"MMXII" redirects here. For the Killing Joke album, see MMXII (album).
This article is about the year 2012. For the film, see 2012 (film). For other uses, see 2012 (disambiguation).
Millennium: | 3rd millennium |
---|---|
Centuries: | 20th century – 21st century – 22nd century |
Decades: | 1980s 1990s 2000s – 2010s – 2020s 2030s 2040s |
Years: | 2009 2010 2011 – 2012 – 2013 2014 2015 |
Gregorian calendar | 2012 MMXII |
Ab urbe condita | 2765 |
Armenian calendar | 1461 ԹՎ ՌՆԿԱ |
Assyrian calendar | 6762 |
Bahá'í calendar | 168–169 |
Bengali calendar | 1419 |
Berber calendar | 2962 |
British Regnal year | 60 Eliz. 2 – 61 Eliz. 2 |
Buddhist calendar | 2556 |
Burmese calendar | 1374 |
Byzantine calendar | 7520–7521 |
Chinese calendar | 辛卯年十二月初八日 (4648/4708-12-8) — to —
壬辰年十一月十九日(4649/4709-11-19) |
Coptic calendar | 1728–1729 |
Ethiopian calendar | 2004–2005 |
Hebrew calendar | 5772–5773 |
Hindu calendars | |
- Vikram Samvat | 2068–2069 |
- Shaka Samvat | 1934–1935 |
- Kali Yuga | 5113–5114 |
Holocene calendar | 12012 |
Iranian calendar | 1390–1391 |
Islamic calendar | 1433–1434 |
Japanese calendar | Heisei 24 (平成24年) |
Julian calendar | Gregorian minus 13 days |
Korean calendar | 4345 |
Minguo calendar | ROC 101 民國101年 |
Thai solar calendar | 2555 |
Unix time | 1325376000–1356998399 |
2012 (MMXII) is a leap year that started on a Sunday and is the current year. In the Gregorian calendar, it is the 2012th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 12th year of the 3rd millennium and of the 21st century, and the 3rd of the 2010s.
There are a variety of popular beliefs about the year 2012. These beliefs range from the spiritually transformative to the apocalyptic, and center upon various contemporary interpretations of the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar. Scientists have disputed the apocalyptic versions.[1]
Contents |
Events
January
- January 23 – Iran–European Union relations: The European Union adopts an embargo against Iran in protest of that nation's continued effort to enrich uranium.[2]
February
- February 1 – At least 79 people were killed and more than 1,000 were injured after a football match in Port Said, Egypt.[3][4]
- February 6 – The Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II marks the 60th anniversary of her accession to the thrones of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and the 60th anniversary of her becoming Head of the Commonwealth.[5][6]
- February 15 – A fire at a prison in Comayagua, Honduras kills 360.[7]
- February 19 – Iran suspends oil exports to Britain and France following sanctions put in place by the European Union and the United States in January.[8]
- February 21 – Greek government debt crisis: Eurozone finance ministers reach an agreement on a second, €130-billion Greek bailout.[9]
- February 27 – Arab Spring: As a result of ongoing protests, Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh is succeeded by Vice President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Al-Hadi.[10]
March
- March 4 – A series of explosions are reported at a munitions dump in Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of the Congo, with at least 250 people dead.[11][12]
- March 13 – After 244 years since its first publication, the Encyclopædia Britannica discontinues its print edition.[13]
- March 22 – The President of Mali, Amadou Toumani Touré, is ousted in a coup d'état after mutinous soldiers attack government offices.[14]
April
- April 6 – The National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad unilaterally declares the independence of Azawad from Mali.[15]
- April 12 – Mutinous soldiers in Guinea-Bissau stage a coup d'état and take control of the capital city, Bissau. They arrest interim President Raimundo Pereira and leading presidential candidate Carlos Gomes Júnior in the midst of a presidential election campaign.[16]
- April 13 – Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3, a North Korean Earth observation satellite, explodes shortly after launch. The United States and other countries had called the impending launch a violation of United Nations Security Council demands.[17] The launch was planned to mark the centenary of the birth of Kim Il-sung, the founder of the republic.[17]
- April 26 – Former Liberian President Charles Taylor is found guilty on 11 counts of aiding and abetting war crimes and crimes against humanity during the Sierra Leone Civil War.[18]
May
- May 2 – A pastel version of The Scream, by 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.[19][20]
- May 12 – The 2012 World Expo begins in Yeosu, South Korea. It is scheduled to end on August 12.[21]
- May 22 – Tokyo Skytree, the tallest self-supporting tower in the world at 634 metres high, is opened to public.[22]
June
- June 5–6 – The century's second and last solar transit of Venus occurs. The next pair are predicted to occur in 2117 and 2125.[23]
- June 24
- Shenzhou 9, a Chinese spacecraft carrying three Chinese astronauts, including the first-ever female one, docked manually with an orbiting module Tiangong 1, first time as the country, making them as the third country, after the United States and Russia, to successfully perform the mission.[24]
- Lonesome George, the last known individual of the Pinta Island Tortoise subspecies, dies at a Galapagos National Park, thus making the subspecies extinct.[25]
July
- July 4 – CERN announces the discovery of a new particle with properties consistent with the Higgs boson after experiments at the Large Hadron Collider.[26][27][28][29][30]
Predicted and scheduled events
July
- July 27 – August 12 – 2012 Summer Olympics is scheduled to be held in London.[31]
August
- August 6 – Mars Science Laboratory, also known as the Curiosity rover, is scheduled to land on Mars.[32]
- August 12 – The 2012 World Expo is scheduled to end.[21]
December
- December 21 – The Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, notably used by the pre-Columbian Mayan civilization among others, completes a "great cycle" of thirteen b'ak'tuns (periods of 144,000 days each) since the mythical creation date of the calendar's current era.[33][34]
- December 31 – The first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol ends.[35]
Date unknown
- Pleiades, a proposed supercomputer built by Intel and SGI for NASA's Ames Research Center, will be completed, reaching a peak performance of 10 Petaflops (10 quadrillion floating point operations per second).[36]
- Sequoia, a proposed super computer built by IBM for the National Nuclear Security Administration will be completed, reaching a peak performance of 20 Petaflops.[37]
- On the Sun, the solar maximum of Solar Cycle 24 in the 11-year sunspot cycle is forecast to occur. Solar Cycle 24 is regarded to have commenced January 2008, and on average will reach its peak of maximal sunspot activity around 2012.
- The Kars–Tbilisi–Baku railway across the Caucasus is scheduled to be completed sometime in 2012.[38]
Deaths
Main article: Deaths in 2012
Further information: Category:2012 deaths
January
- January 1 – Kiro Gligorov, 1st President of the Republic of Macedonia (b. 1917)
- January 3 – Josef Škvorecký, Czech writer (b. 1924)
- January 9 – Malam Bacai Sanhá, 6th and 12th President of Guinea-Bissau (b. 1947)
- January 13
- Rauf Denktaş, Cypriot-born politician (b. 1924)
- Miljan Miljanić, Yugoslavian-born footballer (b. 1930)
- January 15 – Manuel Fraga Iribarne, Spanish politician (b. 1922)
- January 20
- Etta James, American singer (b. 1938)
- Jiří Raška, Czech ski jumper (b. 1941)
- January 24 – Theodoros Angelopoulos, Greek filmmaker (b. 1935)
- January 29
- François Migault, French racing driver (b. 1944)
- Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, 9th President of Italy (b. 1918)
February
- February 1 – Wisława Szymborska, Polish poet and Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1923)
- February 3
- Ben Gazzara, American actor (b. 1930)
- Samuel Youd, British author (b. 1922)
- February 6 – Antoni Tàpies, Spanish artist (b. 1923)
- February 11 – Whitney Houston, American singer and actress (b. 1963)
- February 19 – Renato Dulbecco, Italian-born American Nobel virologist (b. 1914)
- February 25 – Maurice André, French trumpeter (b. 1933)
- February 29 – Davy Jones, British singer and actor (b. 1945)
March
- March 6 – Francisco Xavier do Amaral, 1st President of East Timor (b. 1937)
- March 7 – Włodzimierz Smolarek, Polish footballer (b. 1957)
- March 10
- Jean Giraud, French comics artist (b. 1938)
- Frank 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, President of Somalia (2004–2008) (b. 1934)
- Naji Talib, 52nd Prime Minister of Iraq (b. 1917)
- March 25 – Antonio Tabucchi, Italian writer (b. 1943)
- March 27 – Adrienne Rich, American writer and feminist (b. 1929)
- March 28
- Alexander Arutiunian, Armenian composer (b. 1920)
- Earl Scruggs, American bluegrass musician (b. 1924)
April
- April 1
- Miguel de la Madrid, 52nd President of Mexico (b. 1934)
- Giorgio Chinaglia, Italian footballer (b. 1947)
- April 5 – Bingu wa Mutharika, 3rd President of Malawi (b. 1934)
- April 7 – Mike Wallace, American journalist (b. 1918)
- April 11 – Ahmed Ben Bella, 1st President of Algeria (b. 1918)
- 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)
- April 20 – Valeri Vasiliev, Russian ice hockey player (b. 1949)
- April 21 – Charles Colson, American evangelist (b. 1931)
- 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
- May 4 – Rashidi Yekini, Nigerian footballer (b. 1963)
- May 8 – Maurice Sendak, American author (b. 1928)
- May 9 – Vidal Sassoon, British hairdresser (b. 1928)
- May 10 – Carroll Shelby, American automotive designer, racing driver and entrepreneur (b. 1923)
- May 15 – Carlos Fuentes, Panamanian-born Mexican writer (b. 1928)
- May 17 – Donna Summer, American singer (b. 1948)
- May 18 – Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, German lyric baritone and conductor (b. 1925)
- May 20 – Robin Gibb, British-Australian musician (b. 1949)
- May 29 – Kaneto Shindo, Japanese film director (b. 1912)
- May 30 – Andrew Huxley, British Nobel physiologist (b. 1917)
June
- June 2 – Kathryn Joosten, American actress (b. 1939)
- June 3 – Roy Salvadori, British racing driver (b. 1922)
- June 4 – Eduard Khil, Russian baritone (b. 1934)
- June 5 – Ray Bradbury, American author (b. 1920)
- June 11
- Ann Rutherford, Canadian-born American actress (b. 1917)
- Teófilo Stevenson, Cuban boxer (b. 1952)
- June 13 – William Standish Knowles, American Nobel chemist (b. 1917)
- June 16 – Nayef bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia (b. 1933)
- June 17 – Rodney King, American police brutality victim (b. 1965)
- June 26 – Nora Ephron, American film director and screenwriter (b. 1941)
- June 30 – Yitzhak Shamir, 7th Prime Minister of Israel (b. 1915)
July
- July 1 – Alan G. Poindexter, American astronaut (b. 1961)
- July 3
- Andy Griffith, American actor (b. 1926)
- Sergio Pininfarina, Italian automobile designer (b. 1926)
- July 8 – Ernest Borgnine, American actor (b. 1917)
- July 13 – Richard D. Zanuck, American film producer (b. 1934)
- 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)
- July 19 – Omar Suleiman, Egyptian general, diplomat and intelligence officer (b. 1936)
- July 23 – Sally Ride, American astronaut and physicist (b. 1951)
Major religious holidays
- January 6 – Christmas Day (Celebrated by the Armenian Church)
- January 7 – Christmas Day (December 25 in the Julian Calendar, celebrated by Eastern Orthodoxy)
- February 1 – Imbolc, a Cross-quarter day (Celebrated on February 2 in some places)
- February 22 – Ash Wednesday – Western Christianity
- March 8
- March 20 – Spring Equinox, Persian New Year, also known as Ostara
- April 1 – Ramanavami – Hinduism
- April 6
- Good Friday – Western Christianity
- Hanuman Jayanti – Hinduism
- April 7 – Passover – Judaism
- April 8 – Easter – Western Christianity
- April 13 – Vaisakhi – Sikhism
- April 15 – Easter – Eastern Christianity
- May 1 – Beltane, a Cross-quarter day
- May 27 – Shavuot – Judaism
- June 4 – Vesak – Buddhism[39]
- June 20 – Summer solstice, also known as Midsummer
- July 20 – Ramadan begins – Islam
- August 1 – Lammas, a Cross-quarter day
- August 2 – Raksha Bandhan – Hinduism
- August 10 – Janmashtami – Hinduism
- August 19 – Eid al Fitr – Islam
- September 17 – Rosh Hashanah – Judaism
- September 21 – Autumn Equinox, also known as Mabon
- September 26 – Yom Kippur – Judaism
- October 1 – Sukkot – Judaism
- October 2 – Mehregan – Zoroastrianism and Persian Culture
- October 24 – Vijaya Dashami/Dusshera – Hinduism
- October 26 – Eid al-Adha, a religious festival in Islam
- November 1 – Samhain, a Cross-quarter day, Neopagan new year and Christian All Saints' Day
- November 13 – Diwali – Sikhism - Hinduism
- November 15 – Islamic New Year
- December 9 – Hanukkah – Judaism
- December 25 – Christmas – Western Christianity
In fiction
Main article: Works of fiction set in 2012
See also
References
- ^ "2012: Beginning of the End or Why the World Won't End?". NASA.
- ^ Jonathan Marcus (2012-01-23). "''BBC News''". Bbc.co.uk. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16674660. Retrieved 2012-05-06.
- ^ Fahmy, Mohamed Fadel; Lee, Ian (2 February 2012). "Anger flares in Egypt after 79 die in soccer riot". Turner Broadcasting System. http://edition.cnn.com/2012/02/02/world/africa/egypt-soccer-deaths/index.html?hpt=hp_t1. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
- ^ "Egypt football violence leaves many dead in Port Said". BBC News. 1 February 2012. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-16845841. Retrieved 1 February 2012.
- ^ The Government of Canada (January 23, 2012). "Official Canadian website for the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II". http://www.pch.gc.ca/eng/1296669421850/1296669769856. Retrieved January 23, 2012.
- ^ "Diamond Jubilee: Queen celebrating 60-year reign". BBC News UK. bbc.co.uk. 6 February 2012. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16896731. Retrieved 6 February 2012.
- ^ "Honduras Prison Fire Kills Hundreds Of Inmates". Sky News. February 15, 2012. http://news.sky.com/home/world-news/article/16170448. Retrieved February 15, 2012.
- ^ CNN Wire Staff (19 February 2012). "Iran suspends oil exports to Britain and France". CNN News. cnn.com. http://edition.cnn.com/2012/02/19/world/meast/iran-oil-exports/index.html?hpt=wo_c2. Retrieved 19 February 2012.
- ^ "Euro zone strikes deal on Greece bailout". Reuters. www.smh.com.au. 21 February 2012. http://www.smh.com.au/business/world-business/euro-zone-strikes-deal-on-greece-bailout-20120221-1tkxm.html. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
- ^ "Obama hails 'new beginning' for Yemen". BBC News. bbc.co.uk. 25 February 2012. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-17169216. Retrieved 26 February 2012.
- ^ "Reuters". In.reuters.com. 2012-03-04. http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/03/04/congo-explosions-idINDEE82304620120304. Retrieved 2012-05-06.
- ^ "BBC". BBC. 2012-03-04. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-17249480. Retrieved 2012-05-06.
- ^ McCarthy, Tom (2012-03-13). "Encyclopedia Britannica halts print publication after 244 years". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/mar/13/encyclopedia-britannica-halts-print-publication?newsfeed=true. Retrieved 2012-03-14.
- ^ Adam Nossiter (22 March 2012). "Soldiers Declare Coup in Mali". The New York Times (The New York Times Company). http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/23/world/africa/mali-coup-france-calls-for-elections.html. Retrieved 22 March 2012.
- ^ "Tuareg rebels declare independence in north Mali". France 24. 2012-04-06. http://www.france24.com/en/20120406-france-24-exclusive-tuareg-rebels-declare-independence-mlna-mali-ansar-dine-azawad. Retrieved 2012-04-06.
- ^ "The Associated Press: Military: Guinea-Bissau prime minister arrested". Google.com. 2012-04-13. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gGdGd-oKyai6M1KEUxMzkKCkPAfQ?docId=8ed769267a0140e4974585dc57dcc99a. Retrieved 2012-05-06.
- ^ a b Choe, Sang-hun (March 16, 2012). "North Korea Says It Will Launch Satellite Into Orbit". Nytimes.com. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/17/world/asia/north-korea-satellite-launch-missile-test.html. Retrieved March 16, 2012.
- ^ "'Taylor Sierra Leone war crimes verdiact welcomed'". BBC. 26 April 2012. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-17864387. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
- ^ "Edvard Munch's iconic artwork The Scream sold for $120m". BBC. 3 May 2012. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-17926519. Retrieved 3 May 2012.
- ^ Michaud, Chris (3 May 2012). ""The Scream" sells for record $120 million at auction". Reuters. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/03/entertainment-us-thescream-auction-idUSBRE84200M20120503. Retrieved 3 May 2012.
- ^ a b 2012 World Expo (English) Retrieved January 23, 2012.
- ^ "High winds mar opening of Tokyo's Skytree tower". BBC News. 2012-05-22. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-18141311. Retrieved 2012-07-04.
- ^ NASA. "NASA Transit of Venus". http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/OH/transit12.html. Retrieved January 23, 2012.
- ^ Wall Street Journal. "Chinese Spacecraft Docks With Orbiting Module". http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304782404577486793301606890.html?mod=googlenews_wsj. Retrieved July 4, 2012.
- ^ "Famed Galapagos tortoise dies". USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/environment/story/2012-06-24/tortiose-species-extinct/55798794/1.
- ^ "CERN experiments observe particle consistent with long-sought Higgs boson". CERN press release. 4 July 2012. http://press.web.cern.ch/press/PressReleases/Releases2012/PR17.12E.html. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
- ^ Taylor, Lucas (4 July 2012). "Observation of a New Particle with a Mass of 125 GeV". CMS Public Website. CERN. http://cms.web.cern.ch/news/observation-new-particle-mass-125-gev.
- ^ "Latest Results from ATLAS Higgs Search". ATLAS. 4 July 2012. http://www.atlas.ch/news/2012/latest-results-from-higgs-search.html. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
- ^ Video (04:38) – CERN Announcement (4 July 2012) Of Higgs Boson Discovery.
- ^ Overbye, Dennis (4 July 2012). "A New Particle Could Be Physics’ Holy Grail". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/05/science/cern-physicists-may-have-discovered-higgs-boson-particle.html. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
- ^ "London 2012". http://www.london2012.com/. Retrieved January 23, 2012.
- ^ "NASA's Next Mars Rover Hoisted Atop Rocket". Space.com. http://www.space.com/13501-nasa-mars-rover-curiosity-atlas5-rocket.html. Retrieved 2011-11-04.
- ^ Susan Milbrath, Curator of Latin American Art and Archaeology, Florida Museum of Natural History, quoted in USA Today, Wednesday, March 28, 2007, p. 11D
- ^ "The Sky Is Not Falling" New Wave, Tulane University, June 25, 2008.
- ^ Grubb, M. and J. Depledge (2001). "The Seven Myths of Kyoto" (PDF). Climate Policy 1 (2): 169. http://www.econ.cam.ac.uk/rstaff/grubb/publications/JR09.pdf. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
- ^ "NASA, Intel, SGI Plan to 'Soup Up' Supercomputer". Nas.nasa.gov. Archived from the original on 28 May 2010. http://www.nas.nasa.gov/News/Releases/2008/05-07-08.html. Retrieved 2010-06-02.
- ^ Gonsalves, Antone. "IBM Tapped For 20-Petaflop Government Supercomputer". Informationweek.com. http://www.informationweek.com/news/hardware/supercomputers/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=213000842&subSection=News. Retrieved 2010-06-02.
- ^ National Geographic, August 2010, page 62.
- ^ "2012 Calendar of Uposatha Days". http://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/dhamma/sila/uposatha2012.html.