As we prepare to ring in the New Year, it is the perfect time to reflect on the past 12 months. With 2013 a few weeks away, The World Almanac—the perennial archive of prominent people, events and places—has unveiled its “Top Ten News Topics of 2012.”

Found in The World Almanac and Book of Facts 2013, the “Top Ten News Topics of 2012” highlights the headlines that grabbed worldwide attention this year from—from “Obamacare” to the London Summer Olympics to Hurricane Sandy.

1. Obama Wins Reelection. Pres. Barack Obama (D) won a narrow but clear victory over his Republican challenger, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, on Nov. 6. Pending final official results, Obama apparently captured 332 electoral votes to Romney’s 206 (270 are needed to win). Except for Indiana and North Carolina, Obama held onto all of the states he won in 2008, though often by reduced margins. His share of the popular vote was about 51% (to 48% for Romney), down from almost 53% in 2008. Obama became the first president since Franklin Roosevelt to win reelection when unemployment was as high as the 7.9% rate that prevailed on Election Day. The economy and the federal government’s role were key campaign issues. Democrats held onto a majority in the Senate, while Republicans retained their majority in the House of Representatives.

2. Supreme Court Upholds “Obamacare.” In a 5-4 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court, June 28, upheld a key provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The 2010 law is intended to extend coverage to some 30 mil uninsured Americans. Opponents challenged the law’s requirement that Americans either buy health insurance or pay a penalty to the federal government. The Obama administration defended it as a legitimate exercise of government power under the Constitution’s commerce clause. Chief Justice John Roberts rejected that argument but joined the Court’s liberal wing in a 5-4 decision upholding the requirement by relying on Congress’s power to levy taxes. By a 7-2 majority, the Court struck down one provision of the law, which would have required states to participate in the act’s expansion of Medicaid or lose their Medicaid funding.

3. Terrorism, Turmoil, and Transition Top Middle East News. In what was labeled an act of terrorism by U.S. officials, the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, was attacked Sept. 11, and four Americans, including ambassador to Libya J. Christopher Stevens, were killed. Elsewhere in the Middle East, what began as protests in Mar. 2011 against the autocratic regime of Syrian Pres. Bashar al-Assad had become a full-blown civil war by 2012. Government forces battled a loose coalition of military defectors, secular opposition groups, and Islamic jihadists. More than 36,000 Syrians had been killed in the escalating violence by Oct. 2012. In Egypt, where massive protests had brought down the government of Pres. Hosni Mubarak in 2011, a runoff presidential election June 16-17, 2012, was won by Mohammed Morsi of the Freedom and Justice Party, the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood.

4. Storm Devastates U.S. Northeast. Sandy—a hurricane turned post-tropical cyclone—made landfall near Atlantic City, NJ, around 8 pm on Oct. 29, accompanied by a storm surge that flooded seaside towns up and down the New Jersey shore, lowlying areas of New York City, and other Northeast communities. An estimated 113 people in nine states died in the storm. Millions were left without power, many for more than a week, and tens of thousands were made homeless. Power outages and flooded rail and road tunnels crippled transportation in the New York City metropolitan area for days. Hurricane Sandy had wreaked havoc in the Caribbean Oct. 24-26, killing at least 69 people as it passed over or near Haiti, Cuba, the Bahamas, and other areas.

5. London Hosts 2012 Olympics. Some 10,500 athletes from 204 nations and territories took part in the XXX Summer Olympiad, July 27-Aug. 12. The Games, hosted by London, England, UK, included 302 medal events in 26 sports. The U.S. finished on top in both overall (104) and gold medals (46) won. China (88) and Russia (82) finished second and third in the overall medal count. Host nation Great Britain was fourth in total medals (65) and third in gold medals (29) won. American swimmer Michael Phelps added 4 gold and 2 silver medals to his career medal count, which at 22 is the highest for any athlete in Olympic history. After initial concerns about security and other preparations, the Games went off smoothly over a two-week period that, by British standards, saw very little rain.

6. Gun Violence Shocks the Nation. Twelve people were killed and 58 injured when a heavily armed gunman opened fire in an Aurora, CO, movie theater July 20, at a midnight premiere of The Dark Knight Rises. James E. Holmes was charged July 30 with murder and other crimes in connection with the attack, the largest mass shooting in U.S. history. In an act of domestic terrorism, a gunman opened fire Aug. 5 at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, WI. Six people were killed and three wounded by the attacker, Wade Page, who died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. On Oct. 21, Radcliffe F. Haughton opened fire at a day spa in Brookfield, WI, killing three (including his wife) and wounding four before taking his own life. Earlier in the year, in an incident with apparent racial overtones, unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin was fatally shot in Sanford, FL, Feb. 26 by George Zimmerman, who was patrolling, in an unofficial capacity, his gated community.

7. U.S. Economy Continues Slow Growth. Leading indicators showed an economy that was recovering—but at a sluggish pace—from the severe recession of 2007-09. The Dept. of Commerce’s estimate, released Oct. 26, was that the U.S. economy (as measured by real gross domestic product, or GDP) grew at an annual rate of 2.0% in the third quarter of 2012. This followed real GDP increases of 2.0% and 1.3% in the first and second quarters. Adding to the country’s economic difficulties was a severe drought that affected more than 30 Midwestern and other states by Aug., the most widespread U.S. drought in more than half a century. The U.S. unemployment rate remained high, hovering above 8% for much of the year before dipping to 7.8% in Sept. and 7.9% in Oct. In an attempt to stimulate the economy and reduce unemployment, the Federal Reserve announced, Sept. 13, an open-ended program of monthly purchases of mortgage backed and other securities.

8. U.S. Draws Down Troops in Afghanistan, Confronts Iran. In keeping with the Obama administration’s timeline to remove all U.S. forces from Afghanistan by 2014, Defense Sec. Leon Panetta announced Sept. 21 that the U.S. had completed withdrawing the 33,000 “surge” troops sent to the country two years earlier; about 68,000 troops remained. U.S. Marine Gen. John Allen, the commander of U.S. and other coalition forces in Afghanistan, took steps Sept. 16 to limit joint training missions with coalition and Afghan security forces after a series of “green-on-blue” attacks by Afghan trainees on coalition personnel. By the end of Sept., more than 50 coalition troops had died in such attacks in 2012. Amid growing evidence that Iran was increasing its production of enriched uranium, the U.S. and the European Union tightened economic sanctions on Iran several times in 2012. The sanctions, intended to encourage Iran to engage in substantive negotiations, appeared to have significantly reduced Iran’s oil exports and otherwise slowed its economy.

9. European Financial Woes Continue. Staggering levels of government debt and stagnant economies continued to plague some European Union members, in particular Greece, Spain, and Italy. EU finance ministers agreed Feb. 21 to a 130-bil-euro bailout package to help Greece restructure its debt. Greek elections June 17 brought to power a government committed to keeping the nation in the eurozone and to taking austerity measures demanded as a condition for financial aid. Sharp cuts in government spending by Greece and Spain contributed to unemployment rates around 25% and large scale demonstrations in the summer and fall of 2012. The European Central Bank announced a program, Sept. 6, to buy Spanish and Italian government bonds to bring down the interest rates those governments would have to pay on new borrowing, but the bond-buying plan was tied to strict oversight of the countries’ economic policies.

10. Penn State Football Program Sanctioned After Sandusky Conviction. In a scandal that rocked Penn State Univ.’s legendary football program, former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky was convicted June 22 of sexually abusing 10 boys over a 15-year period. A number of the instances of abuse were found to have occurred on university property. Sandusky was sentenced Oct. 9 to 30-60 years in prison. An investigation commissioned by Penn State’s board of trustees released a report July 12 that concluded that university officials, including longtime head football coach Joe Paterno, had concealed Sandusky’s activities to avoid tarnishing the football program. Paterno’s 46-year career as head coach—which included 37 bowl appearances and two national championships—had ended with his dismissal by the university Nov. 9, 2011; he died of lung cancer Jan. 22, 2012. On July 23, the NCAA fined Penn State $60 mil, voided the football team’s victories for the previous 14 seasons, and barred it from postseason play for the next four seasons.

All of this and more is in The World Almanac and Book of Facts 2013! Want to learn more? Get the book! (I'll be getting the kids their own version this year!)