• January 23 - European Union agrees to embargo Iranian oil in protest of Iran's alleged nuclear weapons program.
  

• March 4 - Vladimir Putin wins Russian presidential election amid allegations of voter fraud.
  

• June 24 - Female athletes will be allowed to compete for Saudi Arabia at the Olympics for the first time
  

• August 1 - eight female badminton ‘doubles players’ were disqualified from the 2012 Summer Olympics for attempting to manipulate the draw by throwing matches.
  

• ** August 5 - Jamaican sprint superstar Usain Bolt wins the 100m at the London Olympics in 9.63, besting the record he set in 2008 Olympics
  

• ** August 9 - Jamaican sprint superstar Usain Bolt wins the 200m at the London Olympics in 19.32 to become first to win 100/200m double in back-to-back Olympics
  

• August 24 - The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) says it will ban former professional road racing cyclist Lance Armstrong for life and recommend he be stripped of his record seven Tour de France titles.
  

• September 13 - 19 people are killed after a freight elevator crashes from 100 meters in Wuhan, China.
  

• *** October 29 - Hurricane Sandy makes landfall in New Jersey resulting in 110 deaths and $50 billion in damage. The effects forced the New York stock exchange to close for two days.
  

• November 1 - Acid is poured over a 15-year-old girl by her parents after being seen talking to a young man in an "honor killing" in Azad Kashmir, Pakistan.

  *** November 2 - New York City Marathon was cancelled because of the effects of Hurricane Sandy in NYC the week before.

Notable Deaths -

* Giro d'Italia Champion: Fiorenzo Magni (Ita) (1920-2012) Italian professional road racing cyclist. The highlights of his career were his three overall victories in the Giro d'Italia 1948, 1951, and 1955. He also had three consecutive wins (a record at the time) in the Tour of Flanders (1949, 1950 and 1951). He died at the age of 91.

Whitney Houston (1963-2012) American singer ("I Will Always Love You" and "I Wanna Dance with Somebody"), actress (The Bodyguard), and film producer (The Princess Diaries). She died in her suite at the Los Angeles Beverly Hilton Hotel from an accidental bathtub drowning. She was 48.

Andy Griffith (1926-2012) American actor, comedian, television producer, Southern gospel singer, and writer. He was known for the Andy Griffith Show and Matlock, died from a heart attack at 86.

Neil Armstrong (1930-2012) American astronaut and X-15 pilot, 1st man to step on the Moon. He died from heart surgery complications at 82.

 

2011

2013

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