1st January » A Moldovan civilian is 2012 Moldova security zone incident or fatally wounded by a Russian peacekeeper in the Transnistrian security zone, leading to demonstrations against Russia.
7th January » A hot air balloon 2012 Carterton hot air balloon crash e.g crashes near Carterton, New Zealand, killing all 11 people on board.
10th January » A 2012 Khyber Agency bombing called bombing in Khyber Agency, Pakistan, kills at least 30 people and 78 others injured.
13th January » The passenger cruise ship 'Costa Concordia' Costa Concordia disaster named sinks off the coast of Italy. There are 31 confirmed deaths with one still missing, Russel Rebello, amongst the 4232 passengers and crew.
14th January » The Pirate Party of Greece is founded, on the model of the Swedish Pirate Party (Sweden) named Pirate Party.
19th January » The Hong Kong-based file-sharing website Megaupload is shut down by the FBI.
23rd January » A group of Muammar Gaddafi Gaddafi loyalists take control of part of the town of Bani Walid and fly the Flag of Libya green flag after a 2012 Bani Walid uprising battle with NTC forces left 5 dead and 20 injured.
6th February » A 2012 Visayas earthquake or 6.9 magnitude earthquake hits near the central Philippines off the coast of Negros Island causing at least 51 deaths and injuring 112 others.
7th February » President Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldives named Republic of Maldives resigns, after 23 days of anti-governmental protests calling for the release of Chief Judge unlawfully arrested by the military.
19th February » 44 people are killed in a prison Apodaca prison riot known as brawl in Apodaca, Nuevo León.
22nd February » A 2012 Buenos Aires rail disaster known as train crash in Buenos Aires, Argentina, kills 51 people and injures 700 others.
23rd February » A 23 February 2012 Iraq attacks named series of attacks across Iraq leave at least 83 killed and more than 250 injured.
26th February » A 2012 Burlington VIA derailment named train derails in Burlington, Ontario, Canada killing at least three people and injuring 45.
27th February » A section of a nine-story apartment building in the city of Astrakhan, Russia, collapses in a 2012 Astrakhan gas explosion e.g natural gas explosion, killing 10 people and injuring at least 12 others.
29th February » Tokyo Skytree construction completed. Now it is the List of tallest towers in the world tallest tower in the world, 634 meters high, and second tallest (man-made) structure on Earth, next to Burj Khalifa.
2nd March » A March 2–3, 2012 tornado outbreak known as tornado outbreak occurred over a large section of the Southern United States and into the Ohio Valley region, resulting in 40 tornado-related fatalities.
3rd March » Two trains Szczekociny rail crash e.g crash in the small Poland e.g Polish town of Szczekociny near Zawiercie, with 16 people killed and up to 58 people injured.
5th March » Invisible Children, Inc. known as Invisible Children launches the Stop Kony campaign with the release of Kony 2012.
5th March » At least 2 people are killed and 6 injured after a 2012 Bucharest hair salon shooting named shooting in a hair salon in Bucharest, Romania.
11th March » A U.S. soldier Kandahar massacre e.g kills 16 civilians in the Panjwayi District of Afghanistan near Kandahar.
13th March » At least 28 people are killed in a Sierre coach crash called bus crash in a motorway tunnel near the town of Sierre in the Switzerland e.g Swiss canton of Valais.
18th March » Tupou VI becomes List of monarchs of Tonga e.g King of Tonga.
20th March » At least 52 people are killed and more than 250 injured in a 20 March 2012 Iraq attacks e.g wave of terror attacks across 10 cities in Iraq.
2nd April » A Oikos University shooting named mass shooting at Oikos University at Oakland, California leaves seven people dead and three injured.
6th April » Azawad Azawadi declaration of independence or declares itself independent from the Republic of Mali.
11th April » An 8.2 magnitude April 2012 Aceh earthquake or earthquake hits Indonesia, off northern Sumatra at a depth of 16.4 km. A tsunami hits the island of Nias at Indonesia.
16th April » The Trial of Anders Behring Breivik called trial for Anders Behring Breivik, the perpetrator of the 2011 Norway attacks, begins in Oslo, Norway.
16th April » The 2012 Pulitzer Prize Pulitzer Prize winners were announced, it was the first time 1977 Pulitzer Prize since 1977 that no book won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction Fiction Prize.
20th April » 127 people are killed when a Bhoja Air Flight 213 known as plane crashes in a residential area near the Benazir Bhutto International Airport near Islamabad, Pakistan.
21st April » Two trains are involved in a Sloterdijk train collision called head-on collision near Sloterdijk, Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, injuring 116 people.
27th April » At least 2012 Dnipropetrovsk explosions or four explosions hit the Ukraine named Ukrainian city of Dnipropetrovsk with at least 27 people injured.
30th April » An overloaded Assam ferry sinking e.g ferry capsizes on the Brahmaputra River in India killing at least 103 people.
2nd May » A pastel version of 'The Scream', by Norwegian painter Edvard Munch, sells for $120 million in a New York City auction, setting a new world record for a work of art at auction.
9th May » A Sukhoi Superjet 100 aircraft Mount Salak Sukhoi Superjet 100 crash called crashes into Mount Salak in West Java, Indonesia, killing 45 people.
10th May » The 10 May 2012 Damascus bombings or Damascus bombings are carried out using a pair of car bombs detonated by suicide bombers outside of a military intelligence complex in Damascus, Syria, killing 55 people and injuring 400 others
14th May » Agni Air Flight CHT crashes near Jomsom Airport in Jomsom, Nepal, after a failed go-around, killing 15 people.
20th May » At least 27 people are killed and 50 others injured when a 2012 Northern Italy earthquakes known as 6.0-magnitude earthquake strikes northern Italy.
21st May » A Qafa e Vishës bus accident called bus accident near Himara, Albania kills 13 people and injures 21 others.
22nd May » Tokyo Skytree is opened to public. It is the List of tallest towers in the world or tallest tower in world (634 m), and the second tallest man-made structure on Earth, after Burj Khalifa (829.8 m).
23rd May » Adam Lambert became the first openly gay artist to debut at 1 on the Billboard 200 known as 'Billboard' 200 Album Charts, with his album 'Trespassing (album) known as Trespassing'.
25th May » The Dragon spacecraft became the COTS Demo Flight 2 or first commercial spacecraft to successfully rendezvous with the International Space Station.
28th May » The discovery of Flame (malware) named Flame, a complex malware program targeting computers in Middle Eastern countries, is announced.
29th May » A 5.8-magnitude 2012 Emilia earthquakes 29 May earthquake e.g earthquake hits northern Italy near Bologna, killing at least 24 people.
30th May » Former Liberian president, Charles Taylor (Liberian politician) e.g Charles Taylor, is sentenced to 50 years in prison for his role in atrocities committed during the Sierra Leone Civil War.
2nd June » The former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is sentenced to life imprisonment for his role in the killing of demonstrators during the 2011 Egyptian revolution.
4th June » The Diamond Jubilee Concert is held outside Buckingham Palace on The Mall, London.
13th June » A 13 June 2012 Iraq attacks called series of bombings across Iraq, including Baghdad, Hillah and Kirkuk, kills at least 93 people and wounds over 300 others.
15th June » Nik Wallenda becomes the first person to successfully Tightrope walking called tightrope walk over Niagara Falls.
16th June » China successfully launches its Shenzhou 9 spacecraft, carrying three astronauts – including the first female Chinese astronaut, Liu Yang (astronaut) known as Liu Yang – to the Tiangong-1 orbital module.
22nd June » Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo is Impeachment of Fernando Lugo or removed from office by impeachment and succeeded by Federico Franco.
23rd June » Ashton Eaton breaks the Decathlon world record progression or decathlon world record at the 2012 United States Olympic Trials (track and field) e.g United States Olympic Trials.
24th June » Lonesome George, the last known individual of Chelonoidis nigra abingdonii, a subspecies of the Galápagos tortoise, dies.
26th June » The Waldo Canyon Fire descends into the Mountain Shadows neighborhood in Colorado Springs, Colorado called Colorado Springs burning 347 homes in a matter of hours and killing two people.
4th July » The discovery of particles consistent with the Higgs boson at the Large Hadron Collider is announced at CERN.
5th July » The Shard in London is inaugurated as the List of tallest buildings in Europe called tallest building in Europe, with a height of 310 metres (1,020 ft).
11th July » Astronomers announce the discovery of Styx (moon) called Styx, the fifth moon of Pluto.
12th July » The Turaymisah killings named Turaymisah massacre kills 250 people during a Syrian military operation in a village within the Hama Governorate.
18th July » At least seven people are killed and 32 others are injured after a 2012 Burgas bus bombing called bomb explodes on an Israelis known as Israeli tour bus at Burgas Airport, Bulgaria.
21st July » Erden Eruç completes the first solo Human-powered transport known as human-powered circumnavigation of the world.
31st July » Michael Phelps breaks the record set in 1964 by Larisa Latynina for the List of multiple Olympic medalists called most medals won at the Olympics.
11th August » At least 306 people are killed and 3,000 others injured in 2012 East Azerbaijan earthquakes called a pair of earthquakes near Tabriz, Iran.
12th August » The 2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony closing ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic games were held at the Olympic Stadium (London) Olympic Stadium in London.
19th August » A 2012 Sudan Antonov An-26 crash called plane crash kills 32 people in Sudan.
20th August » A 2012 Caracas prison riot called prison riot in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, kills at least 20 people.
25th August » Voyager 1 spacecraft enters interstellar space becoming the first man-made object to do so.
29th August » At least 26 miners are killed and 21 missing after a blast in the Xiaojiawan coal mine disaster or Xiaojiawan coal mine, located at Panzhihua in Sichuan Province, China.
5th September » A Sivakasi factory explosion e.g firecracker factory explodes near Sivakasi, Tamil Nadu, killing 40 and injuring 50 others.
5th September » An 2012 Afyonkarahisar arsenal explosion named accidental explosion at a Turkish Army ammunition store in Afyonkarahisar known as Afyon, western Turkey kills 25 soldiers and wounds four others.
6th September » Sixty-one people die and 48 others are injured after a fishing boat September 2012 Baradan Bay, Turkey migrant boat disaster or capsizes off the İzmir Province coast of Turkey, near the North Aegean islands e.g Greek Aegean islands.
7th September » 2012 Yunnan earthquakes known as A series of earthquakes in Yunnan, China, kills 89 people and injures 800 others.
7th September » Canada officially Canada–Iran relations called cuts diplomatic ties with Iran by closing its embassy in Tehran and ordered the expulsion of Iranian diplomats from Ottawa, over support for Syria, nuclear plans and alleged rights abuses.
9th September » The Indian Space Research Organisation Indian space agency puts into orbit its SPOT (satellite) SPOT 6 and SPOT 7 heaviest foreign satellite yet, in a streak of 21 consecutive successful Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PLSV launches.
9th September » A 9 September 2012 Iraq attacks or wave of attacks kill more than 100 people and injure 350 others across Iraq.
11th September » A total of 315 people are killed in 2012 Pakistan garment factory fires e.g two garment factory fires in Pakistan.
11th September » The U.S. embassy in Benghazi, Libya is 2012 Benghazi attack named attacked, resulting in four deaths.
27th September » A 2012 Minneapolis workplace shooting known as mass shooting takes place at Accent Signage Systems, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, killing 6 people, including the gunman who committed suicide, and wounding 2 others.
28th September » Somali Armed Forces Somali and African Union Mission to Somalia African Union forces launch a coordinated Battle of Kismayo (2012) assault on the Somali port city of Kismayo to take back the city from Al-Shabaab (militant group) al-Shabaab militants.
28th September » A Dornier Do 228 light aircraft Sita Air Flight 601 e.g crashes on the outskirts of the Nepal e.g Nepalese capital of Kathmandu, killing 19 people.
1st October » A 2012 Lamma Island ferry collision known as ferry collision off the coast of Hong Kong kills 38 people and injures 102 others.
1st October » Domestic and International flights of Thai AirAsia transferred all operations from Suvarnabhumi Airport to Don Mueang International Airport .
9th October » Members of the Pakistani Taliban made a failed attempt to assassinate Malala Yousafzai on her way home from school.
15th October » British Prime Minister David Cameron and Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond agree on a Edinburgh Agreement (2012) or deal setting out the terms of a Scottish independence referendum, 2014 e.g referendum on Scottish independence at a meeting in Edinburgh
16th October » The extrasolar planet Alpha Centauri Bb is discovered.
19th October » Big Tex, a 52-foot statue and cultural icon in Dallas, Texas, is destroyed by fire during the final weekend of the 2012 State Fair of Texas.
21st October » A 2012 Azana Spa shootings or shooting at a spa in Brookfield, Wisconsin, leaves four people dead, including the shooter.
29th October » Hurricane Sandy hits the east coast of the United States, killing 148 directly and 138 indirectly, while leaving nearly $70 billion in damages and causing major power outages.
1st November » A fuel tank truck 2012 Riyadh truck crash e.g crashes and explodes in the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh killing 26 people and injuring 135.
6th November » Tammy Baldwin, becomes the first openly gay politician to be elected to the United States Senate.
7th November » An 2012 Guatemala earthquake e.g earthquake off the Pacific coast of Guatemala kills at least 52 people.
9th November » A train carrying liquid fuel 2012 Burma train crash called crashes and bursts into flames in northern Burma, killing 27 people and injuring 80 others.
11th November » A 2012 Shwebo earthquake named strong earthquake with the Moment magnitude scale named magnitude 6.8 hits northern Burma, killing at least 26 people.
14th November » Israel launches a Operation Pillar of Defense known as major military operation in the Gaza Strip, as hostilities with Hamas escalate.
15th November » Xi Jinping becomes General Secretary of the Communist Party of China and a new seven-member Politburo Standing Committee is inaugurated.
15th November » Four people are killed and 16 others are injured in the Midland train wreck after a Union Pacific train struck a parade float in Midland, Texas.
17th November » At least 50 schoolchildren are killed in Manfalut train accident or an accident at a railway crossing near Manfalut, Egypt.
21st November » At least 28 are wounded after a 2012 Tel Aviv bus bombing e.g bomb is thrown onto a bus in Tel Aviv.
22nd November » Ceasefire begins between Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Israel after eight days of violence and 150 deaths.
24th November » 2012 Dhaka fire e.g A fire at a clothing factory in Dhaka, Bangladesh, kills at least 112 people.
30th November » An Ilyushin Il-76 cargo plane belonging to Aéro-Service, 2012 Aéro-Service Ilyushin Il-76T crash or crashes into houses near Maya-Maya Airport during a thunderstorm, killing at least 32 people.
3rd December » At least 475 people are killed after Typhoon Bopha (2012) called Typhoon Bopha, makes landfall in the Philippines.
11th December » At least 125 people are killed and up to 200 injured in Aqrab massacre named bombings in the Alawite village of Aqrab, Syria.
12th December » North Korea successfully Timeline of first orbital launches by country named launches its first satellite, Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3 Unit 2, using a Unha or Unha-3 carrier rocket.
12th December » 12-12-12: The Concert for Sandy Relief took place at Madison Square Garden and was broadcast on 20 international television networks to raise money for the victims of Hurricane Sandy.
14th December » Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting: Twenty-eight people, including the gunman, are killed in Sandy Hook, Connecticut.
19th December » Park Geun-hye South Korean presidential election, 2012 e.g becomes the first female president of South Korea.
21st December » The world was 2012 phenomenon or predicted to end on December 21, 2012 according to some calendars.
21st December » The Walt Disney Company completed its acquisition of Lucasfilm and of the Star Wars franchise.
25th December » An Antonov An-72 plane 2012 Kazakhstan Antonov An-72 crash called crashes close to the city of Shymkent, killing 27 people.
29th December » A Tupolev Tu-204 airliner Red Wings Airlines Flight 9268 named crashes in a ditch between the airport fence and the M3 highway (Russia) known as M3 highway after overshooting a runway at Vnukovo International Airport in Moscow, Russia, killing five people