For the past three late Decembers and early January, The mj15 Blog has commemorate with the end of the year with a feature called...well, End of the Year. But with this site less than a month away from wrapping up, this annual series will no longer continue for the year 2012 or for any other year from now on. But since I don't feel right about the idea of not giving 2012 some sort of retrospective, I've decided to compromise and create this: End of the Half-Year, which is pretty much self-explanatory. The following is part one, a retrospective into the past six-and-a-half months that were. Enjoy.
2012
January
- A pretty competitive month to begin the 2012 Republican presidential primaries. The race for the nomination kicked off with the Iowa caucus, when it was initially reported that former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney defeated former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum by 8 votes, until a recount vote days later showed that it was Santorum who had won in an upset by 34 votes. Then weeks later, after Romney crushed the competition in New Hampshire, questions about the man's electability led to former Speaker-of-the House Newt Gingrich receiving an easy 12 point victory in South Carolina. However, thanks to two well-received debate performances and the outspending opponents like Gingrich by at least $12 million, Romney managed to win the following primary in Florida and retain his status as frontrunner. Minnesota congresswoman Michelle Bachmann, Texas governor Rick Perry, and former U.S. ambassador John Huntsman all drop out of the race.
-In a rematch of their previous November showdown, #2 Alabama defeats #1 LSU at the Louisiana Superdome to win this year's BCS National Championship Game, 21-0.
- Former Penn State head coach Joe Paterno dies a couple of months after he was unceremoniously fired for his role in covering up the molestations of Jerry Sandusky. Singer Etta James passes away as well.
- At the 69th Annual Golden Globe Awards, "The Descendants" and "The Artist" all leave as one of the big winners in the film categories, winning Best Drama and Best Musical or Comedy respectively. Meanwhile, over at the TV category, Showtime's "Homeland" wins Best Drama for its first season (picking up a Best Actress victory for Claire Danes as well) while "Modern Family" wins Best Comedy for the second year in a row.
- Iranian scientist Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, who was previously linked to his country's nuclear program,creating tensions among its enemies such as Israel and the United States. This event came days an Iranian court sentenced to death an American they believed to be a spy.
- The U.S. Government shuts down streaming website Megaupload and its sister sites over copyright infringement and filed criminal charges against seven people related to the company.
- For the first time in 45 years, homicide is ruled to not be the biggest cause of death in the U.S.
- First-term Illinois senator Mark Kirk suffers a stroke, temporarily relieves himself from his duties.
- The controversial Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) as well as its senatorial counterpart, the Protect IP Act (PIPA), are both suspended from being voted on by the U.S. Congress thanks to massive nationwide and worldwide protest, including black-outs from popular websites such as Wikipedia and Reddit.
-The New England Patriots defeat the Baltimore Ravens, 23-20, to win the AFC Championship. They would go on to face the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLVI, who themselves defeated the San Francisco Giants to win the NFC Championship in overtime, 20-17.
-The Federal Reserve says it will keep interest rates low until at least 2014.
-Novak Djokovic and Victoria Azarenka wins the men's and women's single events respectively at the year's Australian Open. In Djokovic's case, he needed 5:53 minutes to beat Rafael Nadal in the final, the longest ever such match in grand-slam tennis history.
-Arizona congresswoman Gabriel Giffords is resigning from her duties in Congress over a full year after her infamous shootings.
- Rising singer Lana Del Rey makes headline thanks to a poorly-received performance of two of her songs on "Saturday Night Live," becomes a phenomenon for a few weeks that leads to her debut album "Born to Rise" earning a #1 spot on the Billboard Top 200 list.
-The Italian cruise ship Costa Concordia ran aground thanks to a captain's error, killing dozens of passangers.
-In its first full month without U.S. military occupation, the county of Iraq saw, among other things, a suicide bomber killing 31 people and injuring 60 others as well as another set of explosions killing 57 people.
- David Milch's HBO series "Luck," starring Dustin Hoffman and Nick Nolte, among others, official begins its run. Meanwhile, "Work It," the ABC cross-dressing sitcom that many instantly called one of the worst series in TV history, also debuts...and then gets cancelled two weeks later.
-"Chuck" ends its run after five improbable seasons.
February
- Month two of the Republican primaries begins with Mitt Romney winning 50% of the vote in Nevada. This goodwill changed, however, when Rick Santorum got back in the race thanks to big victories in both Colorado and Minnesota and when Romney barely defeated Texas congressman Ron Paul by 2% in order to win Maine. Romney was able to find a way to get his groove back at the end of the month, though, thanks to victories in both Arizona and Michigan (his home state that many saw as a much-win), keeping the lead in delegates along with them.
-The New York Giants defeat the New England Patriots to win Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis' Lucas Oil Stadium, 21-17, in a game that many saw as reminiscent of their previous Super Bowl matchup four years prior.
-At the 84th Academy Awards, "The Artist" wins Best Picture for the year 2011. It also picked up four other awards, including Best Director (Mike Hazanavicius), Best Actor (Jean Dujardin), and Best Original Score. "Hugo" also won five awards that night. Meanwhile, Merryl Streep picks up her third career acting victory for "The Iron Lady," Christopher Plummer wins Best Supporting Actor for "Beginners," Octavia Spencer wins Best Supporting Actress for "The Help," Woody Allen wins Best Original for "Midnight in Paris," "A Separation" wins Best Foreign Film, and the trio of Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, and Jim Rash wins Best Adapted Screenplay for "The Descendants."
-The government of Romania essentially collapses amid public outrage over austerity, with Prime Minister Emil Boc and his Cabinet all stepping down.
-Adele leads all nominees in victories at the 54th Grammy Awards with six, including Album of the Year ("21"), and Song of the Year ("Rolling in the Deep"). Foo Fighters, Kanye West, and Skrillex were also some of the musicians that picked up multiple awards, while Bon Iver took her the prize of Best New Artist.
-Famous award-winning singer Whitney Houston passes away at the age of 48, along with Nobel Prize winning poet Wislawa Szymborska, who was 88, actor Ben Gazzarra, who was 81, and Hall of Fame catcher Gary Carter, who was 57.
-The New York Knicks decide to make Jeremy Lin, a Harvard graduate who had previously been cut by two different teams (the Warriors and the Rockets), their starting point guard. The move would be a wise one, as Lin would go on lead the team to a 10-3 record that month, along the way posting 21 points a game, 5 double-doubles, the NBA record for most points in a player's first five career starts, and sparking a massive frenzy of fandom dubbed "Linsanity."
-Euro zone finance ministers issue a second bailout to the debt-laden country of Greece, worth nearly $170 billion.
-Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a.k.a. the infamous "underwear bomber," is sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in a U.S. court.
-"Smash": Monday on the Super Bowl, here on NBC...debuts Monday after the Super Bowl on NBC.
-A prison fire in Honduras kills over 360 trapped inmates.
-U.S. jobless claims fell to their lowest rates since March 2008.
-Abdrabbuh Mansour is sworn in as the new president of Yemen, replacing Ali Abdullah Saleh, who stepped down as part of the Arab Spring protests that has continued since last year.
-The longest running show on Broadway, Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Phantom of the Opera," gives its 10,000th performance.
-Matt Kenseth wins NASCAR's Daytona 500.
-Long-running comedy "The Simpsons" reaches its 500th episode milestone, the first ever primetime animated show to do so.
- Researchers at a Massachusetts General Hospital announces it has generated egg cells from stem cells produced by human ovaries in an advance that could possibly treat human infertility.
-The states of Maryland and Washington pass legislation that would allow same-sex marriage.
-Hey, remember all those European scientists saying last fall that they found a particle that is faster than the speed of light, thus potentially proving wrong Einstein's theory of relativity? Well, it turns out that this finding was a mistake, caused by loose cables that mixed up the test results.
-Three Ohio students die from two different school-related shootings.
- General Motors reports a record $7.6 billion profit for the year 2011.
-On the evening of February 26th, 17 year old African-American Trayvon Martin was shot and killed in Sanford, Florida by neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman as Martin was running away from Zimmerman, who believed Martin to look "suspicious" with his hoodie on. Zimmerman would later claim that the shooting occurred as an act of self-defense.
-Congressional negotiators in Washington D.C. reached a tentative deal to extend a
payroll tax holiday, unemployment benefits and Medicare payment rates
for doctors, while finding more than $50 billion in cuts to reduce the
effect on the federal deficit.
MARCH
- It's the third month of the Republican primaries, and yet another month dominated by the two man race between Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum (Newt Gingrich, with the exception of the Georgia primaries, and Ron Paul are non-existent at this point). It began on Super Tuesday, with Romney picking up nearly three times as many delegates, although the Santorum campaign did receive moral-boosting news with three different states and just barely losing to Romney in Ohio. Then, came a string of important Santorum victories in Alaska, Alabama, and Mississippi, only to have Romney gain back momentum with a blowout victory in Illinois. Santorum ends the month by defeating Romney in Louisiana, although the former Massachusetts governor still maintined a large lead in the delegate count while receiving plenty of support from major party leaders.
- Vladimir Putin is re-elected as the President of Russia by a large margin, despite rumors of the election being rigged.
- Four time NFL MVP Peyton Manning is released from the Indianapolis Colts. He would later end up signing with the Denver Broncos, who as a result trade their starting quarterback of the previous season, Tim Tebow, to the New York Jets.
- In other NFL notable offseason moves, linebacker Mario Williams signs with the Buffalo Bills, wide receiver Vincent Jackson signs with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, quarterback Matt Flynn signs with the Seattle Seahawks, linebacker Curtis Lofton signs with the New Orleans Saints, wide receiver Mario Manningham and Randy Moss (un-retiring) signing with the San Francisco 49ers, defensive back Laron Landry signs with the New York Jets, and the Chicago Bears trade for wide receiver Brandon Marshall.
-"Kony 2012," a thirty minute video sponsored by Invisible Children in an effort to have Ugandan criminal Joseph Kony arrested by the end of the year, is uploaded on YouTube and becomes an immediate sensation, with 80 million people watching it and sharing it to others within a week. The movement quickly died down, though, with many pointing to the arrest of the video's director, Jason Russell, as a big reason why. Russell was detained ten days later after the premiere of the video by San Diego police and then taken to a local hospital as he was found to be walking around naked, reportedly masturbating, and speaking incoherently.
-Robert Bales, an American army staff sargaent, tragically kills 16 Southern Afghani civilians in a massacre.
-The 2012 NCAA Div. I Men's basketball tournament kicks off, with highlights including the first round victories of two #15 seeds (Lehigh, who defeated #2 Duke, and Norfolk State, who defeated #2 Missouri).
-One month after being renewed for a second season, "Luck" is unceremoniously cancelled by HBO two weeks before the end of its first season. The cancellation came a day after news surfaced of a third horse dying on the set, this time as the second episode of season 2 was being shot.
- The U.S. Justice Department begins investigation into the Trayvon Martin murders.
-French police kill man in a stand-off after he was suspected to have killed seven people, including three students in a Jewish school.
-Keith Olbermann is fired from Current TV, with "Countdown with Keith Olbermann" replaced by "Viewpoint with Elliot Spitzer."
-"The Hunger Games," the first film of the trilogy based on the book series of the same name, is released to much anticipation and earns the third largest opening weekend box-office of all-time. The Disney epic "John Carter" is also released in theaters, but it turns out to be a big flop, reportedly losing the company between $100 million-$150 million and being largely responsibly for the firing of its CEO, Rich Ross.
-In the continuing battle between the Syrian army and its nation's rebels, the army gets a victory of their own by claiming the rebel city of Homs.
-"Community" returns with all-new episodes after being placed for four months hiatus, and earns its best ratings in months before eventually settling into its usual pre-hiatus numbers. Speaking of NBC, they also manage to add the critically-acclaimed series "Awake" onto their schedule. Meanwhile, over on cable, the award-winning "Mad Men" returns to AMC after a 17 month absence on the air.
- One Direction's "Up All Night," Madonna's "MDNA," The Men's "Open Your Heart," and The Shin's "Port of Morrow" are some of the notable albums to be released.
- The NFL announces that it has found evidence in an investigation that former New Orleans Saints defensive coordinator Greg Williams installed a bounty program among his players in the team's 2009 Super Bowl winning season, and that both coach Sean Payton and general manager Mickey Loomis tried to cover up the scheme. Nearly three weeks later, the league handed sanctions to four front office staff membersincluding an indefinite suspension to Williams, a one year suspension to Payton.
-Three very lucky individuals in Illinois, Maryland, and Kansas, a the $640 million Mega-Million jackpot, the largest lottery total in world history.
-Speaking of Illinois, its former governor, Rod Blagojevich, begins his 14 year prison sentence.
-The Supreme Court holds oral argument hearings regarding the constitutionality of the controversial Affordable Health Care Act of 2010.
-Billionaire filmmaker James Cameron becomes the first person to make a solo journey into the deepest point of the Pacific Ocean.
-FOX announces the cancellation of "Terra Nova" due to its high cost not being worth it to support its mediocre viewership.
-Tiger Woods wins his first PGA Tour victory since 2009 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
-The biggest solar storm in five years hits the planet.
APRIL
-Mitt Romney begins the fourth month of the Republican primaries with a sweep of the three April 3rd primaries (Maryland, Wisconsin, Washington D.C.). Seeing his momentum dwindle and fearing the possibility of losing his home state of Pennsylvania in an upcoming primary, Rick Santorum officially suspends his campaign. Romney would then go on to win all of the five remaining elections that month, becoming the party's presumptive nominee for president. Newt Gingrich also decides to suspend his campaign days later.
- American TV icons Mike Wallace and Dick Clark pass away, along with famous painter Thomas Kinkade and musician Levon Helm.
-The Kentucky Wildcats defeat the Kansas Jayhawks to win the NCAA men's Div. I basketball tournament, 67-59. Freshman Anthony Davis, already named the 2012 National Player of the Year, was awarded the Tournament's Most Outstanding Player. Their 38 victories is the most for any men's championship winning team.
-The Baylor Lady Bears, led by All-American Brittney Griner, defeats Notre Dame to win the NCAA women's Div. I basketball tournament, 80-61. They officially become the first team ever, men's or women's, to end a season with a 40-0 record.
-Arkansas head football coach Bobby Petrino is fired after allegations of hiring his mistress over more qualified candidates, among other things.
-Charges are finally filed against George Zimmerman for the murder of Trayvon Martin, although Zimmerman was at least released on bail.
-The infamous sinking of the Titanic marks its 100th anniversary.
-"The Avengers," the much anticipated super-hero movie from Marvel Studios and Walt Disney Pictures directed by Joss Whedon, hits theaters in many international markets. Another Whedon film, "The Cabin in the Woods," also is released in theaters.
-The 12 U.S. servicemembers, including members of the Secret Service and the Marines, receive administrative punishments after news surface of them consorting with prostitutes in Colombia while the President was staying in the country.
-White Sox pitcher Phillip Humber throws a perfect game against the Seattle Mariners.
- Bubba Watson defeats former major champion Louis Oosthuizen on the second playoff hole to win the Masters Tournament.
-During this year's Coachella Music Festival, a concert with Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre featured a "hologram" (technically an optical illusion known as "Pepper's ghost") of the deceased rapper Tupac Shakur performing alongside them.
- Gotye's 2011 single "Somebody That I Used to Know" surpassed fun's "We Are Young" atop the Billboard charts, becomes the first time in U.S. history where the top two selling hits songs are also the top two songs on the alternative charts. Meanwhile, the Justin Bieber single "Boyfriend" earned the second highest sales ever for a song on its debut week.
-The Indianapolis Colts select Stanford QB Andrew Luck with the first pick in the 2012 NFL draft. Robert Griffin III, Baylor QB and former Heisman trophy winner, is taken second by the Washington Redskins.
- Two new HBO comedies, "Girls" and "Veep," debut.
-Tennessee Volunteers women's basketball coach Patt Summitt, record holder for the most wins by any college basketball coach ever, announces that she is stepping down due to her being diagnosed with early onset dementia-Alzheimers.
-Mutinous soldiers in Guinea-Bissau stage of coup d'etat and take control over the capital city, Bissau, all while arrested both interim President Raimundo Pereira and presidential candidate Carlos Gomes Junior.
- "Blunderbuss," the first solo album by Jack White, is released.
-Newark, New Jersey mayor Corey Brooker was taken into a local hospital after helping to rescue his neighbors from their burning house.
-North Korean's attempt at launching an observational satellite into space fails when the satellite explodes in the attempt to skyrocket it up.
-Francois Hollande of the Socialist Party defeats Nicolas Sarkozy to win the presidential election in France.
-Chinese dissidend Cheng Guangcheng escapes house arrest and eventually goes in hiding in U.S. embassy, create tension between the U.S. and China. He eventually left after the Chinese government guaranteed his safety.
-Netflix announces that it will release the much-anticipated fourth season of "Arrested Development" in early 2013, all on one day.
-Google unveils "Project Glass," the company's first venture into wearable computing that allows users to put it on their head like glasses and use it to stream information to their eyes in a screen.
-Miami Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen for his comments praising former Cuban dictator Fidel Castro for living so long despite his many enemies.
-Two large earthquake hit Indonesia.
-Senate Republicans block the passing of Barack Obama's "Buffett Rule" legislation, which would have raised the minimum tax on millionaires to 30 percent.
MAY
-Rick Santorum endorses Mitt Romney for President. At the end of the month, Romney was able to claim that he has surpassed the 1,144 delegate threshold needed in order to receive the Republican party's nomination in their upcoming convention.
-"The Avengers" debuts in the United States, receives a opening weekend box office record $207 million, and eventually goes on to make over $1 billion. Wes Anderson's "Moonrise Kingdom" is also released, eventually becomes a surprise indy hit through impressive reviews and word-of-mouth.
-"Beastie Boys" frontman Adam Yauch dies after a long battle with cancer. Other musicians, such as Robin Gibb and Donna Summer, as well as author Maurice Sendak, and former NFL linebacker Junior Seau, pass away as well.
-Barack Obama becomes the first incumbent president to announce their support of gay marriage.
-A pastel version of "The Scream," created by Norwegian Edward Munch, is sold for $120 million, becomes the highest selling painting in history.
-Three masseuses file sexual harassment charges against actor John Travolta.
- "Desperate Housewives" and "House" both end their runs after eight seasons on the air. NBC cancels shows such as "Harry's Law" and "Awake," decides to order new seasons of critical darling "Parks and Recreations," "Community" (although without its creator, Dan Harmon, still in tact as showrunner) and "30 Rock," (which will also be for its last season). CBS cancels hit show "CSI: Miami."
-Emmy award winning actor Jim Parson announces that he is gay.
-New Jersey native Pablo Hernandez confesses to the famous 1979 murder of six year old Etan Patz.
-The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim's Jered Weaver pitches a no-hitter of his own against the Minnesota Twins.
-Miami native Ruby Eugene, reportedly high on bath salts, eats the face of homeless man Ronald Poppo, is killed by police trying to stop him.
-JPMorgan Chase announces that it had lost two billion dollars on the trading of complex securities.
-Fifty five people were killed and hundreds were injured thanks to a suicide bombing in Syria as fighting in the country continues.
-Protests run amock in Chicago during this year's NATO summit.
-Egypt held its first ever Democratic presidential election, resulted only in a planned run-off election for the next month.
-Social-network Facebook began trading on the Nasdaq at a price of $38.00. It has since only fallen, to a point where the stock sold as low as $25 and several investors sued the company for withholding negative information about them in the lead-up to their initial public offering.
-For the first time in U.S. history, it was announced that the amount of minority births was greater than the amount of white births for the previous year.
-A caretaker government was appointed in Greece until the country's June election.
-In addition to its front office, the NFL has decided to suspend four current and former New Orleans Saints players for their role in "Bountygate," including three time Pro-Bowl linebacker Jonathan Vilma for a full season.
-EI-P's "Cancer for Cure," Killer Mike' "R.A.P. Music," Carrie Underwood's "Blown Away," Norah Jones' "...Little Broken Hearts," are some of the music albums released in this month.
-In the town of Houla, Syria, over 130 civilians were killed, allegedly in the hands of the government, the bloodiest single event during the nation's ongoing fight between its army and rebels.
-I'll Have Another becomes the first horse since Big Brown in 2008 to win both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes in the same year.
-Dario Franchitti wins his third career Indianapolis 500 race.
JUNE
-In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court upheld President Obama's controversial 2010 health care law, declaring it constitutional on the base of it being a tax.
-During the same week of the "Obamacare" verdict, the Court also issue a ruling on Arizona's controversial SB-1070 law, passed in 2010. The Court ruled that three out of the four portions were unconstitutional, with the exception of the portion which allowed officers to suspect the legal residence status of an individual.
-In Egypt's runoff election, Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohamed Mursi defeats Ahmed Shafiq in a majority vote. During the same month, Hosni Mubarak was reported to have died until further reports came that it was no more than a false alarm.
-Science fiction writer Ray Bradbury, 1992 LA riots inspiration Rodney King, screenwriter Nora Ephron, TV personality Richard Dawson, and gangster/"Goodfellas" inspiration Henry Hill pass away.
-The presidential primaries officially come to an end in the United States. The final tally in soft delegates among the Republicans who competed:
Mitt Romney-1,438
Rick Santorum- 248
Ron Paul- 166
Newt Gingrich- 142
Barring something extraordinary happening, it appears that it will be Romney against current President Barack Obama in November's general election
-Former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky was convicted of 45 out of 48 child sex abuse charges, and is now expected to spend the rest of his life in jail, without parole.
-The Miami Heat defeat the Oklahoma City Thunder in five games to win the NBA Finals. It's the second in franchise history and the first since Lebron James and Chris Bosh joined the team in the summer of 2010. James earned the honor of Finals MVP for the series.
-In a controversial decision, two out of three judges rule that Timothy Bradley defeated Manny Pacquiao even though statistics show that the match was mostly dominated by Pacquiao.
-DC Comics announces that it will re-boot the Green Lantern as a gay character.
-Ridley Scott's long-anticipated "Prometheus" is released in theaters. Other films released this month include Pixar's "Brave," Steven Soderbergh's "Magic Mike," and Seth McFarlane's "Ted."
-Webb Simpson defeats Graeme McDowell and Michael Thompson by one stroke to win the U.S. Open.
-Wisconsin Republican Scott Walker retains his seat as governor of Wisconsin, defeats Democratic opponent Tom Barrett.
-5X Pro-Bowl running back LaDainian Tomlinson retires from the NFL after 11 seasons
-5X Pro-Bowl running back LaDainian Tomlinson retires from the NFL after 11 seasons
-Rafael Nadal defeats Novak Djokovic to win his seventh career French Open men's singles title, passing previous tournament record hold Bjorn Borg. Maria Sharapova wins the single's title over at the women's side, defeating Sara Errani in two sets.
-Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her diamond jubilee in London, England.
-The U.S. Department of Justice drops any and all felony charges against former U.S. Senator John Edwards. During the same span, they also sue the state of Florida for purging its number of registered voters due to their roll in violating federal crimes.
-The nation of Spain asks for a bailout.
-Kevin Youkilis is traded from the Boston Red Sox to the Chicago White Sox for three players.
-Attacks against Shiite Muslims in Iraq kill over 70 individuals.
-Seven time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong is facing new charges of using performance-enhancing substances from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.
- Carly Rae Jepsen's smash summer hit "Call Me Maybe" becomes the new #1 hit song in America.
- The Los Angeles Kings become the first #8 seed in NHL history to win the Stanley Cup, defeating the New Jersey Devils in six games.
-Wildfires spread all across Colorado and Utah, forcing tens of thousands to evacuate.
-Actors Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes announce their separation after five years of marriage.
-Charlie Sheen returns to television, as "Anger Management" debuts on FX to what was the largest rated episode for a sitcom in cable history. Aaron Sorkin's polarizing new HBO series, "The Newsroom," also premieres.
-Comedian and Lonely Island trio member Andy Samberg decides to leave "Saturday Night Live" in what will hopefully not be a decade of starring in mostly Adam Sandler films.
-I'll Have Another never gets a chance to try to receive the Triple Crown after being officially scratched from the Belmont Stakes one day before the race.
-160 passengers are killed in a plane crash in Nigeria.
-The cookie company Oreo sparks controversy after they release an ad in support of gay pride.
-Three no-hitters are pitched in MLB. The first, on June 1st, was thrown by Mets ace Johan Santana against the St. Louis Cardinals. The second, pitched on June 8th, was done by the Seattle Mariners in a six player effort that included starter Kevin Millwood, Charlie Furbush, Stephen Pryor, Lucas Luetge, Brandon League, and Tom Wilhelmsen. The third and final, thrown by the Giants' Matt Cain against the Astros, was also a perfect game.
-In less than two months, "The Avengers" becomes only the third film ever to gross over $600 million domestically.
-President Obama announces a plan to offer work permits to over 800,000 current illegal immigrants in the United States. During the same month, he also used his first ever executive privilege on the U.S. Department of Justice documents regarding Operation "Fast and Furious," of which Congress would hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt.
-NCAA presidents institute a four-team Div. I-FBS playoff in college football that will begin in 2014.
JULY (through the 15th)
- CERN announced that it has found a new particle resembling the Higgs boson.
-Spain defeats Italy in the EURO 2012 final, becomes the first national team ever to win three straight major tournaments in a row (the 2008 EURO, the 2010 World Cup, and the 2012 EURO).
-Actor Andy Griffith, actor Ernest Borgnine, actress Celeste Horn, and producer Richard D. Zanuck are some of the famous celebrities to have died.
-Steve Nash's sign-and-trade to the Los Angeles Lakers and Ray Allen's signing with the Miami Heat are two of the top NBA offseason moves so far.
-According to a report issued by former FBI director Louis Freeh, Penn State University knowingly covered up the sexual abuse crimes by Jerry Sandusky for over a decade thanks to fear of bad publicity.
-"The Amazing Spider-man," is released in theaters five years after the completion of the Sam Raimi trilogy of the same superhero.
-Mitt Romney retroactively retires from his duties at Bain Capital to 1999, just as I would like to retroactively retire to sleep at 10 p.m., instead of 3 a.m., which is what I'll be doing just as soon as I finish typing up these next two paragraphs.
And that's the way it was! Obviously, if you feel that I left something out, feel free to say so in the comments. Expect part two to be released sometimes Thursday. In the meantime, enjoy the rest of what I assume is a hot summer day in your neck of the woods.
Sincerely,
Your pal: mj15
If you have any opinions on today's post, or if you just have any suggestions or tips for my next blog entry, e-mail me at: mj1599@aol.com. Your e-mails are greatly appreciated.
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