Hard to believe, but 2012 is almost at an end. The best part is that the 2012 Doomsday theories were all wrong and we’re all still alive. Still, this was a year that provided quite a few memorable stories.
Some of the bigger stories of 2012 include:
– Ambassador Chris Stevens killed in Benghazi
– Anderson Cooper Comes Out
– Gay Marriage Passes in Multiple States
– Gabrielle Giffords’ Resigns from Congress
– Jesse Jackson, Jr. “Illness” and Resignation from Congress
– Prince William and wife Catherine are expecting
– Psy/Gangnam Style
– Tech News: iPhone 5, iPad Mini, Windows Tablet
However, these were not the TOP stories. So as we say so long to this year in our usual OK WASSUP! tradition, here now are the TOP 10 stories of 2012:
10.) SPORTS NEWS
2012 was a big year in sports. The Olympic Games in London were a smashing success, introducing the world to a talented teen who has suddenly become a household name: Olympic Gold Medal gymnast Gabby Douglas.
2012 was also the year of Linsanity! Asian-American basketball player Jeremy Lin was passed around from team to team. Finally, the short-handed New York Knicks threw him into a game out of necessity, only days before they intended to trade him yet again. His stellar style of play went on to create a winning spree and instant stardom that came to be known as Linsanity!
9.) THE FALL OF LANCE ARMSTRONG
World renowned cyclist, cancer survivor and Livestrong spokesman Lance Armstrong fought for years against rumors that his success was built on illegal performance enhancing drugs. Armstrong submitted to multiple drug tests over the years that all came up negative, promoting the theory that his talents were all natural and not drug enhanced. But 2012 proved to be the year of his demise.
Several teammates of Armstrong eventually came forward and told of the secret drug they had all used for multiple years. The news was devastating. Although Armstrong never formally admitted to the damning evidence against him, he did agree to no longer fight the charges. He resigned from the Livestrong Foundation he created and was stripped of all of his cycling titles and medals earned over the years.
8.) PENN STATE SCANDAL
The famed Penn State Football program took a critical hit in 2012 with the Jerry Sandusky sexual scandal. Sandusky was sentenced to prison, the football program was crippled with sanctions, university officials resigned, legendary coach Joe Paterno died, and the iconic statue of Paterno was removed from school property after it was discovered that Paterno knew about Sandusky’s sexual molestation of children, but did nothing to stop it.
7.) REPUBLICAN PARTY IMPLODES
In a year when Republicans were convinced they would recapture the White House, their make believe dreams couldn’t have been farther from the truth. In-fighting and competing factions began the party’s decline, but the failed candidacy of Mitt Romney after his “47%” remarks was the final nail in the coffin. The GOP has virtually fallen from relevancy and is considered dead as we know it. Without a complete reinvention, they will find themselves on the back burner for many years to come.
6.) PRESIDENT OBAMA WINS 2nd TERM
The nations first African-American president became only the 2nd Democrat in a generation to be reelected to a 2nd term. Similar to 2008, the Obama win was again a decisive one. The president seized Florida, Virginia, Nevada, Colorado and the all-important swing state of Ohio in a victory that has provided him with a powerful mandate for 4 more years!
5.) THE DEATH OF WHITNEY HOUSTON
One of the greatest voices of our generation was silenced in 2012, with the unexpected death of pop singer Whitney Houston, one day before the annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. Houston had lived a troubled life in recent years battling drug addiction and it appears this addiction eventually took its toll.
Other notable deaths in 2012 include actor Larry Hagman, boxer Hector “Macho” Camacho, the legendary Dick Clark, Soul Train founder Don Cornelius, Disco Diva Donna Summer, actor Sherman Hemsley, singer Etta James, actor Andy Griffith, football coach Joe Paterno, actor Michael Clarke Duncan, singer Andy Williams, actor Jack Klugman, astronaut Neil Armstrong, astronaut Sally Ride, Gulf War Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, Sen. Daniel Inouye, comedienne Phyllis Diller, actor Ernest Borgnine, singer Davy Jones, former Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork, sports personality and actor Alex Karras, actor Charles Durning, Mexican singer Jenni Rivera, L.A. riots figure Rodney King.
4.) TRAYVON MARTIN
In February of 2012, 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was walking to his dad’s home in a subdivision of Sanford, FL, when he was accosted by self-appointed neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman. Because Martin was wearing a hoodie, Zimmerman didn’t believe the black teen “belonged” in the upscale neighborhood. He hunted the teen down, a fight ensued and Zimmerman shot and killed Martin. The rest became a movement that has sparked conversations on racism, racial profiling and Florida’s controversial “Stand Your Ground” law.
3.) DOOMSDAY 2012
For years, the world was consumed with the idea that the ancient Mayan calendar had predicted the end of the world on December 21, 2012. Since you’re reading this story now, it’s obvious the world is still very much in existence and we’re all still very much alive, proving the doomsday theory false!
2.) HURRICANE SANDY HITS THE EAST COAST
In perhaps the worst natural disaster in U.S. history, Hurricane Sandy created a wave of destruction along the eastern seaboard, with a direct hit to New York and New Jersey. The famed Jersey Shore was obliterated. The Atlantic City Boardwalk was left in ruins. New York City was completely shut down, as massive flooding filled underground subway tunnels and roadways. The entire lower half of Manhattan was blacked out for more than a week. Breezy Point Queens sustained a massive fire that wiped out an entire neighborhood. Red Hook Brooklyn was overcome with flooding reminiscent of Hurricane Katrina. Staten Island was engulfed with unprecedented destruction. Areas in Connecticut sustained similar devastation. Thousands in the Tri-State region went without power and heat for weeks. Hundreds lost their lives. The cost to an area that never experiences such disasters is expected to surpass one billion dollars.
1.) GUN VIOLENCE
Sadly, 2012 was a year of multiple mass shootings: the Aurora, Colorado movie theater; the Sikh Temple in Wisconsin; the Shopping Mall in Oregon. But perhaps the most emotional story of 2012 happened only 2 weeks ago, with the shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT that took the lives of 20 innocent children and 7 adults. We honor all of those who lost their lives to gun violence in 2012, and we lift them up in memory.
