2012

Events in 2012 77

• 1909 – 2012 Rita Levi-Montalcini Nobel Neurologist Awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine for her discovery of nerve growth factor.
• 1917 – 2012 Celeste Holm (1917-2012) American actress, Ado Annie in the original Oklahoma! and Oscar winner for Gentleman's Agreement.
• 1917 – 2012 Phyllis Diller (1917-2012) Died 20 August 2012, aged 95 American comedienne and actress known for her self-deprecating stand-up style, one of the first successful female stand-up comics in the United States. She died of natural causes at her home in Los Angeles.
• 1920 – 2012 Sun Myung Moon (1920-2012) Died 3 September 2012, aged 92 Korean religious leader who founded the Unification Church and was known for officiating mass wedding ceremonies. He died of pneumonia in South Korea.
• 1920 – 2012 Ravi Shankar (1920-2012) Died 11 December 2012, aged 92 Indian musician and composer credited with popularizing the sitar and Indian classical music in the West. He mentored George Harrison of the Beatles and performed at Woodstock and the Concert for Bangladesh.
• 1920 – 2012 Ray Bradbury (1920-2012) Died 5 June 2012, aged 91 American author of science fiction and fantasy, best known for the novel "Fahrenheit 451" and the story collection "The Martian Chronicles." He was one of the most widely read American writers of the 20th century.
• 1920 – 2012 Dave Brubeck (1920-2012) Died 5 December 2012, aged 91 American jazz pianist and composer best known for the album "Time Out" and its hit track "Take Five." He died of heart failure one day before his 92nd birthday.
• 1925 – 2012 Gore Vidal (1925-2012) Died 31 July 2012, aged 86 American writer and public intellectual known for historical novels and sharp political essays. He died of complications from pneumonia at his Hollywood Hills home.
• 1926 – 2012 Andy Griffith (1926-2012) Died 3 July 2012, aged 86 American actor best known for starring in "The Andy Griffith Show" and "Matlock." He died at his home in North Carolina.
• 1928 – 2012 Maurice Sendak (1928-2012) Died 8 May 2012, aged 83 American writer and illustrator best known for the children's book "Where the Wild Things Are." His work reshaped what children's literature could depict emotionally.
• 1930 – 2012 Neil Armstrong (1930-2012) Died 25 August 2012, aged 82 American astronaut and the first person to walk on the Moon, during the Apollo 11 mission in 1969. He died from complications following heart surgery.
• 1931 – 2012 Larry Hagman (1931-2012) Died 23 November 2012, aged 81 American actor best known for playing the villainous oil baron J.R. Ewing on the television series "Dallas." He died of complications from cancer.
• 1938 – 2012 Etta James (1938-2012) Died 20 January 2012, aged 73 American singer known for the ballad "At Last," blending blues, jazz, R&B, and rock and roll across her career. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.
• 1940 – 2012 Levon Helm (1940-2012) Died 19 April 2012, aged 71 American musician and drummer-vocalist for the roots-rock group the Band. He died of complications from throat cancer.
• 1941 – 2012 Nora Ephron (1941-2012) Died 26 June 2012, aged 71 American writer and filmmaker known for romantic comedies including "When Harry Met Sally..." and "Sleepless in Seattle." She died of complications from leukemia.
• 1945 – 2012 Davy Jones (1945-2012) Died 29 February 2012, aged 66 British singer and actor best known as a member of the pop group the Monkees. He died of a heart attack in Florida.
• 1949 – 2012 Robin Gibb (1949-2012) Died 20 May 2012, aged 62 British singer and songwriter, a member of the Bee Gees alongside his brothers. He died after a long illness involving cancer.
• 1951 – 2012 Sally Ride (1951-2012) Died 23 July 2012, aged 61 American astronaut and physicist who became the first American woman in space aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1983. She died of pancreatic cancer.
• 1956 – 2012 Marie Colvin (1956-2012) Died 22 February 2012, aged 56 American war correspondent for the Sunday Times known for her coverage of conflicts across the Middle East. She was killed by shelling while reporting from the besieged city of Homs during the Syrian civil war.
• 1963 – 2012 Whitney Houston (1963-2012) Died 11 February 2012, aged 48 American singer and actress and one of the best-selling music artists of all time, known for hits including "I Will Always Love You." She was found dead in a hotel bathtub in Beverly Hills, with drowning and heart disease as contributing factors.
• 1964 – 2012 Adam Yauch (1964-2012) Died 4 May 2012, aged 47 American musician known as MCA, a founding member of the pioneering hip-hop group the Beastie Boys. He died of cancer of a salivary gland after a years-long battle with the disease.
• 2011 – 2012 The comeback -- failing to qualify for London 2012 In February 2011 Thorpe announces his return to competitive swimming with the aim of qualifying for the 2012 London Olympics. The comeback attracts enormous media interest. He trains in the United States, hoping a different environment will reinvigorate him. But his times are well below the standard required for London qualification, the 400m freestyle (his signature event) is not even on his event list, and a shoulder injury complicates preparations. At the 2012 Australian Olympic trials, he fails to qualify. The comeback is officially over. He is 29. The failure is painful but honest: some careers cannot be revived, and seven years away from elite competition is too long.
• 2011 – 2012 Working with Robin Antin and the Pussycat Dolls Throughout 2011-2012 Bennett maintains her close working relationship with Robin Antin, the Pussycat Dolls' founder. She is featured in the Pussycat Dolls' second fitness DVD. Antin is in this period rebuilding the Pussycat Dolls brand following the original lineup's dissolution, and is assembling a new group of performers -- the project that will eventually become G.R.L. Bennett is a natural choice for the new group given her history with Antin through Paradiso Girls and her elevated profile from "Party Rock Anthem."
• 2012 "Linsanity" Undrafted point guard Jeremy Lin has a sensational multi-game scoring stretch that captivates New York and the wider basketball world.
• 2012 Argo Best Picture — 85th Academy Awards Ben Affleck's thriller about the 1980 CIA operation that smuggled six Americans out of Iran posing as a film crew.
• 2012 CRISPR Gene Editing The breakthrough in precise and programmable DNA editing.
• 2012 G.R.L. formed -- Girls Rock Life In 2012 Robin Antin assembles G.R.L. (Girls Rock Life) as the successor to the Pussycat Dolls' performance lineup. The founding members are Lauren Bennett, Simone Battle, Natasha Slayton, Emmalyn Estrada and Paula van Oppen. The group is signed and positioned as a contemporary pop-dance act with the Pussycat Dolls' DNA but a more ensemble-driven sound. For Bennett, G.R.L. is her third group project under Antin's direction and the one that achieves the most sustained commercial success.
• 2012 – present Sam Smith The Soulful Balladeer Rose to fame with soulful pop ballads before embracing experimental dance-pop.
• 2012 The thirteenth baktun ends Mesoamerica On 21 December the Long Count rolled over to 13.0.0.0.0, prompting a global industry in apocalypse. Maya inscriptions treat such rollovers as ordinary — one names a date over 4,000 years in the future.
• 2012 This Is Me -- the autobiography Thorpe's autobiography This Is Me is published in 2012. The book addresses his career, his retirement, and his long struggle with depression in considerable detail, but contains the line that will later seem most revealing: "For the record, I am not gay and all of my sexual experiences have been straight. I'm attracted to women, I love children, and aspire to have a family one day." The denial -- in writing, in a published autobiography -- reflects how impossible he finds it, at 29, to tell the truth he will tell two years later. The book is nonetheless valuable as a document of elite athletic psychology: the pressures of Australian sporting celebrity, the cost of perfection, the difficulty of the life after the pool.
• 2012 Australian Open 2012 Men: Novak Djokovic · Women: Victoria Azarenka Djokovic vs. Nadal — a 5h 53m epic, the longest Grand Slam final.
• 2012 Costa Concordia disaster Cruise ship capsizes off Tuscany The Costa Concordia struck rocks and capsized near Isola del Giglio, Italy, killing 32 people. Captain Francesco Schettino was later convicted of manslaughter for abandoning ship before passengers were evacuated.
• 2012 Tuareg rebellion begins in Mali Separatist uprising in northern Mali Tuareg rebels of the MNLA launched an armed uprising in northern Mali seeking independence for Azawad. The rebellion destabilized the region and was soon overtaken by Islamist militant groups.
• 2012 Prince Friso skiing accident Avalanche in Austria Prince Friso suffered severe brain injuries in an avalanche while skiing in Austria.
• 2012 – present Princess Estelle Duchess of Östergötland The eldest child of Crown Princess Victoria and second in the line of succession.
• 2012 Trayvon Martin shooting Unarmed teenager killed in Florida, sparking national debate Trayvon Martin, an unarmed 17-year-old, was fatally shot by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman in Sanford, Florida. The killing ignited nationwide protests over race and self-defense laws and helped catalyze the Black Lives Matter movement.
• 2012 Iditarod 2012 Winner: Dallas Seavey — 9 days 4h Dallas Seavey, son of Mitch Seavey, won his first Iditarod at age 25 — the youngest champion in race history.
• 2012 Kony 2012 campaign goes viral Invisible Children documentary sparks global attention on LRA The nonprofit Invisible Children released "Kony 2012," a short film calling for the arrest of Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony. It became one of the fastest-spreading viral videos in internet history, viewed over 100 million times within days.
• 2012 Neutrinos observed faster than light OPERA experiment sparks controversy CERN's OPERA experiment announced in September 2011 that neutrinos appeared to travel faster than light. The result was later attributed to a loose cable. The episode highlighted the self-correcting nature of science.
• 2012 Coup d'etat in Mali Military officers overthrow President Amadou Toumani Toure Soldiers led by Captain Amadou Sanogo seized power in Bamako, citing the government's failure to handle the Tuareg rebellion. The coup created a power vacuum that allowed Islamist militants to seize control of northern Mali.
• 2012 Facebook acquires Instagram Photo-sharing app bought for roughly $1 billion Facebook announced it would acquire the photo-sharing startup Instagram, then just two years old with no revenue, in a deal of cash and stock. The purchase was widely seen as a defensive move to secure Facebook's position in mobile photo sharing.
• 2012 Kim Jong-un becomes North Korea's Supreme Leader Formal consolidation of power after his father's death Kim Jong-un was named First Chairman of the National Defence Commission, completing his formal succession as North Korea's leader following Kim Jong-il's death in December 2011. He had already been declared Supreme Commander of the armed forces in December 2011.
• 2012 2012 World Snooker Championship O’Sullivan Dominance Winner: Ronnie O’Sullivan; Runner-up: Ali Carter. Score: 18–11.
• 2012 The Avengers #1 film of 2012 — $1.52bn worldwide Directed by Joss Whedon. Earth's mightiest heroes must come together to stop Loki and his alien army from enslaving humanity.
• 2012 Francois Hollande elected President of France Socialist candidate defeats incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy Francois Hollande won the French presidential runoff election, becoming the country's first Socialist president since Francois Mitterrand. His victory came amid deep public frustration over austerity measures during the eurozone debt crisis.
• 2012 – present Putin 2nd & 3rd presidencies Third term onwards — 2012 to present Putin returned to the presidency on May 7, 2012, and was re-elected in 2018 and 2024 following constitutional changes extending term limits. He ordered the annexation of Crimea in 2014, interference in the 2016 US election, and launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
• 2012 Facebook IPO Largest tech IPO in history at the time Facebook went public on May 18, 2012, raising $16 billion in the largest technology IPO in history at the time, valuing the company at $104 billion.
• 2012 SpaceX Dragon docks with ISS First private spacecraft to reach the station SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft became the first commercial vehicle to dock with the International Space Station on May 22, 2012, marking a new era of private space transportation.
• 2012 Houla massacre in Syria More than 100 killed, many of them children Government forces and allied militias were blamed for the killing of over 100 civilians in the town of Houla during the Syrian civil war. The massacre drew international condemnation and further isolated the Assad government diplomatically.
• 2012 Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee Celebrations mark 60 years on the British throne Britain held four days of national celebrations, including a Thames river pageant and concert at Buckingham Palace, to mark Queen Elizabeth II's 60th year as monarch. It was only the second Diamond Jubilee in British history after Queen Victoria's.
• 2012 Julian Assange granted asylum by Ecuador WikiLeaks founder takes refuge in London embassy Ecuador granted political asylum to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who had entered the country's London embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden. He would remain inside the embassy for years afterward.
• 2012 Mohamed Morsi elected President of Egypt First freely elected civilian president in Egypt's history Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohamed Morsi was declared winner of Egypt's presidential runoff, becoming the country's first democratically elected head of state following the 2011 revolution. He was ousted by the military a year later.
• 2012 CRISPR gene editing developed Revolutionary tool to edit DNA Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier published their landmark paper on CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing in June 2012. The technique allows precise editing of DNA in any organism and earned them the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
• 2012 Enrique Pena Nieto elected President of Mexico PRI returns to power after twelve years Enrique Pena Nieto won Mexico's presidential election, returning the Institutional Revolutionary Party to power after two consecutive terms out of office. His campaign focused on economic reform and tackling drug-related violence.
• 2012 Higgs boson discovered "God Particle" confirmed at CERN Scientists at CERN announced the discovery of the Higgs boson on July 4, 2012, confirming a fundamental particle first theorised in 1964. It was one of the greatest achievements in physics.
• 2012 "Gangnam Style" becomes global phenomenon Psy's music video becomes a worldwide viral hit South Korean rapper Psy released "Gangnam Style," which became the first YouTube video to reach one billion views. Its horse-riding dance was imitated worldwide, making it one of the biggest viral music phenomena of the decade.
• 2012 Aurora theater shooting Gunman kills twelve at a Colorado movie premiere A gunman opened fire during a midnight screening of "The Dark Knight Rises" in Aurora, Colorado, killing 12 people and wounding dozens more. The attack renewed national debate over gun control and mass shootings in the United States.
• 2012 The Dark Knight Rises #3 film of 2012 — $1.08bn worldwide Directed by Christopher Nolan. Eight years after the Joker's reign of anarchy, Batman faces a masked terrorist known as Bane.
• 2012 2012 Summer Olympics XXX Olympiad - London London becomes first city to host 3 times. Winner: USA.
• 2012 London 2012 Olympics Super Saturday A major sporting event that united the nation.
• 2012 London Olympics 2012 UK hosts Summer Games The London 2012 Olympic Games were widely praised for their organisation and atmosphere. Great Britain finished third in the medal table with 65 medals. Usain Bolt retained his 100m and 200m titles.
• 2012 US Open 2012 Men: Andy Murray · Women: Serena Williams Murray's first Grand Slam.
• 2012 Curiosity rover lands on Mars NASA rover begins search for signs of past habitability NASA's Curiosity rover successfully landed in Gale Crater on Mars using a novel "sky crane" system. The mission was designed to assess whether Mars ever had environmental conditions favorable for microbial life.
• 2012 Attack on US diplomatic compound in Benghazi Ambassador Christopher Stevens killed in Libya Militants attacked the US diplomatic compound and a nearby CIA annex in Benghazi, Libya, killing Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans. The attack became a major and lasting US political controversy.
• 2012 Hugo Chavez re-elected President of Venezuela Fourth term win amid battle with cancer Hugo Chavez won re-election to a fourth term as Venezuela's president, defeating opposition candidate Henrique Capriles. Chavez was already suffering from the cancer that would kill him the following year.
• 2012 Malala Yousafzai shot by the Taliban Pakistani schoolgirl targeted for advocating girls' education Taliban gunmen shot 15-year-old education activist Malala Yousafzai on her school bus in Pakistan's Swat Valley. She survived after emergency treatment in the UK and went on to become a global symbol for girls' education, later winning the Nobel Peace Prize.
• 2012 Felix Baumgartner's stratospheric skydive Red Bull Stratos jump breaks the sound barrier Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner jumped from a balloon capsule at over 128,000 feet above New Mexico, becoming the first skydiver to break the sound barrier during freefall. The jump was livestreamed to millions of viewers worldwide.
• 2012 Hurricane Sandy strikes the US East Coast One of the costliest storms in US history Hurricane Sandy made landfall near Atlantic City, New Jersey, causing catastrophic flooding across the northeastern United States and killing over 100 people. It caused an estimated $70 billion in damage and knocked out power to millions.
• 2012 Microsoft releases Windows 8 Major redesign introduces touch-first interface Microsoft launched Windows 8, featuring a radically redesigned tile-based "Metro" interface aimed at tablets as well as PCs. The dramatic departure from the traditional desktop drew mixed reactions from longtime users.
• 2012 Skyfall — Daniel Craig The franchise's 50th anniversary film is also the finest Bond film ever made by most critical assessments. Sam Mendes directs; Roger Deakins shoots in luminous widescreen; Adele performs the theme. The villain Silva (Javier Bardem) is the franchise's most fully realised antagonist. The ending — Bond returning to his Scottish roots at Skyfall Lodge — is genuinely moving. Budget: $200 million. Box office: $1.1 billion.
• 2012 Obama re-elected Second term for 44th president Barack Obama won re-election as US President on November 6, 2012, defeating Republican challenger Mitt Romney.
• 2012 Skyfall #2 film of 2012 — $1.11bn worldwide Directed by Sam Mendes, starring Daniel Craig. James Bond's loyalty to M is tested as her past comes back to haunt her.
• 2012 Operation Pillar of Defense Eight-day conflict between Israel and Gaza militants Israel launched an air campaign against Hamas and other militant groups in the Gaza Strip following rocket fire into Israeli territory, targeting the killing of Hamas military commander Ahmed al-Jabari. An Egyptian-brokered ceasefire ended the fighting after eight days.
• 2012 Xi Jinping becomes General Secretary of China Leadership transition at the 18th Party Congress Xi Jinping was elected General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, succeeding Hu Jintao and becoming the country's paramount leader. He would go on to consolidate power more thoroughly than any Chinese leader since Deng Xiaoping.
• 2012 Ravi Shankar dies in San Diego Aged 92 Dies weeks after his last concert.
• 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting Gunman kills twenty children and six adults A gunman shot and killed 20 children and 6 adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, after first killing his mother. The massacre became one of the deadliest school shootings in US history and intensified the national gun control debate.
• 2012 Park Geun-hye elected President of South Korea First woman elected to lead the country Park Geun-hye, daughter of former president Park Chung-hee, won South Korea's presidential election to become the country's first female head of state. She was later impeached and removed from office in 2017.