What Happened in December 2012

Historical Events

Enrique Peña Nieto

Dec 1 Enrique Peña Nieto sworn in as President of Mexico

Beckham's Triumphant Farwell

Dec 1 Ex-England soccer captain David Beckham leaves LA Galaxy triumphantly with a second MLS Cup winner's medal after a 3-1 win over Houston Dynamo in Carson, CA; final game of a 6-year stint in US

FC Barcelona

Dec 1 FC Barcelona with 13 wins and a draw sets new La Liga start to Spanish football season record; Lionel Messi scores twice in 5-1 win over Athletic Bilbao; pass Real Madrid's 1991-92 season mark

Dec 1 Ukrainian Anna Ushenina beats Antoaneta Stefanova of Bulgaria, 3½-2½ in 2 rapid tie breaks to win the World Women's Chess Championship in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia
Dec 2 9 people are killed after 30 cars are trapped in Sasago Tunnel, Japan
Dec 2 Borut Pahor is elected President of Slovenia
Dec 2 Pier Luigi Bersani is elected Italian Prime Minister
Dec 4 29 people are killed by a mortar attack in Bteeha, Syria
Dec 4 Typhoon Bopha makes landfall in the Philippines, killing at least 81 people
Dec 5 8 people are killed and 12 injured by a magnitude 5.6 earthquake in South Korea
Dec 5 In his Autumn Statement, Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne cuts the UK growth forecast for 2013 to 1.2% from the 2% forecast in the budget
Dec 6 7 people are killed and 770 injured during Egyptian protests
Dec 6 A 243 million year old Nyasasaurus fossil is discovered in Tanzania
Dec 6 Typhoon Bopha’s death toll rise to 418 with 318 missing and 179,000 displaced
Dec 8 UN climate conference agrees to extend the Kyoto Protocol to 2020
Dec 9 13 people are killed and 10 are injured after a bus rolls of a cliff and falls 100 meters in Taiwan
Dec 9 6 people are killed and 41 are injured after a bus plunges 30 metres down a gorge in Guatemala
Dec 9 Incumbent Ghanaian president John Mahama wins the general election amidst allegations of fraud

Márquez vs. Pacquiao

Dec 9 Juan Manuel Márquez knocks out Manny Pacquiao in round six for the WBO light welterweight title

Dec 9 The Social Liberal Union Party and Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta win by a landslide in the parliamentary elections
Dec 10 11 people are killed and 23 are injured after a bus falls into a roadside pond in Minquan County, China
Dec 10 78th Heisman Trophy Award: Johnny Manziel, Texas A&M (QB); first freshman to win the award
Dec 10 9 people are killed and 32 are wounded after a bus falls of a 300 meter cliff in Columbia
Dec 10 Google begins selling US$99 laptops
Dec 10 Japan is again in recession as the GDP figures for the second quarter of 2012 are revised to show a contraction of 0.03% and the third quarter figures fall by a further 0.9%

Carlsen Breaks Chess Record

Dec 10 Norwegian chess champion Magnus Carlsen breaks Garry Kasparov’s 13-year Elo rating record

Chess Grandmaster and Political Activist Garry Kasparov

Dec 11 125 people are killed and 200 are injured by bombings in Aqrab, Syria

Hawking's Fundamental Physics Prize

Dec 11 British physicist, Stephen Hawking, wins the $3 million Fundamental Physics Prize, the most lucrative academic prize in the world

Dec 11 HSBC bank settles with US authorities to pay $1.9 billion for drug cartel money laundering
Dec 13 A car bombing in Qatana, outside Damascus, kills 16 people and injures 12
Dec 13 Japan scrambles fighter jets in response to a Chinese plane in the Senkaku Islands dispute
Dec 13 Mosconi Cup nine-ball pool, London, England: Team Europe win for 3rd consecutive year beating US, 11-9; MVP: Chris Melling (England)
Dec 14 28 people, including 20 children, are shot to death at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut
Dec 14 Australian Joel Parkinson wins the 2012 ASP World Tour
Dec 14 Gene Wolfe wins the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award
Dec 15 18 Asylum seekers drown in the Aegean Sea on the way to Greece from Turkey
Dec 16 4 people are killed after Cyclone Evan strikes Fiji
Dec 16 A gang rape of a woman on a bus in India that resulted in her death leads to national and international outrage
Dec 16 Corinthians defeat Chelsea 1-0 to win the 2012 FIFA Club World Cup
Dec 17 10 girls collecting firewood are killed by a mine blast in east Afghanistan
Dec 17 17 people are killed and 70 are injured by a blast in a market in the Khyber Agency, Pakistan
Dec 17 18 people drown after an overloaded boat sinks in Cotonou, Benin
Dec 17 Jiroemon Kimura of Japan becomes the world's oldest verified man at 116 years old
Dec 17 NASA completes a successful mission to map the Moon’s gravity field
Dec 18 4 people are killed and 11 are injured after an apartment block collapses in Palermo, Italy

Polio

Dec 18 6 health workers dispensing polio vaccinations are gunned down in Pakistan

Dec 18 Canadian police begin arresting 17 people for 'the Great Maple Syrup Heist', for stealing 3,000 tonnes from a storage facility in Quebec
Dec 18 The Seleka rebel coalition kills 15 people during its capture of Bria, the Central African Republic

First Female President

Dec 19 Park Geun-hye wins the South Korean presidential election to become the nation’s first female president

1st Female President of South Korea Park Geun-hye

Dec 19 UBS bank is fined $1.5 billion for its role in manipulating the Libor rate
Dec 20 Apple is denied a patent for mobile pinch-to-zoom gestures by the US patent authorities
Dec 20 Intercontinental Exchange purchases the New York Stock Exchange, the largest in the world, for $8 billion

"Gangnam Style"

Dec 21 "Gangnam Style" by Psy becomes the first video to reach one billion views on YouTube

Dec 21 39 people are killed in violent clashes in Kenya
Dec 21 Rapper Flavor Flav opens Flavor Flav's Chicken & Ribs causal restaurant in Sterling Heights, Michigan - closes July 2013
Dec 21 The Mesoamerican Long Count calendar reaches the date 13.0.0.0.0
Dec 21 The NHL announces a further cancellation of games until January 14 bringing the total number of cancelled games to 625
Dec 22 6 people are killed by a car bomb in Damascus
Dec 22 8 people are killed by a suicide bomber in Peshawar, Pakistan
Dec 22 Tomasz Adamek outpoints Steve Cunningham in a split decision in the IBF heavyweight title eliminator at the Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Dec 23 200 civilians are killed by Syrian government warplanes in Helfaya, Syria
Dec 23 The Seleka rebel coalition takes over Bambari, the third largest town in the Central African Republic
Dec 24 11 kindergarten children are killed after a minivan plunges into a roadside pond in Jiangxi, China
Dec 25 27 people are killed after an Antonov An-72 plane crashes near Shymkent, Kazakhstan
Dec 25 8 people are killed and thousands left homeless after two fires strike Manila, Philippines
Dec 26 China opens the world’s longest high speed rail route from Beijing to Guangzhou
Dec 27 NASA unveils plans to capture a 500 ton asteroid in 2025
Dec 28 13 people are killed and 19 are injured after a bus plunges into a river in western Nepal

Ban on US Adoptions

Dec 28 Vladimir Putin signs into law a ban on US adoption of Russian children

Dec 29 200 people are executed by the Syrian army in Homs
Dec 29 21 security personnel are killed by Pakistani Taliban near Peshawar
Dec 29 5 people are killed in a Tupolev Tu-204 plane crash in Moscow
Dec 30 19 people are killed by a suicide bomber in Balochistan, Pakistan
Dec 30 9 people are killed and 26 are injured in a tour bus crash off interstate 84, Oregon, US
Dec 30 The opening of Line 6 of the Beijing subway makes it the longest metro network in the world at 442km

Events in 2012

Famous Weddings

Dec 1 "The Bachelorette" reality star Ashley Hebert weds J.P. Rosenbaum at the Langham Huntington Hotel in Pasadena, California

Mario Lopez

Dec 1 "X Factor" and "Extra" host Mario Lopez (39) weds actress Courtney Mazza (31) in an outdoor ceremony in Punta Mita, Mexico

Dec 1 Congressman Joseph Kennedy III (32) weds Lauren Anne Birchfield (28) at the Community Church in Corona del Mar, California
Dec 1 Minnesota Twins baseball catcher Joe Mauer (29) weds Maddie Bisanz at Nativity of Our Lord Catholic Church in St. Paul, Minnesota
Dec 1 Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard (33) weds Philadelphia Eagles cheerleader Krystle Campbell in Maui, Hawaii
Dec 4 "Teen Mom 2" star Jenelle Evans (21) weds Courtland Rogers (26) at a courthouse in Brunswick County, North Carolina
Dec 12 Basketball player Amare Stoudemire (30) weds Alexis Welch in Manhattan
Dec 15 American "Scrubs" actor Donald Faison (38) weds second wife, American actress CaCee Cobb (35) at actor Zach Braff's home in Los Angeles, California
Dec 17 Minnesota Vikings football quarterback Christian Ponder (25) weds ESPN reporter Samantha Steele (27) in Hudson, Wisconsin
Dec 20 Actor Facundo Arana (40) weds Maria Susini at the Intercontinental Hotel in Nordelta, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Dec 21 "Good Morning America" weather anchor Sam Champion (51) weds fine-arts photographer Rubem Robierb (35) at the couple's apartment in Manhattan
Dec 21 British "McFly" drummer Harry Judd (27) weds British "Escala" violinist Izzy Johnston (29) at St Nicholas Church in Harpenden, Herts, England
Dec 21 CNN anchor Erin Burnett (36) weds finance executive David Rubulotta (42) in New York City Hall
Dec 21 Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood (65) weds theater producer Sally Humphreys (34) at Dorchester Hotel in London, England
Dec 25 "Arrow" actor Stephen Amell (31) weds America's Next Top Model contestant Cassandra Jean (27) in the Caribbean
Dec 25 Marie Osmond's daughter Rachael Osmond (23) weds Gabriel Krueger (22) in Park City, Utah
Dec 29 "The Glades" actress Kiele Sanchez (36) weds "Friday Night Lights" actor Zach Gilford (31) in Napa Valley, California

Hugh Hefner

Dec 31 Playboy founder Hugh Hefner (86) weds glamour model Crystal Harris (26) at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles

Famous Divorces

Buzz Aldrin

Dec 28 Astronaut Buzz Aldrin (82) divorces Lois Driggs Cannon due to irreconcilable differences after 23 years of marriage

Famous Deaths

Dec 1 Galina Vishnevskaya, Russian soprano opera singer (Britten's "War Requiem"), dies at 85
Dec 1 Rick Majerus, American college basketball coach (5 × WAC Coach of the Year; Uni of Utah), dies of heart failure at 64
Dec 2 Israel Keyes, American serial killer, commits suicide awaiting trial at 34
Dec 4 Besse Cooper, American supercentenarian and world's oldest living person (June 21, 2011 - December 4, 2012)
Dec 4 Jack Brooks, American politician, dies at 89
Dec 4 Jonathan Harvey, British composer (Bhakti; Wheel of Emptiness),educator, and musicologist (Music of Stockhausen), dies at 73
Dec 4 Miguel Calero, Colombian soccer goalkeeper (50 caps; Copa América 2001; Pachuca), dies from cerebral thrombosis at 41
Dec 4 Vasily Belov, Russian author, dies at 80
Dec 5 Dave Brubeck, American jazz pianist ("Take Five") and composer (Gates of Justice), dies from heart failure at 91

Oscar Niemeyer (1907-2012)

Dec 5 Brazilian architect (Brasilia), dies from a respiratory infection at 104

Dec 7 Art Larsen, American tennis player (US Open 1950), dies at 87
Dec 7 Russ "Rusty" Thacker, American stage actor and singer, dies of cancer at 66
Dec 7 Saul Steinberg, American businessman, founder of Leasco and CEO of Reliance Insurance Company, dies at 73
Dec 9 Alexander Moulton, English engineer and bicycle designer (folding bicycle), dies at 92
Dec 9 Charles Rosen, American pianist and musicologist (Sonata Forms), dies at 85

Jenni Rivera (1969-2012)

Dec 9 Mexican-American singer-songwriter (Jenni, 2008), dies in a plane crash at 43

Dec 9 Norman Joseph Woodland, American co-inventor of the barcode, dies at 91 [1]
Dec 9 Sir Patrick Moore, English amateur astronomer and author, dies from an infection at 89
Dec 10 Iajuddin Ahmed, Bangladeshi President, dies from heart surgery complications at 81
Dec 11 Colleen Walker, American golfer (du Maurier Classic 1997), dies of cancer at 56

Ravi Shankar (1920-2012)

Dec 11 Bengali Brahmin sitar master and Indian classical music composer (West Meets East; Concert for Bangladesh), dies at 92

Dec 13 Otto Ketting, Dutch trumpeter and composer (Passacaglia), dies at 77
Dec 14 Kenneth Kendall, British broadcaster (BBC News, Treasure Hunt), dies from a stroke at 88
Dec 14 Klaus Köste, German gymnast, dies at 69
Dec 16 Laurier LaPierre, Canadian journalist, broadcaster and senator, dies at 83
Dec 17 Colin Spedding, British biologist and animal welfare advocate, dies at 87
Dec 17 Daniel K. Inouye, American lawyer, politician (US Senator from Hawaii, 1963-2012; US Representative, 1959-63), and decorated WWII army veteran, dies from respiratory complications at 88 [1]
Dec 18 Marcus Worsley, British Lord-Lieutenant of North Yorkshire, dies at 87
Dec 19 Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, Israeli military leader, dies from cancer at 68
Dec 19 Larry Morris, American College Football HOF iinebacker (NCAA C'ship 1952 Georgia Tech; NFL C'ship 1963 Chicago Bears), dies at 79
Dec 19 Piet de Visser, Dutch politician (PvdA), dies at 81
Dec 19 Robert Bork, American lawyer, government official (US Solicitor General, 1973-77), jurist (US Court of Appeals, 1982-88), rejected Supreme Court nominee (1987), and professor (Yale),dies from heart disease at 85
Dec 19 Sir Lawrence "Lawrie" Barratt, British businessman and housing developer (Barratt Developments), dies at 85
Dec 20 Eagle Keys, American Canadian Football Hall of Fame linebacker and coach (Grey Cup champion 1949, 54-56, 66; Edmonton Eskimos, Saskatchewan R'riders), dies at 89
Dec 20 Jimmy McCracklin, American pianist, dies from diabetes and hypertension at 91
Dec 21 Lee Dorman, American rock bassist (Iron Butterfly; Captain Beyond), dies at 70
Dec 22 Arkady Vorobyov, Russian weightlifter (Olympic gold Middle-heavyweight 1956, 60), dies at 88
Dec 24 Charles Durning, American actor (Fury, Sting, Tootsie), dies from natural causes at 89
Dec 24 Hugh Atkin, American composer, dies at 88

Jack Klugman (1922-2012)

Dec 24 American actor (Oscar-Odd Couple, Quincy, Goodbye Columbus), dies at 90

Dec 24 Ray Collins, American rock vocalist (Mothers of Invention), dies at 76
Dec 24 Richard Rodney Bennett, English pianist, classical and film score composer (Four Weddings And A Funeral), dies at 76
Dec 25 Frank Calabrese Sr [Frankie Breeze], American mafia hitman, dies at 75
Dec 25 Othmar Schneider, Austrian alpine skier (Olympic gold men's slalom, silver downhill 1952), dies at 84
Dec 26 Fontella Bass, American R&B and soul singer and songwriter (Rescue Me), dies from a heart attack at 72
Dec 26 Gerry Anderson, English television producer (Thunderbirds; Space:1999), dies from Alzheimer's disease at 83
Dec 27 Harry Carey Jr, American actor (Back to the Future Part III, Gremlins), dies from natural causes at 91

Norman Schwarzkopf (1934-2012)

Dec 27 US Army General and commander of coalition forces in the Gulf War, dies of complications from pneumonia at 78

Dec 27 Valentin Boreyko, Russian rower (Olympic gold coxless pair [Oleg Golovanov] 1960), dies at 79
Dec 28 Emmanuel Scheffer, Israeli soccer coach (Israel 1968–70, 78–79; only World Cup appearance 1970), dies at 88
Dec 28 Jayne Cortez, African-American poet, dies at 76
Dec 29 Jean Topart, French voice and film actor regarded as "one of the inimitable voices of French cinema" (Fantastic Planet), dies at 90

Tony Greig (1946-2012)

Dec 29 English cricket captain, all-rounder (1972-77) and commentator, dies from a heart attack at 66

Dec 30 Rita Levi-Montalcini, Italian neurologist (Nobel 1986), dies at 103

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