2012: The Year in Photos
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The luxury cruise ship Costa Concordia leans on its side after running aground off the tiny Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy on Jan. 14, killing 30 people.
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A woman pays her respects at a statue of former Penn State football coach Joe Paterno outside Beaver Stadium on the Penn State University campus after learning of his death on Jan. 22 in State College, Pa. The statue was later taken down amid the Penn State sex abuse scandal involving assistant coach Jerry Sandusky.
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A solar flare erupts on the Sun's northeastern hemisphere on Jan. 22. Space weather officials say the strongest solar storm in more than six years is already bombarding Earth with radiation with more to come.
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The Space shuttle Discovery, mounted atop a NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, flies over Washington on April 17 on its way to its new home at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va.
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President Barack Obama sits on the famed "Rosa Parks bus" at the Henry Ford Museum following an event on April 18 in Dearborn, Mich.
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Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, 55, reaches over a railing to shake supporters' hands as media outlets storm his home in Chicago on March 14 before reporting to a prison in Colorado to begin serving a 14-year sentence. He is the second Illinois governor in a row to go to prison for corruption.
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Former Senator John Edwards and his daughter Cate Edwards Upham leave the U.S Federal Courthouse on April 12 in Greensboro, N.C. On May 31, Edwards was found not guilty on the charge of illegal use of campaign funding, while mistrials were declared on all other counts against him including conspiracy and making false statements.
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North Korea's new commander in chief, Kim Jong Un, is displayed on a giant screen during a concert on the eve of the 80th anniversary of the founding of the North Korean army in Pyongyang on April 24.
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On May 22, SpaceX launched their Dragon capsule, becoming the first private company to send a spacecraft to the international space station.
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Britain's Prince Charles, Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, and Prince William stand on the balcony at Buckingham Palace during the Diamond Jubilee celebrations in central London on June 2. The celebrations to honor Queen Elizabeth II's 60th anniversary as monarch marked only the second Diamond Jubilee in the history of the country.
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On June 15, stuntman Nik Wallenda became the first person to walk on a tightrope 1,800 feet across the Niagra Falls. The seventh-generation member of the famed Flying Wallendas had long dreamed of pulling off the stunt, never before attempted.
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Fire from the Waldo Canyon wildfire burns as it destroyed homes in Colorado Springs, Colo., on June 26. The 2012 wildfire season, noted by some as the worst in decades, caused more than $449 million in damage.
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Tarra Piet is embraced by her cousin Kursty Setty as they stand in Piet's father's flooded pet store in Live Oak, Fla, on June 27. Dozens of homes and businesses were flooded by torrential rains from Tropical Storm Debby.
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People line up to be the first to purchase the iPhone 5 on June 28 on Santa Monica, Calif.
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Supporters of President Barack Obama's health care law celebrate outside the Supreme Court after the court's ruling is announced on June 28.
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People visit a temporary memorial across the street from the Century 16 theater in Aurora, Colo., after twelve people were killed and more than 50 wounded in a shooting attack in a packed theater on July 20 during a showing of the Batman movie "The Dark Knight Rises." Police identified the suspected shooter as James Holmes, 24.
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Michael Phelps kisses his gold medal after the podium ceremony of the men's 4x200m freestyle relay during the London 2012 Olympic Games on July 31. Phelps won six medals at the games, bringing his career total to 22 medals, with 18 of them being gold.
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U.S. gymnast Gabrielle Douglas performs on the balance beam during the artistic gymnastics women's individual all-around competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London on Aug. 2, 2012. Douglas captured the gold medal, becoming the first black woman of any nationality to do so.
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Jamaica's Usain Bolt crosses the finish line to win gold in the men's 100-meter final during the 2012 Summer Olympics in London on Aug. 5. During the Olympic Games Bolt became the first man to win six gold medals in sprinting.
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Devotees form a human pyramid on Aug. 10 to break the "Dahi handi," an earthen pot filled with curd, an integral part of celebrations to mark Janmashtami in Mumbai, India.
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London Mayor, Boris Johnson, left, watches the Mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Eduardo Paes, right, wave the Olympic flag as the International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge applauds during the Closing Ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics on Aug. 12. Rio de Janeiro will host the Summer Olympics in 2016.
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Members of the funk group "Pussy Riot," sit in a glass cage in a court room in Moscow, Russia, on Aug. 17. The women were charged with hooliganism connected to religious hatred. The case was widely seen as a warning that authorities will tolerate opposition only under tightly controlled conditions.
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Police lean over a sheet covered body on Fifth Avenue as they investigate a multiple shooting outside the Empire State Building on Aug. 24. Nine people were wounded when police officers shot into a crowd and killed a gunman who killed a former co-worker.
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Surrounded by British police, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange makes a statement to the media from a window of the Ecuadorian Embassy in central London on Aug. 19. Assange entered the embassy in June in an attempt to gain political asylum and prevent him from being extradited to Sweden, where he faces allegations of sex crimes.
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Republican vice presidential nominee Rep. Paul Ryan wipes his tears as he addresses the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., on Aug. 29.
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Mitt Romney delivers his nomination acceptance speech during the final day of the Republican National Convention in Tampa on Aug. 30.
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Residents evacuate their flooded neighborhood in LaPlace, La., on Aug 30 as Hurricane Isaac made landfall. Isaac caused more than $2 billion in damage, severely damaging more than 59,000 homes in Louisiana.
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Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who survived the deadly Tuscon shooting that killed six people during a political event, recites the Pledge of Allegiance at the Democratic National Convention with DNC Chairwoman Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz in Charlotte, N.C., on Sept. 6.
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Ryley Batt of Australia tries to score a goal as Trevor Hirschfield of Canada blocks during their gold medal wheelchair rugby match at the 2012 Paralympic games in London on Sept. 9. Australia captured the gold medal.
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Prince William and his wife Kate, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, take their shoes off before entering a mosque in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Sept. 14.
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This image provided by NASA shows the robotic arm of the Mars rover Curiosity touching its first rock in space on Sept. 22. Curiosity placed the Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer instrument onto the rock to assess what chemical elements were present.
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Former Penn State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky is taken from the Centre County Courthouse on Oct. 9 after being sentenced to at least 30 years in prison for sexual abuse of young boys in Bellefonte, Pa.
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Pilot Felix Baumgartner of Austria landed the highest jump ever with a tumbling, death-defying plunge from space in a capsule 24 miles above ground. The world watched as he landed in the New Mexico desert on Oct. 14.
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Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama spar during the second presidential debate at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y., on Oct. 16.
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The San Francisco Giants celebrate after they defeated the Detroit Tigers to win the World Series on Oct. 28.
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A rebel sniper aims at members of the Syrian army in a residential building in the Jedida district of Aleppo, Syria, on Oct. 29. Rebels are trying to overtake the Syrian government and citizens are caught in the crossfire as the Syrian civil war gains momentum.
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A parking lot full of yellow cabs is flooded following Superstorm Sandy in Hoboken, N.J., on Oct. 30. The storm killed at least 125 people in the U.S. and caused more than $50 billion in damage.
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Cars float in a flooded basement following Superstorm Sandy on Oct. 30 in the Financial District of New York.
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President Barack Obama embraces Donna Vanzant during a tour of a neighborhood effected by superstorm Sandy on Oct. 31 in Brigantine, N.J. Vanzant is a owner of North Point Marina, which was severely damaged by the storm.
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People gather around the remains of burned homes after Superstorm Sandy on Oct. 31 in the Breezy Point neighborhood of New York City.
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President Barack Obama celebrates with first lady Michelle Obama after winning the 2012 presidential election.
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Debris from Superstorm Sandy is seen on a beach Nov. 8 in Long Branch, N.J.
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Firefighters work the scene where an explosion killed two people and damaged more than a dozen homes on Nov. 11 in Indianapolis. The explosion is now under a criminal investigation.
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A young man and a woman enjoy swimming in the flooded St. Mark's Square in Venice, Italy. High tides flooded Venice on Nov. 11, leading Venetians and tourists to don high boots and use wooden walkways to cross St. Mark's Square and other areas under water.
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Paula Broadwell holds a drink in the kitchen of her brother's house in Washington, D.C. on Nov. 13. Broadwell is CIA Director David Petraeus' biographer, with whom he had an affair that led to his abrupt resignation on Nov. 9. It was Broadwell's threatening emails to Jill Kelley, a Florida woman who is a Petraeus family friend, that led to the FBI's discovery of communications between Broadwell and Petraeus indicating they were having an affair.
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A total solar eclipse is observed at Cape Tribulation in Queensland, Australia on Nov. 14.
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Explosion and smoke rise following an Israeli strike in Gaza on Nov. 17. Israel bombarded the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, widening a blistering assault on militant operations to include the prime minister's headquarters, a police compound, and a vast network of smuggling tunnels.
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President Barack Obama tours the Shwedagon Pagoda with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in Yangon, Myanmar on Nov. 19. This is the first visit to Myanmar by a sitting U.S. president.
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Iranian mourners chant slogans as they cover themselves with mud during Ashoura rituals, marking the death anniversary of Imam Hussein, the grandson of Islam's Prophet Muhammad on Nov. 25.
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A man takes photographs inside a burned garment factory on the outskirts of Dhaka, Bangladesh. The blaze killed 112 workers on Nov. 26.
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Police officers are sprayed with milk by European milk farmers during a demonstration outside the European Parliament in Brussels on Nov. 26. Farmers drove their tractors into the European Quarter of Brussels for a two-day demonstration to protest against what they believe are unfair milk prices.
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Members of the Palestinian delegation celebrate as they surround Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during a meeting of the United Nations General Assembly after a vote to upgrade the Palestinian Authority's status to non-member observer state passed in New York on Nov. 29.
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Andre Edwards smokes marijuana just after midnight at the Space Needle in Seattle. Possession of marijuana became legal in Washington state on Dec. 6 and several hundred people gathered at the Space Needle to smoke and celebrate the occasion, even though the new law does prohibit public use of marijuana.
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Benedict Barboz holds his son Junal and daughter Lisha, during the burial of his wife nurse Jacintha Saldanha in India. Saldanha was found hanging in her room in London on Dec. 7 days after she had been duped by a hoax call from an Australian radio station about the pregnant Duchess of Cambridge.
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Retired U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer 1st Class Nancy Monahan leans to kiss her soon-to-be bride Deb Needham while they wait at Seattle City Hall to become among the first gay couples to legally wed in the state on Dec. 9.
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Two women place flowers at the entrance to the scene of a shooting on Dec. 11 at Clackamas Town Center Mall in Oregon. A gunman who opened fire on shoppers at a Portland mall had no connection to the two people he fatally shot.
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Greek riot police prevent striking municipal employees from barging into a hotel where Greek and German mayors were meeting in Athens on Dec. 13, during austerity protests in the country.
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A woman walks through an overflowing memorial to the shooting victims in the Sandy Hook village of Newtown, Conn. Gunman Adam Lanza walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14 and opened fire, killing 26 people, including 20 children, before killing himself.
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Egyptian protesters opposing president Mohammed Morsi chant slogans during a protest in front of the presidential palace in Cairo, Egypt on Dec. 18.
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House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio speaks to the media about the fiscal cliff at the U.S. Capitol on Dec. 20.
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