2012 Facts, History and Fun Trivia

2012 Pop Culture History

Quick Facts from 2012:

  • Map Changing Event: Sandy Island, New Caledonia was a nonexistent island that was mapped from 1774 until it’s ‘un’discovery in 2012.
  • The Top Song was Call Me Maybe by Carly Rae Jepson
  • The Movies to Watch include The Avengers, Silver Linings Playbook, Argo, John Carter, Rock of Ages, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, The Hunger Games, Brave and Life of Pi
  • People Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive: Channing Tatum
  • The Bestselling books included: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn and Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
  • Price of a postage stamp in 2012: 45 cents
    Price of a Blu-Ray movie: 19.99
    Price of a music CD: $9.99
  • Before 2012 the largest buyer of kale in the US was Pizza Hut, and they only used it as garnish around their salad bar.
  • The Funny Guys were: John Mullaney & Ron White & Aziz Ansar
  • The Mouse: Employees of Disney World and Disneyland were prohibited from having mustaches, beards, and goatees until the ban was lifted in 2012. Soul patches are still banned.
  • The Conversation: Electronic Arts were voted “The Worst Company In America” by The Consumerist for 2 years in a row in 2012 and 2013
Top Ten Baby Names of 2012:
Sophia, Emma, Isabella, Olivia, Ava, Jacob, Mason, Ethan, Noah, William
Fashion Icons and Sex Symbols:
Mila Kunis, Lea Michele, Scarlett Johansson, Katy Perry, Jennifer Lawrence, Olivia Munn, Emma Stone, Megan Fox, Emma Watson, Malin Ackerman, Rosie Huntington-Whitely, Olivia Wilde
The Heartthrob(s):
Chris Evans, Ryan Lochte, Stephen Amell, Tom Hardy, Justin Timberlake, Robert Pattinson, Hugh Laurie, Christian Bale, Adam Levine
Fresh Faces:
Rita Ora, Frank Ocean

“The Quotes”
“There are a whole bunch of hardworking people out there. If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life. Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you’ve got a business you didn’t build that.” – President Barack Obama

“Puny god”
-Hulk in The Avengers

“The ‘D’ is silent.”
Jamie Foxx in Django Unchained

Time Magazine’s Person of the Year:
Barack Obama
Miss America:
Laura Kaeppeler
Miss USA:
Olivia Culpo (Miss Universe), Nana Meriwether

The Scandals:
The middle finger that M.I.A. flashed during the 2012 Super Bowl halftime show was a result of the singer’s Hindu spiritual enlightenment, she claimed.

Most of the millions of fans who were watching her back up Madonna disagreed. When sued by the NFL for $1.5 million, she defended herself by saying that it was no big deal since there were young, provocative cheerleaders also performing.

Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) blackout as the largest protest in the history of the internet, so far.

The Mesoamerican Long Count calendar reached the date 13.0.0.0.0 on December 21, 2012. Many people thought that this would be the end of the world.Aztec

The Terrible:
28 people, including 20 children, were shot to death at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut

Pop Culture Facts & History:

Stephen Hawking won the $3 million Fundamental Physics Prize, the most lucrative academic prize in the world

Google’s Gmail became the world’s most popular email service

Voyager 1 spacecraft, launched in 1977, passed the heliopause, entering interstellar space. (The heliopause is the theoretical boundary where the Sun’s solar wind is stopped by the interstellar medium; where the solar wind’s strength is no longer great enough to push back the stellar winds of the surrounding stars.)

Walt Disney purchased Lucasfilm Ltd and its rights for Star Wars and Indiana Jones for $4.05 billion

Russian scientists regenerated Silene stenophylla (a flower) from a 31,800 year old group of cells, a record for regeneration.

Edvard Munch’s famous painting ‘The Scream’ sold at auction for $119,922,500.

Hurricane Sandy made landfall in New Jersey resulting in 110 deaths and $50 billion in damage and forces the New York stock exchange to close

In March, Wendy’s overtook Burger King to become the second best selling hamburger chain.

For the first time since 1977 no Pulitzer Prize is awarded for fiction.

‘Call of Duty: Black Ops 2’ grossed $500 million in 24 hours to become the biggest entertainment launch of all time

Doomsday Clock:
5 minutes to midnight, according to the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists.
2012: “The challenges to rid the world of nuclear weapons, harness nuclear power, and meet the nearly inexorable climate disruptions from global warming are complex and interconnected. In the face of such complex problems, it is difficult to see where the capacity lies to address these challenges.” Political processes seem wholly inadequate; the potential for nuclear weapons use in regional conflicts in the Middle East, Northeast Asia, and South Asia are alarming; safer nuclear reactor designs need to be developed and built, and more stringent oversight, training, and attention are needed to prevent future disasters; the pace of technological solutions to address climate change may not be adequate to meet the hardships that large-scale disruption of the climate portends.
The Habits:
Playing Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, Dancing to PSY’s “Gangnam StyleReading Fifty Shades of Gray by E.L. James or The Hunger Games (Trilogy) by Suzanne Collins
2012 Toys inducted to the National Toy Hall of Fame:
Star Wars action figures, Dominoes

Broadway Show – Once (Musical) Opened on March 18, 2012 and closed on January 4, 2015

Broadway Show – Newsies (Musical) Opened on March 29, 2012 and closed on August 24, 2014

Best Film Oscar Winner:
The Artist (presented in 2102)
The Number One Hits Of 2012:
November 12, 2011January 6, 2012:
Rihanna featuring Calvin Harris – We Found Love

January 7, 2012 – February 3, 2012:
LMFAO – Sexy and I Know It

February 4, 2012 – February 17, 2012:
Adele – Set Fire to the Rain

February 18, 2012 – March 2, 2012:
Kelly Clarkson – Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)

March 3, 2012 – March 16, 2012:
Katy Perry – Part of Me

March 17, 2012 – April 27, 2012:
Fun featuring Janelle Monae – We Are Young

April 28, 2012 – June 22, 2012:
Gotye featuring Kimbra – Somebody That I Used to Know

June 23, 2012 – August 24, 2012:
Carly Rae Jepsen – Call Me Maybe

August 25, 2012 – August 31, 2012:
Flo Rida – Whistle

September 1, 2012 – September 28, 2012:
Taylor Swift – We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together

September 29, 2012 – November 30, 2012:
Maroon 5 – One More Night

December 1, 2012 – December 21, 2012:
Rihanna – Diamonds

December 22, 2012 – February 1, 2013:
Bruno Mars – Locked Out of Heaven

2012 Entries to The National Film Registry:
3:10 to Yuma (released in 1957)
Anatomy of a Murder (released in 1959)
The Augustas (released in 1930s/1950s)
Born Yesterday (released in 1950)
Breakfast at Tiffany’s (released in 1961)
A Christmas Story (released in 1983)
Corbett-Fitzsimmons Title Fight (released in 1897)
Dirty Harry (released in 1971)
Hours for Jerome: Parts 1 and 2 (released in 1980-82)
Kidnapper’s Foil (released in 1930s)
A League of Their Own (released in 1992)
The Matrix (released in 1999)
The Middleton Family at the New York World’s Fair (released in 1939)
One Survivor Remembers (released in 1995)
Parable (released in 1964)
Samsara: Death and Rebirth in Cambodia (released in 1990)
Slacker (released in 1991)
Sons of the Desert (released in 1933)
The Spook Who Sat by the Door (released in 1973)
They Call It Pro Football (released in 1966)
The Times of Harvey Milk (released in 1984)
Two-Color Kodachrome Test Shots No. III (released in 1922)
Two-Lane Blacktop (released in 1971)
Uncle Tom’s Cabin (released in 1914)
The Wishing Ring: an Idyll of Old England (released in 1914)
The Big Movies: (according to boxofficemojo)
1. Marvel’s The Avengers
2. The Dark Knight Rises
3. The Hunger Games
4. Skyfall
5. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
6. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2
7. The Amazing Spider-Man
8. Brave
9. Ted
10. Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted
Sports:
World Series Champions: San Francisco Giants
Superbowl Champions: New York Giants
NBA Champions: Oklahoma City Thunder
Stanley Cup Champs: Los Angeles Kings
U.S. Open Golf: Webb Simpson
U.S. Tennis: (Men/Ladies): Andy Murray/Serena Williams
Wimbledon (Men/Women): Roger Federer/Serena Williams
NCAA Football Champions: North Dakota State
NCAA Basketball Champions: Kentucky
Kentucky Derby: I’ll Have Another