Here are some of the major events and highlights from 2012:

• The Summer Olympics were held in London, England.
• Barack Obama was re-elected as the President of the United States.
• The Mars Rover Curiosity was launched by NASA.
• Superstorm Sandy hit the East Coast of the United States, causing widespread damage and loss of life.
• The Higgs boson particle was discovered at CERN's Large Hadron Collider.
• The Arab Spring continued, with conflicts and protests taking place across the Middle East and North Africa.
• The 2014-2015 Ebola outbreak began in West Africa.
• The Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi was elected to parliament.
• The film "The Avengers" was released and became one of the highest-grossing films of all time.
• The Wii U video game console was released by Nintendo.