2012
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| 2012 by topic |
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2012 (MMXII) will be a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar.
Predicted and scheduled events
January
- January 6 - New Mexico celebrates its centennial of statehood.
- January 23 - Chinese New Year and scheduled new moon. [1] This time of year is associated with the Water-Dragon in Chinese astrology. [2]
- January 31 - 433 Eros, the second largest Near Earth Object on record (size 13x13x33 km) is expected to pass Earth at 0.1790 astronomical units (1 AU – about 93 million miles – is the average distance from Earth to the sun). NASA studied Eros in the NEAR Shoemaker probe launched February 2000. [3]
February
- February 5 - Super Bowl XLVI will be played.
- February 6 - If she is still on the throne, Elizabeth II will celebrate her Diamond Jubilee. A series of festivities across the United Kingdom and Commonwealth of Nations will likely run throughout the year.
- February 14 - Arizona celebrates its centennial for 100 years of statehood.
March
- March 01 - Greek Drachma bank notes are exchangable for Euro until this time.
- March 19 - Buddha Claimant: Ram Bahadur Bomjon who disappeared in 2006 is believed to return on this date (six years from his departure)
April
- April - Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox, will celebrate its 100th anniversary, providing that a new ballpark in Boston is not built by then.
- April 1 - The United States Census of 1940 is released to the public.
- April 15 - 100th Anniversary of the sinking of the RMS Titanic.
May
- May 19 - Saturday Night Live's contract expires.
- May 20 - Annular solar eclipse, a Sunday.
- May 20 - French Presidential election.
June
- June 6 - Second and last solar transit of the planet Venus of this century; the next pair is predicted to occur in 2117 and 2125 (see Transit of Venus, 2012).
- 2012 European Football Championship will be played in either Italy, Hungary/Croatia or Poland/Ukraine
July
- July 1 - The first possible government in Hong Kong elected by Universal suffrage take office.
- July 1 - Presidential Elections in Mexico
- July 27 - Opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics begins in London at 7:30 pm. Source:London 2012 Website Countdown
August
- August 12 - Closing ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom, a Sunday.
- August 29 - Start of the 2012 Summer Paralympics
September
- September 9 - Finish of the 2012 Summer Paralympics
October
- October 18 - at 20:36 (Eastern Daylight Time), the Earth will be home to 7 billion, according to the US Census Bureau. [4] [5]
November
- November 6 - United States Presidential Elections
- November 13 - Total solar eclipse (visible in northern Australia and the South Pacific).
December
- December 3 - Jupiter oppositions
- December 20 - Day of transmutation, which arrives like an earthquake that leaves in its wake the ruins of rationality, order and the preconceived. The earth itself shakes: the ills created by shock can sometimes only be cured by greater shock. Good day for self-purification.
- December 21 - The Long Count calendar used by the Maya civilization of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica completes its thirteenth b'ak'tun cycle since the calendar's mythical starting point (equivalent to 3114 BCE August 11 in the proleptic Gregorian calendar, according to the "GMT-correlation" JDN= 584283). The Long Count b'ak'tun date of this starting point (13.0.0.0.0.0) is repeated, for the first time in a span of approximately 5,125 solar years. The significance of this period-ending to the pre-Columbian Maya themselves is unclear, and there is only a single known but incomplete inscription (Tortuguero Stela 6) which records this date. However, it is conjectured that this may represent in the Maya belief system a transition from the current Creation world into the next. The December solstice for 2012 also occurs on this day.
- December 23 - The alternative date for the completion of the thirteenth b'ak'tun cycle in the Maya calendar, using a version of the GMT-correlation based on a JDN of 584285 (a.k.a. the "Lounsbury correlation"), which is supported by a smaller number of Mayanist researchers.
- December 28 - Full moon
- December 31 - Expiration of the Kyoto Protocol
Unknown dates
- 100th anniversary of the sea scouts organization.
- The Replacement Eastern Span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge will open to traffic, replacing the old Eastern canteliever span that was damaged in the Loma Prieta Earthquake in 1989, almost a quarter century (23 years) after the span was damaged [6].
- India's 11th Five-Year Plan (2007-2012) ends and the 12th one (2012-2017) starts.
- The United Kingdom plans to complete 5-year process to cease analogue television broadcasts region-by-region, with Meridian Broadcasting, ITV London, Tyne Tees Television and UTV being the last areas to switch off analogue [7].
- One of the Royal Navy's new aircraft carriers will enter service, possibly named HMS Queen Elizabeth.
- The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter project expected to be complete.
- This is the year when California's ban on the production of foie gras is scheduled to take effect.
- NASA's new Orion spacecraft is scheduled to become fully operational for International Space Station support flights.
- China plans to launch the Kuafu spacecraft
- The 5-year production contract (made in 2006, announced in 2005) for American Idol, ends this year.
- Freedom Tower in New York City: Construction is scheduled to be finished by 2012 at the latest.
- Sight & Sound magazine will conduct its Top Ten Films of All-Time poll for the seventh decade since 1952.
Major religious holidays
- February 1 - Imbolc, a Cross-quarter day (Celebrated on February 2 in some places).
- March 20 - Spring Equinox, also known as Ostara.
- May 1 - Beltane, a Cross-quarter day.
- June 20 - Summer Solstice, also known as Midsummer or Litha.
- August 1 - Lammas, a Cross-quarter day.
- September 21 - Fall Equinox, also known as Mabon.
- November 1 - Samhain, a Cross-quarter day and Neopagan new year.
- December 21 - Winter Solstice, also known as Yule.
- December 25 - Christmas
Apocalyptic beliefs about 2012
2012 is sometimes claimed to be a year of spiritual transformation or apocalypse. Many interpret the ending of the Long Count of the Mayan Calendar on December 21 to mean a major change in world order, although Mayan beliefs do not necessarily mete out 2012 as the end of the world. The Prophecy of the Popes, attributed to Saint Malachy, speculated that Pope Benedict XVI would reign during the beginning of the tribulation of which Jesus spoke, and sometime later a future pope described in the prophecy as "Peter the Roman", the last in this prophetic list, would appear, bringing as a result the destruction of the city of Rome and the Last Judgement. The ascetic Buddhist monk Ram Bahadur Bomjon reportedly told his followers that he will return around 2012.
Several eclectic authors claim that a major, world-changing event will take place in 2012. Terence McKenna's mathematical novelty theory predicts a point of singularity in which humankind will go through a great shift in consciousness. The 1997 book The Bible Code claims that, according to certain algorithms of the Bible code, a meteor, asteroid or comet will collide with the Earth. The book The Orion Prophecy claims that the Earth's magnetic field will reverse.
Some proponents of a peak oil catastrophe place major events in 2012. Richard C. Duncan's book The Peak of World Oil Production and the Road To The Olduvai Gorge claims that the Olduvai cliff will begin and permanent blackouts will occur worldwide. Several studies predict a peak in oil production in or around 2012. [8][9][10]
Fiction
- In The X-Files, aliens are expected to invade Earth on December 22 and take over the world.
- In the Doctor Who episode Dalek, a Dalek breaks loose under the Utah salt plains, and plans to kill every living thing on Earth in 2012.
- In Methuselah's Children and Time Enough for Love by Robert A. Heinlein, mention is made of a crucial meeting of the Howard Families held that year. In both novels, viewpoint character Lazarus Long is asked what happened at this meeting as he is the last living eyewitness; in both novels he declines to answer.
- The Notion Club Papers will be discovered at Oxford by Mr. Howard Green.
- Grant Morrison’s The Invisibles concludes, with the Invisibles' "fictional" universe expanding into the meta-context of the "higher universe", possibly our own.
- On Futurama, the War of 2012, during which comedian/talk-show host Conan O'Brien lost his "freakishly long legs".
- With the 6th Mayan world beginning, magic returns to the world in an event called "The Awakening" in the pen-and-paper RPG Shadowrun.
- The Doctor Who episode Fear Her takes place in this year, during the lead-up to the 2012 Olympics.
References
- Argüelles, José. (1987) The Mayan Factor: Path Beyond Technology. Bear & Company.
- Argüelles, José. (2002) Time and the Technosphere, the Law of Time in Human Affairs. Bear & Company.
- Argüelles, José/Valum Votan. (2004) Living through the Closing of the Cycle, A Survival Guide on the Road to 2012. Law of Time Press.
- Drosnin, Michael. (1997) The Bible Code. New York, NY: Touchstone Press.
- Hancock, Graham. (1995) Fingerprints of the Gods. New York, NY: Three Rivers Press.
- The Incubus song "A Certain Shade of Green"
- The (hed) pe songs "Ken 2012" and "I.F.O."
- The VNV Nation song "Honour"
- Pinchbeck, Daniel. (2006) 2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl. New York, NY: Penguin Group.
- Satinover, Jeffrey, M.D. (1997) Cracking the Bible Code. New York, NY: HarperCollins Press.
External links
- "Foundation for the Law of Time". Retrieved October 29.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) Official website. Contains vast articles pertinent to 2012 and matters relating thereto. - "2012: Dire Gnosis". Retrieved July 01.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - "Timewave Zero 2012 Yahoo Discussion Group". Retrieved August 13.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - "2012 Eschaton". Retrieved August 13.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) Mayan Calendrics, Earth Changes, Eschatology, End Times - "When Will the World End - 2012? by Ellen Lloyd". Retrieved October 14.
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