Bombs in Hilla and Karbala, Iraq, killed 30 Shias and wounded 100 others.
Dhaka Bangladesh clothes factory fire kills more than 100.
A 100-vehicle pile-up on a highway in Texas killed two people and injured 120 more.
The Northern Territory of Australia and the South Pacific were darkened by a total eclipse of the sun.
Seventeen soldiers lost their lives in a helicopter crash during bad weather in Turkey.
The New York City Marathon was canceled due to Hurricane Sandy.
Superstorm Sandy hits the US's eastern coast.
The James Bond spy movie 'Skyfall,' starring Daniel Craig, premiered at the Royal Albert Hall, London, UK.
Native American Kateri Tekakwitha became the first native to become a saint.
Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz was shot at and injured.
14-year-old girls-rights activist Malala Yousafzai was shot three times on her way to school.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited Athens and was met by 50,000 protestors.
China banned all literature from Japan or by Japanese authors.
Iran blocked access to Google and Gmail due to an anti-Islam movie that triggered protests worldwide.
Attacks on The US Diplomatic Compounds in Benghazi, Libya.
Former President Barack Obama gave his nominee acceptance speech.
Egypt's state TV lifted the ban on veiled news presenters.
NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft entered interstellar space, becoming the first artificial object to do so.
Both Russia and Vanuatu joined the World Trade Organization raising the total number of members to 157.
England was defeated by South Africa, who became top of the world Test cricket rank.
Julian Assange, who founded WikiLeaks, was given political asylum by Ecuador.
Flooding in Manila, Philippines, claimed the lives of at least 72 people, and 850,000 others were forced to leave their homes.
Flammable vapor caught fire at the Chevron Refinery in Richmond, California.
Mount Tongariro in New Zealand erupted for the first time in 115 years.
NASA's Curiosity rover landed on Mars' Aeolis Palus plain.
Female rowing duo Heather Stanning & Helen Glover claimed Team GB's first Olympic medal at the London Olympics.
Queen Elizabeth II of England declared the 30th Olympics opened in London, UK.
The first US woman in space, Sally Ride, died from pancreatic cancer at the age of 61.
Aurora shooting leaves 12 dead, 70 wounded.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was named marshal, placing him at the highest rank in the military.
Ice Age: Continental Drift premiered in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The world's tallest tower and Japan's biggest new landmark, the Tokyo Skytree, opened to the public.
The brand-new Sukhoi Superjet 100 plane crashes.
President Barack Obama officially declared his support of same-sex marriage.
The trial of Anders Behring Breivik begins in Oslo.
The Avengers premiered in Los Angeles, California, US.
George Clooney and Martin Luther King III were arrested at the Sudanese Embassy in Washington, DC.
A tropical storm named Irina on the island of Madagascar killed 65 people.
The world's tallest tower is completed.
Thieves stole up to 68 Olympic artifacts from a museum in Greece.
NASA successfully put two satellites designed to study the Moon's interior structure into the Moon's orbit.
Former French President Jacques Chirac was convicted of diverting public funds and received a two-year suspended prison sentence.
NASA launched the Mars Science Laboratory probe, which carried the Curiosity Rover to Mars.
American romantic fantasy movie 'The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part I' premiered at the Rome Film Festival.
NTC forces killed Muammar Gaddafi and his son after the Battle of Sirte.
The world's largest Legoland theme park opened in Winter Haven, Florida.
The US military policy "don't ask, don't tell" came to an end.
Occupy Wall Street movement begins.
Officers closed a highway in Alberta, Canada, after a truck carrying 104 beehives overturned.
Singer legend Amy Winehouse was found dead at her home in London, England.
