) * June 7 – Bob Welch (musician), Bob Welch, American musician (b. 1945) * June 8 – 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) * June 17 – 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) * June 30 – Yitzhak Shamir, 7th Prime Minister of Israel (b. 1915)

July

Ernest Borgnine McHale McHale's Navy 1962

* July 1 – 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) * July 23 – 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) * July 27 – Jack Taylor (referee), Jack Taylor, English football referee (b. 1930) * July 29 – Chris Marker, French writer and documentary filmmaker (b. 1921) * July 30 – 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) * August 6 ** 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) * August 24 ** 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

Events

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Births

Deaths

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Nobel Prizes

New English words

See also

References