Biggest Moments of 2011 [Yahoo!]
Top News Stories of 2011 [CNN]
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May 2
Osama bin Laden, then head of the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda, was
killed in Pakistan on Monday, May 2, 2011, shortly after 1 a.m. local
time[1][2] by a United States special forces military unit. The operation,
code-named Operation Neptune Spear, was ordered by United States
President Barack Obama and carried out in a U.S. Central Intelligence
Agency (CIA) operation by a team of United States Navy SEALs from the
United States Naval Special Warfare Development Group (also known as
SEAL Team Six) of the Joint Special Operations Command, with support
from CIA operatives on the ground.[3][4] The raid on bin Laden's
compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan was launched from Afghanistan.[5]
After the raid, U.S. forces took bin Laden's body to Afghanistan for
identification, then buried it at sea within 24 hours of his death.[6]
President Obama remembered the victims of the September 11 attacks.
He praised the ten-year-old war against al-Qaeda, which he said had
disrupted terrorist plots, strengthened homeland defenses, removed the
Taliban government, and captured or killed scores of al-Qaeda
operatives.
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April 29
The wedding of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, and
Catherine Middleton took place on 29 April 2011 at
Westminster Abbey in London. Prince William, the eldest
son of Charles, Prince of Wales, first met Catherine "Kate"
Middleton in 2001, when both were studying at the
University of St Andrews. Their engagement on 20 October
2010 was announced on 16 November 2010. The build-up to
the wedding and the occasion itself attracted much media
attention, with the service being broadcast live around the
world, and being compared and contrasted in many ways
with the 1981 marriage of William's parents, Charles, Prince
of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer. Much of the attention
focused on Kate Middleton's status as a commoner (i.e. not a
part of the aristocracy) marrying into royalty.
 October 20
 Muammar Gaddafi
was the dictator leader
of Libya from 1969- 2011.
 Civil War between those loyal to Gaddafi
and The Rebels trying to overthrow him
occurred from February through October
2011 with the UN and the US supporting the
Rebels.
 Gaddafi insisted that his people loved him
and refused to step down. He was caught
and shot on October 20th and paraded
through Tripoli.
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January 8
On January 8, 2011, U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords and
eighteen other people were shot during a public meeting held in
a supermarket parking lot in Casas Adobes, near Tucson, Arizona.
Six of those shot died, including Arizona District Court Chief Judge
John Roll, one of Rep. Giffords' staffers, and a nine-year-old child.
Giffords was holding a constituent meeting called "Congress on
Your Corner" in the parking lot of a Safeway store when Jared Lee
Loughner drew a pistol and shot her in the head, subsequently
firing on other people. One additional person was injured in the
immediate aftermath of the shooting. News reports identified the
target of the attack as Giffords, a Democrat representing Arizona's
8th congressional district. She was shot through the head[9] at
point-blank range,[10] and her medical condition was initially
described as "critical".
March 11
The 9.0- magnitude (MW) undersea megathrust
earthquake occurred on 11 March 2011 at 14:46 JST
(05:46 UTC) in the north-western Pacific Ocean at a
relatively shallow depth of 32 km (19.9 mi),[30] with its
epicenter approximately 72 km (45 mi) east of the
Oshika Peninsula of Tōhoku, Japan, lasting
approximately six minutes.
 The earthquake triggered powerful tsunami waves
that reached heights of up to 40.5 metres (133 ft) in
Miyako in Tōhoku's Iwate Prefecture,[14][15] and which,
in the Sendai area, travelled up to 10 km (6 mi) inland
 Casualties 15,844 deaths,[4][5] 5,890 injured,[4][5] 3,451
people missing[4][5]
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 January
14
 The Tunisian revolution is an intensive
campaign of civil resistance, including a
series of street demonstrations taking
place in Tunisia. The events began in
December 2010 and led to the ousting of
longtime President Zine El Abidine Ben
Ali in January 2011. Street demonstrations
and other unrest have continued to the
present day.
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February 11
Following the uprising in Tunisia and prior to his entry as a central figure
in Egyptian politics, potential presidential candidate Mohamed ElBaradei
warned of a 'Tunisia-style explosion' in Egypt.[167]
Protests in Egypt began on 25 January and ran for 18 days. Beginning
around midnight on 28 January, the Egyptian government attempted,
somewhat successfully, to eliminate the nation's Internet access, in order
to inhibit the protesters' ability to organize through social media.[168] Later
that day, as tens of thousands protested on the streets of Egypt's major
cities, President Mubarak dismissed his government, later appointing a
new cabinet. Mubarak also appointed the first Vice President in almost 30
years.
On 10 February, Mubarak ceded all presidential power to Vice President
Omar Suleiman, but soon thereafter announced that he would remain as
President until the end of his term.[169] However, protests continued the
next day, and Suleiman quickly announced that Mubarak had resigned
from the presidency and transferred power to the Armed Forces of
Egypt.[170] The military immediately dissolved the Egyptian Parliament,
suspended the Constitution of Egypt, and promised to lift the nation's
thirty-year "emergency laws". It further promised to hold free, open
elections within the next six months, or by the end of the year at the latest.
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September 17
Occupy Wall Street (OWS) is a protest movement which
began September 17, 2011 in Zuccotti Park, located in New
York City's Wall Street financial district, initiated by the
Canadian activist group Adbusters. The protests are against
social and economic inequality, high unemployment, greed,
as well as corruption, and the undue influence of
corporations—particularly from the financial services
sector—on government.
The protesters' slogan We are the 99% refers to the growing
income and wealth inequality in the U.S. between the
wealthiest 1% and the rest of the population. The protests in
New York City have sparked similar Occupy protests and
movements around the world.
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October 5
Steve Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an
American businessman and inventor widely recognized as a
charismatic pioneer of the personal computer
revolution.[4][5] He was co-founder, chairman, and chief
executive officer of Apple Inc. Jobs was co-founder and
previously served as chief executive of Pixar Animation
Studios; he became a member of the board of directors of
The Walt Disney Company in 2006, following the acquisition
of Pixar by Disney.
Jobs was named Apple advisor in 1996, interim CEO in 1997,
and CEO from 2000 until his resignation. He oversaw the
development of the iMac, iTunes, iPod, iPhone, and iPad and
the company's Apple Retail Stores.[
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August 23
The 2011 Virginia earthquake occurred on
August 23, 2011, at 1:51 pm EDT (17:51 UTC) in
the Piedmont region of the U.S. state of Virginia.
The epicenter, in Louisa County, was 38 miles
(61 km) northwest of Richmond and 5 miles
(8.0 km) south-southwest of the town
of Mineral.[1][3] It was an intraplate
earthquake with a magnitude of 5.8 and a
maximum perceived intensity of VII (very strong)
on the Mercalli intensity scale. Several
aftershocks, ranging up to 4.5 Mw in magnitude
occurred after the main tremor.[4]
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July 8
The Space Shuttle was a manned orbital rocket
and spacecraft system operated by NASA on 135
missions from 1981 to 2011. The system
combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and
re-entry spaceplane with modular add-ons.
Major missions included launching numerous
satellites and interplanetary
probes,[2] conducting space science
experiments, and 37 missions constructing and
servicing the International Space Station. A
major international contribution was the
Spacelab payload suite, from the ESA.
July 5
 Caylee Marie Anthony (August 9, 2005 – ca.
June 2008) was an American two-year-old girl
who was reported missing in Orlando, Florida, in
July 2008, and whose remains were found in a
wooded area near her home in December 2008.
Her then 22-year-old mother, Casey Marie
Anthony, was tried for the first degree murder of
Caylee but was acquitted. She was, however,
convicted of misdemeanor counts of providing
false information to police officers.
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May 22
The 2011 Joplin tornado was a
catastrophic EF5 multiple-vortex tornado that
struck Joplin, Missouri in the late afternoon of
Sunday, May 22, 2011. It was part of a larger lateMay tornado outbreak sequence and reached a
maximum width of in excess of 1 mile (1.6 km)
during its path through the southern part of the
city.[4] It rapidly intensified and tracked eastward
across the city, and then continued eastward
across Interstate 44 into rural portions of Jasper
County and Newton County.[5] This was the third
tornado to strike Joplin since May 1971.[6]
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August 28
Hurricane Irene was a large and powerful Atlantic hurricane that left
extensive flood and wind damage along its path through the Caribbean,
the United States East Coast and as far north as Atlantic Canada in 2011.
The ninth named storm, first hurricane and first major hurricane of
the annual hurricane season, Irene originated from a welldefined Atlantic tropical wave that began showing signs of organization
east of the Lesser Antilles. It developed atmospheric convection and a
closed cyclonic circulation center, prompting the National Hurricane
Center to initiate public advisories late on August 20, 2011. Irene
improved in organization as it passed the Leeward Islands, and by August
21, it had moved closer to Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. The next day,
Irene made landfall at Category 1 hurricane strength in Puerto Rico,
where severe flooding resulted in significant property damage and the
death of one person.
Throughout its path, Irene caused widespread destruction and at least 56
deaths; monetary losses in the Caribbean were estimated to be as high as
US$3.1 billion.[6] Damage estimates throughout the United States are
estimated near $7 billion, which remains an uncertain estimate.[7]
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November 7
Gerald Arthur "Jerry" Sandusky (born January
26, 1944)[2] is a retired American football coach.
Sandusky served as an assistant coach for his
entire career, mostly at Pennsylvania State
University under Joe Paterno, and was one of the
most notable major college football coaches
never to have held a head coaching position. He
received Assistant Coach of the Year awards in
1986 and 1999.[3] In November 2011, he
was arrested and charged with 40 counts
of sexual abuse of young boys over a 15-year
period.[4]