Monumental Moments of 2012
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Jan. 13: The Italian cruise ship Costa Concordia ran aground off the Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, killing 32 people. Read More: <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/07/11/concordia-captain-distraction-figured-in-crash/">http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/07/11/concordia-captain-distraction-figured-in-crash/</a> (AP)
Feb. 11, 2012: Whitney Houston, who reigned as pop music's queen until her majestic voice and regal image were ravaged by drug use, dies at 48. Read More: <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2012/02/11/whitney-houston-dies-at-48/">http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2012/02/11/whitney-houston-dies-at-48/</a> (AP)
Feb. 16, 2012: George Zimmerman, left, fatally shoots 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, right, an unarmed teenager who he described to 911 dispatchers as "suspicious." The case gained national attention and activists demanded Zimmerman be charged. He has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder. Read More: <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/12/03/newly-released-photo-shows-bloodied-george-zimmerman-from-night-trayvon-martin/">http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/12/03/newly-released-photo-shows-bloodied-george-zimmerman-from-night-trayvon-martin/</a> (AP)
March 6, 2012: Law enforcement agents on two continents swooped in on top members of the infamous computer hacking group LulzSec, and acting largely on evidence gathered by the organization’s brazen leader -- who sources say has been secretly working for the government for months -- arrested three and charged two more with conspiracy, FoxNews.com exclusively revealed. “We’re chopping off the head of LulzSec,” said an FBI official involved with the investigation. Read more: <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2012/03/06/hacking-group-lulzsec-swept-up-by-law-enforcement/#ixzz2GdeIhr67" style=" outline: none 0px; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); text-decoration: initial; cursor: pointer;">http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2012/03/06/hacking-group-lulzsec-swept-up-by-law-enforcement/</a>
March 15, 2012: Chongqing Party secretary Bo Xilai was removed from China's leadership in one of the biggest government shakeups since 1989. Bo is implicated in a corruption scandal that threatens to derail China's once-a-decade leadership transition. Read More: <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/11/04/china-ruling-communist-elite-endorse-bo-xilai-expulsion-approve-plans-for/">http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/11/04/china-ruling-communist-elite-endorse-bo-xilai-expulsion-approve-plans-for/</a> (REUTERS)
April 2012: As many as 11 Secret Service agents and 10 military servicemembers allegedly brought prostitutes back to their hotel in Cartagena, Colombia, while setting up advance security before President Obama’s arrival for a three-day trade summit with Latin American leaders. <br> Read more: <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/04/18/federal-official-secret-service-firings-coming-resignations-already/#ixzz2GYuQNKbo">http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/04/18/federal-official-secret-service-firings-coming-resignations-already/#ixzz2GYuQNKbo</a> (AP)
May 9, 2012: President Obama endorsed same-sex marriages, becoming the first sitting U.S. president to take that position. Read more: <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/05/09/obama-expected-to-discuss-gay-marriage-position/#ixzz2GNOWeg9m">http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/05/09/obama-expected-to-discuss-gay-marriage-position/#ixzz2GNOWeg9m</a> (Reuters)
May 18, 2012: Facebook founder, Chairman and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, center, rings the Nasdaq opening bell from Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif. Years of anticipation led to Facebook's initial public offering of stock in 2012, the hottest Internet IPO since Google's in 2004. On the eve of its first trading day, Facebook's market value was $105 billion, yet the IPO bombed. Read More: <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2012/02/01/facebook-to-unveil-prospectus-for-5b-ipo-wednesday-morning-reports-say/">http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2012/02/01/facebook-to-unveil-prospectus-for-5b-ipo-wednesday-morning-reports-say/</a> (AP Photo/Nasdaq via Facebook, Zef Nikolla, File)
May 2012: JPMorgan Chase faces intense criticism for claiming that a surprise $2 billion loss by one of its trading groups was the result of a sloppy but well-intentioned strategy to manage financial risk. As a result, CEO Jamie Dimon was called to testify before the Senate Banking Committee. Read More: <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/05/12/jp-morgan-2b-loss-renews-calls-for-stricter-financial-oversight/#ixzz2GNUPmCXF">http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/05/12/jp-morgan-2b-loss-renews-calls-for-stricter-financial-oversight/#ixzz2GNUPmCXF</a> (REUTERS )
May 2012: The unemployment rate hit 8.2 percent in the United States in the month of May. Read More: <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/12/27/us-jobless-claims-fall-to-5-year-low/">http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/12/27/us-jobless-claims-fall-to-5-year-low/</a> (AP)
May/June 2012: Egypt holds what the country touts as its first 'free-and-fair' presidential election. Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohammed Morsi was declared the winner. Read More: <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/12/21/key-events-in-egypt-revolution-and-transition-leading-up-to-referendum-on-draft/">http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/12/21/key-events-in-egypt-revolution-and-transition-leading-up-to-referendum-on-draft/</a> (REUTERS)
June 6, 2012: Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, second from left, and Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch are greeted by the governor's cabinet and staff at the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison a day after Walker wins a recall election. Organized labor, blind-sided by a new law weakening union rights in Michigan, point to Walker, who raised more than $30 million to beat his Democratic opponent, as a prime target in the 2014 elections. Read More: <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/06/05/polls-close-in-wisconsin-voter-turnout-reported-heavy/">http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/06/05/polls-close-in-wisconsin-voter-turnout-reported-heavy/</a> (AP)
June 2012: Many had hoped that 2012 would be the year when the global economy finally regained its vigor, but the three largest economies -- he United States, China and Japan -- struggled, while the 17 countries that use the euro currency endured a third painful year in their financial crisis and slid into recession, as emerging economies slowed. Read More: <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/12/27/german-finance-minister-says-worst-eurozone-debt-crisis-seems-over/">http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/12/27/german-finance-minister-says-worst-eurozone-debt-crisis-seems-over/</a> (AP)
June 25, 2012: The Supreme Court struck down much of Arizona's controversial immigration law, but upheld for now a key provision that requires police officers to check the immigration status of those they suspect may be in the country illegally. The provision on mandatory checks during routine stops will now kick back to a lower court for review and still could still be subject to challenge. The rest of the ruling, though, definitively strikes down three other provisions in the Arizona law. Read More: <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/06/25/supreme-court-strikes-down-most-arizona-immigration-law-upholds-key-provision/">http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/06/25/supreme-court-strikes-down-most-arizona-immigration-law-upholds-key-provision/</a> (REUTERS)
June 28, 2012: The Supreme Court upheld President Obama's health care overhaul.<br> The court ruled as constitutional the so-called individual mandate requiring most Americans to obtain health insurance starting in 2014. The ruling is a victory for the president, ensuring for now that his signature domestic policy achievement remains intact. Read More: <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/06/28/supreme-court-to-unveil-obamacare-decision/">http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/06/28/supreme-court-to-unveil-obamacare-decision/</a> (AP)
July 20, 2012: James Holmes is accused of going on a July 20 shooting rampage at a midnight showing of the latest Batman movie in Aurora, killing 12 people and injuring 58 others. Read More: <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/08/09/colorado-movie-massacre-suspect-mentally-ill/">http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/08/09/colorado-movie-massacre-suspect-mentally-ill/</a> (AP)
Aug. 2, 2012: U.S. gymnast Gabrielle Douglas performs on the balance beam during the women's individual all-around gymnastics competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. She is the first African-American gymnast in Olympic history to become the individual all-around champion, and the first American gymnast to win gold in both the individual all-around and team competitions at the same Olympics. Read More: <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2012/07/27/olympics-opening-ceremony-kicks-off924027/">http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2012/07/27/olympics-opening-ceremony-kicks-off924027/</a> (AP)
Aug. 6, 2012: Cheers and applause echoed through the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory late Sunday after the most high-tech interplanetary rover ever built signaled it had survived a harrowing plunge through the thin Mars atmosphere. "Touchdown confirmed," said engineer Allen Chen. "We're safe on Mars." Read more: <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/08/06/nasa-rover-curiosity-lands-on-mars-after-plummet/#ixzz2GTMwjWY6">http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/08/06/nasa-rover-curiosity-lands-on-mars-after-plummet/</a> (REUTERS)
Sept. 11, 2012: A terrorist attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens, information specialist Sean Smith and former Navy SEALs Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods. Read More: <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/10/10/state-department-denies-concluding-film-sparked-consulate-attack-in-libya/">http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/10/10/state-department-denies-concluding-film-sparked-consulate-attack-in-libya/</a> (REUTERS/AP)
Sept. 24, 2012: In this photo, a replacement official signals a touchdown by Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Golden Tate, obscured, on the last play of an NFL football game against the Green Bay Packers in Seattle. The Seahawks won 14-12. The NFL locked out the officials in June after their contract expired. Unable to reach a new collective bargaining agreement, the league opened the season with replacements, most with experience only in lower levels of college football. Read More: <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2012/09/25/nfl-upholds-seahawks-disputed-win-over-packers/">http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2012/09/25/nfl-upholds-seahawks-disputed-win-over-packers/</a>
Oct. 9, 2012: - In this photo, former Penn State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, center, is taken from the Centre County Courthouse by Centre County Sheriff Denny Nau, left, and a deputy, after being sentenced in Bellefonte, Pa. Sandusky was sentenced to at least 30 years in prison, effectively a life sentence, in the child sexual abuse scandal that brought shame to Penn State and led to coach Joe Paterno's downfall. Read More: <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/10/09/jerry-sandusky-lawyer-says-is-certain-ex-coach-will-address-judge-at-sentencing/">http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/10/09/jerry-sandusky-lawyer-says-is-certain-ex-coach-will-address-judge-at-sentencing/</a> (AP)
Oct. 14, 2012: Felix Baumgartner barreled toward the New Mexico desert from 24 miles above the Earth, shattering the sound barrier to become the world’s first supersonic skydiver. Baumgartner, a 43-year-old Austrian, hit Mach 1.24, or 833.9 mph, according to preliminary data, and became the first person to go faster than the speed of sound without traveling in a jet or a spacecraft. The capsule he jumped from had reached an altitude of 128,100 feet above Earth, carried by a 55-story ultra-thin helium balloon. <br> Read more: <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/science/2012/10/15/historic-jump-from-edge-space-provides-collective-moment-and-supersonic-records/#ixzz2GYrv1YDA">http://www.foxnews.com/science/2012/10/15/historic-jump-from-edge-space-provides-collective-moment-and-supersonic-records/#ixzz2GYrv1YDA</a> (AP)
Oct. 29. 2012: Super Storm Sandy slammed into the East Coast in late October, killing at least 120 people, hurling a record-breaking 13-foot surge of seawater at New York City and knocking out power to more than 7.5 million across the East Coast. Read more: <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/weather/2012/10/29/millions-across-east-coast-brace-for-uperstorm-sandy/#ixzz2GTV2Saxz">http://www.foxnews.com/weather/2012/10/29/millions-across-east-coast-brace-for-uperstorm-sandy/#ixzz2GTV2Saxz</a>
Nov. 6, 2012: President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden defeated Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney and his running mate Paul Ryan in the 2012 election. Read More: <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/11/06/obama-romney-wind-down-campaigns-as-voters-make-their-choice/">http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/11/06/obama-romney-wind-down-campaigns-as-voters-make-their-choice/</a>
Nov. 21, 2012: Israel and Palestinian militants engaged in talks in Egypt aimed at forging a new era of relations between the bitter enemies following a November cease-fire that ended the heaviest fighting in nearly four years. The cease-fire came following eight days of airstrikes targeting militant groups in the Palestinian territory and rocket attacks that reached deep into Israel. Israel launched some 1,500 airstrikes in a bid to end rocket attacks out of Gaza, while the Hamas and the Islamic Jihad militant groups fired a similar number of rockets at Israeli cities. More than 160 Palestinians, including dozens of civilians were killed. Palestinian attacks killed Six Israelis, including four civilians and two soldiers. Read More: <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/11/26/israelis-palestinian-militants-begin-talks-in-cairo-on-truce-details/#ixzz2GTpvwAVy">http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/11/26/israelis-palestinian-militants-begin-talks-in-cairo-on-truce-details/#ixzz2GTpvwAVy</a> (REUTERS )
Nov. 9, 2012: CIA Director David Petraeus resigned Friday after admitting to an extramarital affair -- an affair with his biographer, Paula Broadwell, that was revealed over the course of an FBI investigation. Read More: <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/11/09/petraeus-resigns-as-cia-director/#ixzz2GTcfAXEg">http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/11/09/petraeus-resigns-as-cia-director/#ixzz2GTcfAXEg</a> (AP)
Dec. 3, 2012: Britain's Prince William and his wife Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, announce that they are expecting their first child. Kate was hospitalized with severe morning sickness. An Australian radio show prank called the hospital pretending to be the Queen looking for information. The woman who connected the call committed suicide three days after being duped. Read More: <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2012/12/10/australian-radio-hosts-give-tearful-apology-for-kate-middleton-prank-in-wake/?&test=royalwedding">http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2012/12/10/australian-radio-hosts-give-tearful-apology-for-kate-middleton-prank-in-wake/?&test=royalwedding</a>
Dec. 11, 2012: North Korea says it successfully launches a rocket, a feat which the U.S. and other nations have labeled as "provocative." The launch defied an international warning and took a major step forward in its quest to develop a nuclear missile. While the stated purpose was to put a weather satellite into orbit, the three-stage rocket's deployment also demonstrates the nation's ability to send a nuclear warhead as far as California, and raises the stakes in the international standoff over North Korea's expanding atomic arsenal. Read More: <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/12/12/north-korea-fires-long-range-rocket-in-defiant-move-south-korea-says/">http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/12/12/north-korea-fires-long-range-rocket-in-defiant-move-south-korea-says/</a> (AP)
Dec. 14, 2012: Adam Lanza, 20, shot his mother in the head four times in their Newtown, Conn., home and then drove to the Sandy Hook elementary school in her car with four guns, including a shotgun that was left in the back of the vehicle, and shot up two classrooms. Lanza killed 20 students and six adults before killing himself. It is one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history. Read More: <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/12/16/at-least-26-dead-in-shooting-at-connecticut-school/">http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/12/16/at-least-26-dead-in-shooting-at-connecticut-school/</a> (AP)
2012: Activists say more than 40,000 people have been killed in the 21-month Syrian civil war. Despite outcry from more than 100 nations, President Bashar Assad's regime continues to crack down on the Syrian people. The Assad regime has long rejected Western involvement in the civil war and has called for talks with opposition. Most rebel groups refuse to meet with Assad, demanding his removal. More than 100 nations, including the U.S., recognized the new Syrian opposition council as the legitimate representative of the country, a boost for the opposition forces that have been bombing regime targets in and around Damascus, once an impregnable stronghold of the Assad regime. Read More: <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/12/17/syrian-vice-president-says-both-sides-losing-in-civil-war/#ixzz2GTrOV73E">http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/12/17/syrian-vice-president-says-both-sides-losing-in-civil-war/#ixzz2GTrOV73E</a> (AP)
2012: Iran has steadfastly rejected demands to halt its uranium enrichment, which Washington and its allies worry could be the foundation for a future nuclear weapons program. Iran claims it seeks only energy and medical research from its reactors, but it wants full control over the nuclear process from uranium ore to fuel rods. Read More: <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/03/07/iranian-leader-iran-must-stand-firm-against-western-bullying-on-nuclear-program/">http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/03/07/iranian-leader-iran-must-stand-firm-against-western-bullying-on-nuclear-program/</a> Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gestures to photographers after meeting with Indonesian counterpart Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in Nusa Dua, Bali November 9, 2012. Ahmadinejad said on Thursday the age of nuclear deterrence was long gone and any country still stockpiling nuclear weapons was "mentally retarded". He again denied Iran was trying to develop nuclear weapons, a day after the re-election victory of U.S. President Barack Obama, for whom Tehran's disputed nuclear programme will be one of the thornier foreign policy issues of his second term. Ahmadinejad is in Bali to attend the 5th Bali Democracy Forum. REUTERS/Murdani Usman (INDONESIA - Tags: POLITICS) (AP)
2012: Former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords continues to recover from a January 2011 attack when Jared Lougher shot Giffords and 17 others, killing six during an Arizona rampage. 24-year-old Lougher was sentenced to seven life terms and 140 years in prison. Giffords resigned from Congress, and her former aide won a special election to take her seat. Read More: <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/11/08/tucson-gunman-faces-victims-including-gabby-giffords-during-sentencing/#ixzz2GThpQFC4">http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/11/08/tucson-gunman-faces-victims-including-gabby-giffords-during-sentencing/#ixzz2GThpQFC4</a> (REUTERS)
Dec. 2012: Lawmakers have until Jan. 1 to reach a final-hours deal to avert a fiscal crisis that would mean sweeping tax hikes followed by steep spending cuts. Congress has just a handful of options for sparing taxpayers. Aside from the scaled-back plan being offered by Obama or the new plan being drafted in the Senate, lawmakers could simply pass a short-term extension of current rates -- buying more time to work out an agreement. Read More: <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/12/29/senators-work-behind-scenes-saturday-on-fiscal-deal-votes-would-come-sunday/#ixzz2GTt5T2zZ">http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/12/29/senators-work-behind-scenes-saturday-on-fiscal-deal-votes-would-come-sunday/#ixzz2GTt5T2zZ</a> (REUTERS)