Pope Benedict XVI resigns.
Nineteen tourists were killed in a hot air balloon crash in Luxor, Egypt.
The first electric car charging network debuted in Estonia.
A meteor exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia, which sent shockwaves that smashed windows and injured 1,500 people.
A category 3 blizzard wreaked havoc in the US and Canada.
The House of Commons voted in favor of same-sex marriage in the United Kingdom.
The French government made it so that Parisian women could legally wear pants.
South Korea's first launch vehicle successfully reached orbit for the first time.
Earth-like calcium-rich deposits were found on Mars by NASA's Curiosity Rover.
Vladimir Putin signed a law banning the US adoption of Russian children.
Eleven kindergarten children were killed after a minivan plunged into a roadside pond in Jiangxi, China.
First female President of South Korea elected.
Gunmen killed six health workers in Pakistan.
NASA completed a successful mission to map the Moon's gravity field.
Adam Lanza shot and killed 20 children and 6 adults at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.
After countless failures, North Korea launched its first satellite.
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.
