The Year 2012 in Review: Fun Facts, Trivia, and Historic Highlights

This quick read is a collection of fun facts, trivia, and historical events from the year 2012. Discover the year’s top news stories, most influential people, sports facts, historic firsts, entertainment trivia, and much more.

Take a journey through history in just minutes.

1. In 2012, Barack Obama was the 44th U.S. president, and Joe Biden was the nation’s vice president.
2. The U.S. unemployment rate hovered around 9%, and the nation’s inflation rate was 2.07%.
3. The average cost of a new house was $263,200.00, and the average monthly rent was $1,045.00.
4. The average retail price for a gallon of gas was $3.91, a movie ticket cost $8.20, and a Nissan Pathfinder was $25,888.
5. At the grocery store, a 20-ounce loaf of Wonder Bread cost $3.69, bananas were 79 cents a pound, and Pillsbury flour was $3.19 for a five-pound bag.
6. The Social Security Administration paid benefits to nearly 62 million people in 2012. Women accounted for about 55% of adult Social Security beneficiaries.
7. In 2012, the U.S. Department of Agriculture declared that over 1,000 counties in 25 states were “natural disaster areas” because of widespread drought conditions.
8. In January, the largest shipwreck in history occurred west of Tuscany, Italy. According to CBS News, “Captain Francesco Schettino steered the 60,000-ton Costa Concordia cruise ship off course and brought it close enough to the Tuscan island of Giglio to ground it on [the] jagged coast. The ship capsized, becoming the largest shipwreck in history—twice the size of the Titanic at more than 900 feet long. Thirty-two people died in the chaotic evacuation, and Schettino became a lightning rod for international disdain for abandoning the ship before everyone else was off.”
9. On January 18, Google, Twitter, Reddit, Craigslist, Computer Hope, and over 115,000 other websites went dark to protest the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) that was “grinding” through Congress.
10. In March, MasterCard and Visa had a massive security breach that compromised over ten million credit card numbers.
11. In March, Toyota began recalling 700,000 vehicles because of safety concerns.
12. In March, China had its highest trade deficit in over 10 years. In July, China's economic growth dropped to 7.6%, the lowest level in three years.
13. In April, Facebook announced that it was purchasing Instagram for one billion dollars in cash and stock. (The deal was finalized in September 2012.)
14. In May, Facebook went public, and its initial stock offering was $38 per share.
15. In June, the U.S. toll in the Afghan war reached 2,000.
16. In August, Pinterest emerged as the “runaway social media hit” of the year.
17. In October, Facebook announced that it had one billion active users.
18. In October, YouTube broke an Internet record when eight million “concurrent viewers” watched the famous Felix Baumgartner video.
19. In late October, Hurricane Sandy, also called Superstorm Sandy, brought “significant wind and flood damage to Jamaica, Cuba, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, the Bahamas, and the U.S. Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern states. Flash flooding generated by the storm’s relentless rainfall, high winds, and coastal storm surges killed 147 people and produced widespread property damage in the areas in its path.”
20. In November, Google's Gmail became the world's most popular email service.
21. On November 6, U.S. President Barack Obama was re-elected to a second term by defeating Republican opponent Mitt Romney. Obama won 51.1% of the popular vote compared to Romney’s 47.2%.
22. On November 26, there were no reports of violent crime in New York City. According to the BBC, “For the first time in living memory, New York has spent a day entirely without violent crime. The city police department's chief spokesman said that Monday was the most bloodshed-free 24-hour period in recent history. Not a single murder, shooting, stabbing, or other incident of violent crime was reported for a whole day.”
23. In December, Google began selling $99 laptops.
24. Throughout 2012, the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II took place with celebrations in both the UK and around the world.
25. In 2012, the “most livable” cities in America were Honolulu, Pittsburgh, Boston, Seattle, San Francisco, Madison (WI), St. Paul (MN), and Sioux Falls (SD).
26. Penguin and Random House merged to form the world's largest publisher.
27. Wendy’s became the number two American hamburger chain, overtaking Burger King. (McDonald’s was still number one.)
28. The Lyft car-sharing service was founded in San Francisco.
29. Apple products accounted for 14% of all theft crimes in New York City.
30. The Consumerist website labeled Electronic Arts as “The Worst Company in America.”
31. Because of a two-year drought, 20 million residents of southeast England, including London, were told they couldn’t use hoses to wash their cars, water their gardens, fill their pools, clean their patios, and perform a “variety” of other everyday tasks.
32. In 2012, popular baby names were Aiden, Jackson, Ethan, Liam, Sophia, Emma, Olivia, and Isabella. The average U.S. life expectancy at birth was 78.74 years.
33. Fashion trends for the year included glitter pumps, leather everything, full-on suits, peplum pieces, wedge sneakers, digitized prints, statement pants, and big-impact collars.
34. The five most popular TV shows were NFL Sunday Night Football (NBC), This Is Us (NBC), Rosanne (ABC), NFL Thursday Night Football (CBS + NFLN), and The Big Bang Theory (CBS).
35. Top-rated movies included The Avengers, The Dark Knight Rises, The Hunger Games, Skyfall, and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.
36. Here are 12 films that were entered into the National Film Registry during 2012: Dirty Harry (1971), Hours for Jerome: Parts 1 and 2 (1980-82), Kidnapper’s Foil (1930s), One Survivor Remembers (1995), Parable (1964), Slacker (1991), Sons of the Desert (1933), The Augustas (1930s/1950s), The Matrix (1999), The Middleton Family at the New York World’s Fair (1939), The Spook Who Sat by the Door (1973), and The Times of Harvey Milk (1984).
37. Beloved pop music artists: Adam Lambert, Adele, Alicia Keys, Bruno Mars, Calvin Harris, Carly Rae Jepsen, Carrie Underwood, John Mayer, Justin Bieber, Kelly Clarkson, Kesha, Maroon 5, One Direction, Pink, Rihanna, Taylor Swift, and Usher
38. Popular songs: Kelly Clarkson (Stronger), Katy Perry (Part of Me), and Carly Rae Jepsen (Call Me Maybe)
39. Famous people who died in 2012 included Andy Griffith (actor, director, producer, and singer), Andy Williams (singer), Dick Clark (radio and television personality), Etta James (singer), Jack Klugman (actor), Mike Wallace (journalist), Neil Armstrong (astronaut), Phyllis Diller (television personality), Richard Dawson (actor), and Whitney Houston (singer and actress).
40. Here are some sports facts from 2012: The San Francisco Giants won the World Series, the New York Giants were the Super Bowl champs, and the Los Angeles Kings clinched the Stanley Cup. In addition, the cost of a 30-second Super Bowl ad was $3.8 million.

References:

1. https://popculturemadness.com/2012-fun-facts-history-trivia/
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_in_the_United_States
3. https://www.infoplease.com/awards/nobel/2012-nobel-prize-winners
4. https://www.infoplease.com/year/2012
5. https://www.boxofficemojo.com/year/2012/
6. https://www.foodreference.com/html/html/food-timeline-2011-2012.html
7. https://www.mclib.info/Research/Local-History-Genealogy/Historic-Prices/Historic-Prices-2010s/Historic-Prices-2014
8. https://www.the-numbers.com/market/2012/top-grossing-movies

Disclaimer: In writing and editing this article, Gregory DeVictor has made every effort to ensure historical accuracy and not to mislead his audience. In addition, the contents of this article, including text, graphics, and captions, are for general informational purposes only.

© 2026 Gregory DeVictor