To use a cliché, “another year has come and gone”.
2012 was thought of a possible ending to life we know. Like ‘Y2k”, many believed that cataclysmic or transformative events would occur this year in December. For me, that date was October 14th around 7:15 in the evening coming down the mountains of Western NC into SC.
We’ve all had gains and losses this year. Things, people, or circumstances pull us in many directions. I refuse to believe that many things are ordained or destined; not that I don’t believe in destiny. I believe we all can accomplish greater things than we already do and be better than even we ourselves believe we can be. Looking back into the past can be interesting. I’ve heard that we should learn from the past so we not repeat the same mistakes. How’s THAT working out for us? I’ve heard that history will teach us nothing. Sting even sang a song about it…
If we seek solace in the prisons of the distant past
Security in human systems we're told will always always last
Emotions are the sail and blind faith is the mast
Without a breath of real freedom we're getting nowhere fast
If God is dead and an actor plays his part
His words of fear will find their way to a place in your heart
Without the voice of reason every faith is its own curse
Without freedom from the past things can only get worse
Do you agree with that?
Here I go dipping my toe into the mire… The below are things I took note of this year.
It’s by no means complete.
January
January 8 – The great Pittsburgh Steelers were “Tebowed” in overtime 29-23 during the AFC Wildcard game ruining Elvis’ birthday.
January 20- Etta James dies.
January 22 - ‘JoePa’- Penn State football coach Joe Paterno passes away. His legacy , for right or wrong, tarnished by his role or non role in the investigation of former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky. (See JUNE)
February
February 1 – At least 79 people were killed and more than 1,000 were injured after a soccer game in Port Said, Egypt.
February 3 Actor Ben Gazzara dies
February 5 – Giants beat the Patriots in Super Bowl 46.
February 6 – The Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II marks the 60th anniversary of her accession to the thrones of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and the 60th anniversary of her becoming Head of the Commonwealth.
February 11 – Whitney Houston dies
February 27 – Arab Spring: As a result of ongoing protests, Yemeni President Ali Something or Another is succeeded by Vice President Al-Something or another.
February 29 – Davy Jones of 'The Monkeys' dies
March
March 9 - A judge sentenced former South Carolina Lt. Gov. Ken Ard to five years probation, 300 hours of community service and to pay a $5,000 fine Friday afternoon after Ard admitted campaign ethics violations.
March 13 – After 244 years since its first publication, the Encyclopedia Britannica discontinues its print edition.
March 22 – The Atlanta Braves announced that Chipper Jones would retire following the 2012 season, after 19 Major League seasons with the team
March 23 – Earl Scruggs passes away
April
April 2 – The United States Supreme Court upholds strip searches for new inmates at the country’s jails in a 5-4 vote.
April 7 – newsman Mike Wallace signs off from Earth (dies)
April 8 – The anniversary of my 46th year breathing AND Easter!
April 18 – Dick Clark will never broadcast another rockin' New Year (deadski)
April 19 – The Band’s Levon Helm dies
April 26 – The Indianapolis Colts pick Andrew Luck as the 1st pick of the 2012 NFL Draft. The Steelers chose to shore up the offensive line drafter 2 linemen,
May
May 2 - One of the biggest cycling events in the country, USA Cycling Pro Championships announces it’s leaving Greenville, SC and moving to Chattanooga, Tn. During its stay, Greenville transformed its downtown and surrounding areas to a more “bike friendly” town.
May 8 – Maurice Sendak author of “Where the Wild Things Are” dies.
May 9 – Vidal Sassoon passes away.
May 10 – Auto designer Carroll Shelby is dead
May 17 – Donna Summer passes away.
May 20 – Robin Gibb of the Bee Gee’s continues a dark month for disco fans dying on this date.
June
June 5–6 – The century's second and last solar transit of Venus occurs. The next pair is predicted to occur in 2117 and 2125
June 5 – Author Ray Bradbury assumes room temperature (dies)
June 17 – Rodney King dies (insert your own funny quip here)
June 22 – Former Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky is found guilty on 45 of the 48 charges of child rape , molestation, etc after an arrest on the charges in 2011.
June 24 Shenzhou 9, a Chinese spacecraft carrying three Chinese astronauts, including the first-ever female one, docked manually with an orbiting module Tiangong 1, first time as the country, making them as the third country, after the United States and Russia, to successfully perform the mission.
June 26 – “Chick flick” director and screenwriter Nora Ephron dies
June 24 Lonesome George, the last known individual of the Pinta Island Tortoise subspecies, dies at a Galapagos National Park, thus making the subspecies extinct.
June 28 - In a 5-4 vote, the Supreme Court upheld the core elements of Obama’s much-debated health care overhaul, which even he embraced as “Obamacare.”
July
July 3- a VERY sad day because Andy Griffith dies.
July 4 – Happy Birthday America!!
July 4 – CERN announces the discovery of a new particle with properties consistent with the Higgs boson after experiments at the Large Hadron Collider.
July 8 – Ernest Borgnine dies- arrrgh!
July 12 - 250 statewide candidates, who were tossed off primary and general election ballots for failing to file their financial disclosure forms properly, were told they had until July 20th to have their petitions in to run, 250 candidates statewide were tossed off primary and general election ballots for failing to file their financial disclosure forms properly
July 16 Author Stephen Covey is dead
July 20 - A gunman, dressed in tactical clothing, set off tear gas grenades and shot into the audience with multiple firearms, killing 12 people and injuring 58 others during a midnight screening of the film The Dark Knight Rises. He was arrested and faces charges.
July 23 – Shuttle Astronaut Sally Ride dies.
July 27 – August 12 – The 2012 Summer Olympics are held in London, England, United Kingdom with a ROCKIN’ concert!!
July 30–31 – In the worst power outage in world history, the 2012 India blackouts leave 620 million people without power. Customer service centers in the US go nuts.
July 31 – Gore Vidal dies.
July 31 - "Gangnam Style" a pop single by the South Korean musician PSY is released. At around 15:50 hrs UTC on December 21, 2012, "Gangnam Style" will become the first video in the history of the Internet to be viewed more than a billion times, and it is the most watched video on YouTube.
August
August 6 – Curiosity, the Mars Science Laboratory mission's rover, successfully lands on Mars.
August 6 – Here on Earth Marvin Hamlisch is dead, dead, dead.
August 15 – ‘stainless Steel Rat’ author Harry Harrison dies
August 19 – Tony Scott inexplicably jumps off a bridge in LA and kills himself.
August 20 – The lovely Phyllis Diller passes away
August 25 – my lovely wife’s birthday.
August 25 – Astronaut Neil Armstrong dies
August 27 - 88-year-old Frances Patterson, known locally as “Hubba Hubba” peacefully passes away
August 31 Researchers successfully perform the first implantation of an early prototype bionic eye with 24 electrodes.
September
September 3 – big man Michael Clarke Duncan passes away.
September 3 – The right reverend Sun Myung Moon meets whatever maker he believed in.
September 7 – Canada officially 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 human rights abuses.
September 8 – My 16th wedding anniversary
September 11 – An assault in Benghazi, widely blamed on a group with suspected links to al-Qaida kills U.S. Ambassador Chris Stephens and three other Americans. Controversy erupts over initial official explanations by those within the US government.
September 25 crooner Andy Williams dies
October
October 14 – Boom
October 14- Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner becomes the first person to break the sound barrier without any machine assistance during a record space dive out of the Red Bull Stratos helium-filled balloon from 24 miles (39 kilometers) over Roswell, New Mexico in the United States.
October 17 – Dutch “actress” and 80’s pubescent film hero Sylvia Kristel dies
October 21 – George McGovern dies.
October 29 – Hurricane Sandy hits the northeast. A great concert to benefit the people will ensue.
November
November 6 – running only on the “I ain’t Obama” platform, Mitt Romney easily loses the US Presidential election.
November 6 - Maine, Maryland and Washington became the first states to legalize gay marriage via popular vote.
November 6 Voters in Colorado, Washington State, and Massachusetts pass “pot” legalization laws
November 14 – 21 – Israel launches Operation Pillar of Defense against the Palestinian-governed Gaza Strip, killing Hamas military chief Ahmed Jabari. In the following week 140 Palestinians and five Israelis are killed in an ensuing cycle of violence. A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is announced by Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton after the week-long escalation in hostilities in Southern Israel and the Gaza Strip.
November 20th – SC Governor Nikki Haley blames outdated computers and security flaws at the state’s Department of Revenue allowed international hackers to steal 3.8 million tax records, the governor said. She announced that the agency’s director, James Etter, would resign at the end of the year. It’s revealed on Dec 24th that another state website was hacked – this time with no information loss.
November 23 – Larry Hagman dies
November 29 – The UN General Assembly approves a motion granting Palestine non-member observer state status.
December
December 3 – John Thomas’ 5 year anniversary with Greenville County EMS quietly passes by
December 3 – Kate Middleton officially announces she’s “knocked up” in Britain.
December 5 – Jazz guru Dave Brubeck passes away
December 5 – I regain full eye sight- call into work to see when I can come back!!
December 6 - founding member of the Senate Tea Party Caucus and SC Senator Jim DeMint announces will resign from office at the end of the year to head the right wing Heritage Foundation. Charleston Rep Tim Scott replaces him.
December 9 – British broadcaster and astronomer Patrick Moore passes away.
December 11 = Beatles inspiration Ravi Shankar dies
December 14 - 20-year-old Adam Lanza killed 20 first-graders and six educators at the Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14. He also killed his mother in their Newtown home before going on the rampage and then committing suicide
December 24 – Jack Klugman and Charles Durning both die on this day
December 25 Happy (observed) Birthday Jesus!
December 27 – General Norman Schwartzkof dies
December 30 – The mighty Pittsburgh Steelers finish their season 8-8 after beating the lowly Cleveland Browns. They will be sitting at home during this season’s playoffs.
December 30 - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was hospitalized Sunday after doctors discovered a blood clot during a follow-up exam related to a concussion she suffered this month.
December 31 - Among the host of general manager and head coach firings in the NFL, the Philadelphia Eagles officially fire 14 year Head Coach Andy Reid. The Bears fire Lovie Smith after 9 seasons
December 31 – South Carolina AP reporter Jim Davenport succumbs to cancer and passes away just 2 months after receiving the state’s highest honor, the Order of the Palmetto for his years of service and reporting in the state’s capital.
December 31 – Lord of The Rings Oscar winner Michael Hopkins killed in a rafting accident
December 31 - The Tigers lose the Chik-Fil-A Bowl in Tampa Florida.
What do YOU remember the most about 2012? Post below or email me.
Happy New Year!!
John
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