2012 outbreak of Salmonella, Origins of outbreak, Hedgehogs
S. Typhimurium has traditionally been an uncommon serotype of Salmonella; however, beginning in January 2012 through the end of 2012, the number of cases steadily rose, with 18 human cases in the United States alone (spread among eight states). The infection caused one death and four hospitalizations. These infections stem from contact with pet hedgehogs or with the animals' surroundings. No one pet provider was linked to the infected hedgehogs.


2012 outbreak of Salmonella, Origins of outbreak, Feeder rodents
One epidemic of Salmonella enterica I 4,5,12:i:- in the United States in February 2012 affected 46 people across 22 states. The outbreak seemed to be linked to the handling of live or frozen feeder mice and rats for reptile and amphibian pets. A similar outbreak occurred in the United States and United Kingdom in 2009 and 2010 from the same two breeders implicated in this 2012 occurrence. Also, more than a third of those infected were young children, highlighting their propensity for infection.


2012 outbreak of Salmonella, Origins of outbreak, Live poultry
The outbreaks in 2012 that occurred due to contact with live poultry were of five different serotypes of Salmonella bacteria originating in three distinct locations. The first infections were reported in February 2012. Spanning 23 states, there were 93 humans infected with the Montevideo serotype of Salmonella. All were infected with this strain from contact with baby ducklings or chicks from the  located in Springfield, Missouri. This outbreak resulted in one casualty. One month later (March 2012), 46 people in the United States were infected with Salmonella Hadar through contact with live poultry.


2012 outbreak of Salmonella, Origins of outbreak, Live poultry
There were no deaths, and the infected humans were located in 11 different states. The specific hatchery name is withheld, but it was concluded by the CDC that this strain of Salmonella originated in one unnamed hatchery in Idaho. In the same month, one of three strains of Salmonella – Infantis, Newport, or Lille – were contracted by 195 people from contact with live poultry (whether for purposes of agriculture or pet keeping). Of those infected, two died from infection. This particular outbreak, though stemming from only the Mt. Healthy Hatchery in Ohio, expanded across 27 states.


2012 outbreak of Salmonella, Origins of outbreak, Small turtles
First investigated at the end of March 2012, there were a total of 84 cases of infected humans across 15 states of the United States by November 2012. These people's salmonellosis (either from Salmonella Sandiego or Salmonella Newport) stemmed from contact with small turtles or their habitats. Some of these turtles were purchased from street merchants. No one source of the Salmonella contaminations was identified, and no human deaths occurred. Due to past outbreaks, there is a law in place making it illegal to sell or own a turtle with a shell length less than four inches, as these seem to generally be the sources of most Salmonella bacteria in small turtles.


2012 outbreak of Salmonella, Origins of outbreak, Raw scraped ground tuna product
First reported in April 2012, an outbreak of salmonellosis caused by rarer serotypes, Salmonella Bareilly and Salmonella Nchanga, was reported in 28 states, mostly in the Eastern U.S., having caused no deaths, but 425 cases of illness and 55 hospitalizations. This outbreak was linked to the consumption of raw scraped ground tuna product. The source was frozen raw yellowfin tuna product aka Nakaochi Scrape manufactured by Moon Marine USA Corporation. This product was voluntarily recalled after the CDC discovered strains of Salmonella in the packages.


2012 outbreak of Salmonella, Origins of outbreak, Raw scraped ground tuna product
The company eventually recalled another type of canned tuna for fear it may have been contaminated, too. This outbreak was significant in that it was the first salmonellosis case in the United States connected to raw, scraped tuna products, as well as being the first time S. Nchanga was discovered in food products in the United States.


2012 outbreak of Salmonella, Origins of outbreak, Smoked salmon
In July 2012, an outbreak of salmonellosis occurred in the Netherlands and the United States. According to the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, by the end of 2012, 1060 people in the Netherlands and 100 in the United States contracted salmonellosis from smoked salmon infected with Salmonella Thompson. On November 2, the RIVM confirmed that there were 4 deaths and over 1060 cases linked to S. Thompson in the Netherlands. The infections were linked to smoked salmon from the manufacturer Foppen, where the contamination had occurred. A recall involving a quarter million customers was undertaken in the United States. The CDC did not classify this as an outbreak because there were not a verified number of people infected from only this source in the U.S.


2012 outbreak of Salmonella, Presence in agriculture, Contamination through defecation
Because animals are the main transporters of Salmonella, crops can become infected. This generally occurs because of the use of manure-based fertilizers on farms. Some animals do not appear sick (especially infected poultry); however, they carry the Salmonella in their intestines and when they defecate, the bacteria spreads to the soil. Sometimes, the sick animals manifest the illness in ways similar to humans with similar consequences. They may have diarrhea, fever, and then die if they are not treated. After their death, the other animals raised with them can become infected through contact with their feces. Therefore, if this infected manure is used as a fertilizer for crops, then the crops will contain trace amounts of infectious Salmonella bacteria that can spread to humans after the crops are harvested.


2012 outbreak of Salmonella, Presence in agriculture, Contamination through defecation
Poultry can become infected by living close together in hatcheries, where multiple animals are defecating. Some poultry are hatched to be sold domestically, while others are hatched for production to be consumed later. If live poultry are infected and sold domestically, they can infect other animals who may be around them in a domestic situation e.g. other pets. Because poultry do not show symptoms, infections are usually not obvious until humans or other animals in contact with the poultry become ill.


2012 outbreak of Salmonella, Presence in agriculture, Tomatoes
East Coast tomatoes tend to have higher rates of Salmonella infection than West Coast tomatoes. This seems to be due to the microbiome of the East Coast of the United States, where there are far less soil bacteria that destroy Salmonella versus the microbiome of the West Coast where these bacteria are abundant. Because of the anti-salmonella bacteria limiting its spread, fewer people on the West Coast report cases of salmonellosis. Additionally, street-sold natural tomatoes have been consistently tied to outbreaks of Salmonella. Street-sold (unregulated) items are independently produced and sold to consumers. This does not include fresh produce markets.


2012 outbreak of Salmonella, Presence in agriculture, Tomatoes
These strong links to salmonellosis is in due in part do the lack of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) oversight on unregistered vendors. Another cause of Salmonella bacteria growth may be due to contact with contaminated irrigation water. The tomatoes (or any plant) are much more likely to become infected if the soil in which the roots are located are contaminated or if the actual blossom is contaminated. These two entry points lead to the most likely scenarios in which a healthy tomato plant may become infected with some serotype of Salmonella.


2012 outbreak of Salmonella, End of 2012 outbreak and future prevention
The various outbreaks of Salmonella serotypes in the U.S. and abroad began at different points either in late 2011 or early 2012; however, all cases were concluded at the end of 2012. Those who were infected either suffered through the symptoms or expired from Salmonella's destruction to their immune system. If there was a specific point of origin for an outbreak, a recall of the product helped to decrease more possible exposure. None of the people infected showed symptoms or maintained symptoms into 2013. This biotic disturbance had a major impact on society.


2012 outbreak of Salmonella, End of 2012 outbreak and future prevention
It increased awareness about the ease in which bacteria spread among organisms. It helped to prompt researchers to look into ways to prevent crops from becoming contaminated in the field. Most importantly, this disturbance has been occurring with increasing frequency, which seems counter-intuitive because salmonellosis is an easily preventable disease; if simple food safety steps were taken, unnecessary hospitalizations and deaths could have been eliminated in 2012.


2012 outbreak of Salmonella, End of 2012 outbreak and future prevention
In order to prevent serious outbreaks similar to the one in 2012 in the future, some precautions must be taken. When handling food, one must be careful not to cross-contaminate raw poultry products or other meats with other foods. Anyone handling food should also be sure to wash their hands frequently. All persons should wash their hands after using the restroom as bacteria can survive for long periods of time outside of the body and the bacteria will be spread from the unwashed hands to possible food items or anything that may enter the mouth area.


2012 outbreak of Salmonella, End of 2012 outbreak and future prevention
When cooking, one should take care to heat foods to at least 167 °F for a minimum of ten minutes to ensure that the entire product is evenly cooked. This is because heat and ultraviolet radiation are good neutralizers of Salmonella bacterium. Recent outbreaks have occurred, and although not all infections can be eliminated, most can be hindered either through coating crops with Salmonella-fighting bacteria  or through human precautions.


2012 phenomenon
The 2012 phenomenon was a range of eschatological beliefs that cataclysmic or transformative events would occur on or around 21 December 2012. This date was regarded as the end-date of a 5,126-year-long cycle in the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, and festivities took place on 21 December 2012 to commemorate the event in the countries that were part of the Maya civilization (Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador), with main events at Chichén Itzá in Mexico and Tikal in Guatemala.


2012 phenomenon
Various astronomical alignments and numerological formulae were proposed for this date. A New Age interpretation held that the date marked the start of a period during which Earth and its inhabitants would undergo a positive physical or spiritual transformation, and that 21 December 2012 would mark the beginning of a new era. Others suggested that the date marked the end of the world or a similar catastrophe. Scenarios suggested for the end of the world included the arrival of the next solar maximum, an interaction between Earth and the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy, or Earth's collision with a mythical planet called Nibiru.


2012 phenomenon
Scholars from various disciplines quickly dismissed predictions of cataclysmic events as they arose. Mayan scholars stated that no classic Mayan accounts forecast impending doom, and the idea that the Long Count calendar ends in 2012 misrepresented Mayan history and culture. Astronomers rejected the various proposed doomsday scenarios as pseudoscience which is refuted by elementary astronomical observations.


2012 phenomenon, Mesoamerican Long Count calendar
December 2012 marked the conclusion of a bʼakʼtun—a time period in the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, used in Central America prior to the arrival of Europeans. Although the Long Count was most likely invented by the Olmec, it has become closely associated with the Maya civilization, whose classic period lasted from 250 to 900 AD. The writing system of the classic Maya has been substantially deciphered, meaning that a corpus of their written and inscribed material has survived from before the European conquest.


2012 phenomenon, Mesoamerican Long Count calendar
Unlike the 260-day tzolkʼin still used today among the Maya, the Long Count was linear rather than cyclical, and kept time roughly in units of 20: 20 days made a uinal, 18 uinals (360 days) made a tun, 20 tuns made a kʼatun, and 20 kʼatuns (144,000 days or roughly 394 years) made up a bʼakʼtun. Thus, the Maya date of 8.3.2.10.15 represents 8 bʼakʼtuns, 3 kʼatuns, 2 tuns, 10 uinals and 15 days.


2012 phenomenon, Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, Apocalypse
There is a strong tradition of "world ages" in Maya literature, but the record has been distorted, leaving several possibilities open to interpretation. According to the Popol Vuh, a compilation of the creation accounts of the Kʼicheʼ Maya of the Colonial-era highlands, we are living in the fourth world. The Popol Vuh describes the gods first creating three failed worlds, followed by a successful fourth world in which humanity was placed. In the Maya Long Count, the previous world ended after 13 bʼakʼtuns, or roughly 5,125 years.


2012 phenomenon, Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, Apocalypse
The Long Count's "zero date" was set at a point in the past marking the end of the third world and the beginning of the current one, which corresponds to 11 August 3114 BC in the proleptic Gregorian calendar. This means that the fourth world reached the end of its 13th bʼakʼtun, or Maya date 13.0.0.0.0, on 21 December 2012. In 1957, Mayanist and astronomer Maud Worcester Makemson wrote that "the completion of a Great Period of 13 bʼakʼtuns would have been of the utmost significance to the Maya."


2012 phenomenon, Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, Apocalypse
In 1966, Michael D. Coe wrote in The Maya that "there is a suggestion ... that Armageddon would overtake the degenerate peoples of the world and all creation on the final day of the 13th [ bʼakʼtun]. Thus ... our present universe [would] be annihilated ... when the Great Cycle of the Long Count reaches completion."


2012 phenomenon, Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, Objections
Coe's interpretation was repeated by other scholars through the early 1990s. In contrast, later researchers said that, while the end of the 13th bʼakʼtun would perhaps be a cause for celebration, it did not mark the end of the calendar. "There is nothing in the Maya or Aztec or ancient Mesoamerican prophecy to suggest that they prophesied a sudden or major change of any sort in 2012," said Mayanist scholar Mark Van Stone. "The notion of a 'Great Cycle' coming to an end is completely a modern invention."


2012 phenomenon, Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, Objections
In 1990, Mayanist scholars Linda Schele and David Freidel argued that the Maya "did not conceive this to be the end of creation, as many have suggested". Susan Milbrath, curator of Latin American Art and Archaeology at the Florida Museum of Natural History, stated that, "We have no record or knowledge that [the Maya] would think the world would come to an end" in 2012.


2012 phenomenon, Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, Objections
Sandra Noble, executive director of the Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies, said, "For the ancient Maya, it was a huge celebration to make it to the end of a whole cycle," and, "The 2012 phenomenon is a complete fabrication and a chance for a lot of people to cash in." "There will be another cycle," said E. Wyllys Andrews V, director of the Tulane University Middle American Research Institute. "We know the Maya thought there was one before this, and that implies they were comfortable with the idea of another one after this." Commenting on the new calendar found at Xultún, one archaeologist said "The ancient Maya predicted the world would continue—that 7,000 years from now, things would be exactly like this. We keep looking for endings. The Maya were looking for a guarantee that nothing would change. It's an entirely different mindset."


2012 phenomenon, Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, Objections
Several prominent individuals representing Maya of Guatemala decried the suggestion that the world would end with the 13th bʼakʼtun. Ricardo Cajas, president of the Colectivo de Organizaciones Indígenas de Guatemala, said the date did not represent an end of humanity but that the new cycle "supposes changes in human consciousness". Martín Sacalxot, of the office of Guatemala's Human Rights Ombudsman (Procurador de los Derechos Humanos), said that the end of the calendar has nothing to do with the end of the world or the year 2012.


2012 phenomenon, Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, Prior associations
The European association of the Maya with eschatology dates back to the time of Christopher Columbus, who was compiling a work called Libro de las profecías during the voyage in 1502 when he first heard about the "Maia" on Guanaja, an island off the north coast of Honduras. Influenced by the writings of Bishop Pierre d'Ailly, Columbus believed that his discovery of "most distant" lands (and, by extension, the Maya themselves) was prophesied and would bring about the Apocalypse. End-times fears were widespread during the early years of the Spanish Conquest as the result of popular astrological predictions in Europe of a second Great Flood for the year 1524.


2012 phenomenon, Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, Prior associations
In the 1900s, German scholar Ernst Förstemann interpreted the last page of the Dresden Codex as a representation of the end of the world in a cataclysmic flood. He made reference to the destruction of the world and an apocalypse, though he made no reference to the 13th bʼakʼtun or 2012 and it was not clear that he was referring to a future event. His ideas were repeated by archaeologist Sylvanus Morley, who directly paraphrased Förstemann and added his own embellishments, writing, "Finally, on the last page of the manuscript, is depicted the Destruction of the World ... Here, indeed, is portrayed with a graphic touch the final all-engulfing cataclysm" in the form of a great flood. These comments were later repeated in Morley's book, The Ancient Maya, the first edition of which was published in 1946.


2012 phenomenon, Maya references to bʼakʼtun 13
It is not certain what significance the classic Maya gave to the 13th bʼakʼtun. Most classic Maya inscriptions are strictly historical and do not make any prophetic declarations. Two items in the Maya classical corpus, however, do mention the end of the 13th bʼakʼtun: Tortuguero Monument 6 and La Corona Hieroglyphic Stairway 12.


2012 phenomenon, Maya references to bʼakʼtun 13, Tortuguero
The Tortuguero site, which lies in southernmost Tabasco, Mexico, dates from the 7th century AD and consists of a series of inscriptions mostly in honor of the contemporary ruler Bahlam Ahau. One inscription, known as Tortuguero Monument 6, is the only inscription known to refer to bʼakʼtun 13 in any detail. It has been partially defaced; Sven Gronemeyer and Barbara MacLeod have given this translation:


2012 phenomenon, Maya references to bʼakʼtun 13, Tortuguero
tzuhtzjo꞉m uy-u꞉xlaju꞉n pikchan ajaw u꞉x uni꞉wuhto꞉m il[?] yeʼni/ye꞉n bolon yokte'ta chak joyaj


2012 phenomenon, Maya references to bʼakʼtun 13, Tortuguero
It will be completed the 13th bʼakʼtun. It is 4 Ajaw 3 Kʼankʼinand it will happen a 'seeingʼ[?]. It is the display of Bʼolon-Yokte'in a great "investiture".


2012 phenomenon, Maya references to bʼakʼtun 13, Tortuguero
Very little is known about the god Bʼolon Yokteʼ. According to an article by Mayanists Markus Eberl and Christian Prager in British Anthropological Reports, his name is composed of the elements "nine", ʼOK-teʼ (the meaning of which is unknown), and "god". Confusion in classical period inscriptions suggests that the name was already ancient and unfamiliar to contemporary scribes. He also appears in inscriptions from Palenque, Usumacinta, and La Mar as a god of war, conflict, and the underworld. In one stele he is portrayed with a rope tied around his neck, and in another with an incense bag, together signifying a sacrifice to end a cycle of years.


2012 phenomenon, Maya references to bʼakʼtun 13, Tortuguero
Based on observations of modern Maya rituals, Gronemeyer and MacLeod claim that the stela refers to a celebration in which a person portraying Bolon Yokteʼ Kʼuh was wrapped in ceremonial garments and paraded around the site. They note that the association of Bolon Yokteʼ Kʼuh with bʼakʼtun 13 appears to be so important on this inscription that it supersedes more typical celebrations such as "erection of stelae, scattering of incense" and so forth. Furthermore, they assert that this event was indeed planned for 2012 and not the 7th century. Mayanist scholar Stephen Houston contests this view by arguing that future dates on Maya inscriptions were simply meant to draw parallels with contemporary events, and that the words on the stela describe a contemporary rather than a future scene.


2012 phenomenon, Maya references to bʼakʼtun 13, La Corona
In April–May 2012, a team of archaeologists unearthed a previously unknown inscription on a stairway at the La Corona site in Guatemala. The inscription, on what is known as Hieroglyphic Stairway 12, describes the establishment of a royal court in Calakmul in 635 AD, and compares the then-recent completion of 13 kʼatuns with the future completion of the 13th bʼakʼtun. It contains no speculation or prophecy as to what the scribes believed would happen at that time.


2012 phenomenon, Maya references to bʼakʼtun 13, Dates beyond bʼakʼtun 13
Maya inscriptions occasionally mention predicted future events or commemorations that would occur on dates far beyond the completion of the 13th bʼakʼtun. Most of these are in the form of "distance dates"; Long Count dates together with an additional number, known as a Distance Number, which when added to them makes a future date. On the west panel at the Temple of Inscriptions in Palenque, a section of text projects forward to the 80th 52-year Calendar Round from the coronation of the ruler Kʼinich Janaabʼ Pakal.


2012 phenomenon, Maya references to bʼakʼtun 13, Dates beyond bʼakʼtun 13
Pakal's accession occurred on 9.9.2.4.8, equivalent to 27 July 615 AD in the proleptic Gregorian calendar. The inscription begins with Pakal's birthdate of 9.8.9.13.0 (24 March, 603 AD Gregorian) and then adds the Distance Number 10.11.10.5.8 to it, arriving at a date of 21 October 4772 AD, more than 4,000 years after Pakal's time.


2012 phenomenon, Maya references to bʼakʼtun 13, Dates beyond bʼakʼtun 13
Another example is Stela 1 at Coba which marks the date of creation as 13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.0.0.0.0, or nineteen units above the bʼakʼtun. According to Linda Schele, these 13s represent "the starting point of a huge odometer of time", with each acting as a zero and resetting to 1 as the numbers increase. Thus this inscription anticipates the current universe lasting at least 2021×13×360 days, or roughly 2.687×1028 years; a time span equal to 2 quintillion times the age of the universe as determined by cosmologists. Others have suggested, however, that this date marks creation as having occurred after that time span.


2012 phenomenon, Maya references to bʼakʼtun 13, Dates beyond bʼakʼtun 13
In 2012, researchers announced the discovery of a series of Maya astronomical tables in Xultún, Guatemala which plot the movements of the Moon and other astronomical bodies over the course of 17 bʼakʼtuns.


2012 phenomenon, New Age beliefs
Many assertions about the year 2012 form part of Mayanism, a non-codified collection of New Age beliefs about ancient Maya wisdom and spirituality. The term is distinct from "Mayanist," used to refer to an academic scholar of the Maya. Archaeoastronomer Anthony Aveni says that while the idea of "balancing the cosmos" was prominent in ancient Maya literature, the 2012 phenomenon did not draw from those traditions. Instead, it was bound up with American concepts such as the New Age movement, 2012 millenarianism, and the belief in secret knowledge from distant times and places.


2012 phenomenon, New Age beliefs
Themes found in 2012 literature included "suspicion towards mainstream Western culture", the idea of spiritual evolution, and the possibility of leading the world into the New Age by individual example or by a group's joined consciousness. The general intent of this literature was not to warn of impending doom but "to foster counter-cultural sympathies and eventually socio-political and 'spiritual' activism".


2012 phenomenon, New Age beliefs
Aveni, who has studied New Age and search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) communities, describes 2012 narratives as the product of a "disconnected" society: "Unable to find spiritual answers to life's big questions within ourselves, we turn outward to imagined entities that lie far off in space or time—entities that just might be in possession of superior knowledge."


2012 phenomenon, New Age beliefs, Origins
In 1975, the ending of bʼakʼtun 13 became the subject of speculation by several New Age authors, who asserted it would correspond with a global "transformation of consciousness". In Mexico Mystique: The Coming Sixth Age of Consciousness, Frank Waters tied Coe's original date of 24 December 2011 to astrology and the prophecies of the Hopi, while both José Argüelles (in The Transformative Vision) and Terence McKenna (in The Invisible Landscape) discussed the significance of the year 2012 without mentioning a specific day. Some research suggests that both Argüelles and McKenna were heavily influenced in this regard by the Mayanism of American author William S. Burroughs, who first portrayed the end of the Mayan Long Count as an apocalyptic shift of human consciousness in 1960's The Exterminator.


2012 phenomenon, New Age beliefs, Origins
In 1983, with the publication of Robert J. Sharer's revised table of date correlations in the 4th edition of Morley's The Ancient Maya, each became convinced that 21 December 2012 had significant meaning. By 1987, the year in which he organized the Harmonic Convergence event, Argüelles was using the date 21 December 2012 in The Mayan Factor: Path Beyond Technology.


2012 phenomenon, New Age beliefs, Origins
He claimed that on 13 August 3113 BC the Earth began a passage through a "galactic synchronization beam" that emanated from the center of our galaxy, that it would pass through this beam during a period of 5200 tuns (Maya cycles of 360 days each), and that this beam would result in "total synchronization" and "galactic entrainment" of individuals "plugged into the Earth's electromagnetic battery" by 13.0.0.0.0 (21 December 2012). He believed that the Maya aligned their calendar to correspond to this phenomenon. Anthony Aveni has dismissed all of these ideas.


2012 phenomenon, New Age beliefs, Origins
In 2001, Robert Bast wrote the first online articles regarding the possibility of a doomsday in 2012. In 2006, author Daniel Pinchbeck popularized New Age concepts about this date in his book 2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl, linking bʼakʼtun 13 to beliefs in crop circles, alien abduction, and personal revelations based on the use of hallucinogenic drugs and mediumship. Pinchbeck claims to discern a "growing realization that materialism and the rational, empirical worldview that comes with it has reached its expiration date ... [ w]e're on the verge of transitioning to a dispensation of consciousness that's more intuitive, mystical and shamanic".


2012 phenomenon, New Age beliefs, Galactic alignment
There is no significant astronomical event tied to the Long Count's start date. However, its supposed end date was tied to astronomical phenomena by esoteric, fringe, and New Age literature that placed great significance on astrology, especially astrological interpretations associated with the phenomenon of axial precession. Chief among these ideas is the astrological concept of a "galactic alignment".


2012 phenomenon, New Age beliefs, Galactic alignment, Precession
In the Solar System, the planets and the Sun lie roughly within the same flat plane, known as the plane of the ecliptic. From our perspective on Earth, the ecliptic is the path taken by the Sun across the sky over the course of the year. The twelve constellations that line the ecliptic are known as the zodiacal constellations, and, annually, the Sun passes through all of them in turn. Additionally, over time, the Sun's annual cycle appears to recede very slowly backward by one degree every 72 years, or by one constellation approximately every 2,160 years.


2012 phenomenon, New Age beliefs, Galactic alignment, Precession
This backward movement, called "precession", is due to a slight wobble in the Earth's axis as it spins, and can be compared to the way a spinning top wobbles as it slows down. Over the course of 25,800 years, a period often called a Great Year, the Sun's path completes a full, 360-degree backward rotation through the zodiac. In Western astrological traditions, precession is measured from the March equinox, one of the two annual points at which the Sun is exactly halfway between its lowest and highest points in the sky. At the end of the 20th century and beginning of the 21st, the Sun's March equinox position was in the constellation Pisces moving back into Aquarius. This signaled the end of one astrological age (the Age of Pisces) and the beginning of another (the Age of Aquarius).


2012 phenomenon, New Age beliefs, Galactic alignment, Precession
Similarly, the Sun's December solstice position (in the northern hemisphere, the lowest point on its annual path; in the southern hemisphere, the highest) was in the constellation of Sagittarius, one of two constellations in which the zodiac intersects with the Milky Way. Every year, on the December solstice, the Sun and the Milky Way, appear (from the surface of the Earth) to come into alignment, and every year precession caused a slight shift in the Sun's position in the Milky Way.


2012 phenomenon, New Age beliefs, Galactic alignment, Precession
Given that the Milky Way is between 10° and 20° wide, it takes between 700 and 1,400 years for the Sun's December solstice position to precess through it. In 2012 it was about halfway through the Milky Way, crossing the galactic equator. In 2012, the Sun's December solstice fell on 21 December.


2012 phenomenon, New Age beliefs, Galactic alignment, Mysticism
Mystical speculations about the precession of the equinoxes and the Sun's proximity to the center of the Milky Way appeared in Hamlet's Mill (1969) by Giorgio de Santillana and Hertha von Deschend. These were quoted and expanded upon by Terence and Dennis McKenna in The Invisible Landscape (1975).


2012 phenomenon, New Age beliefs, Galactic alignment, Mysticism
Adherents to the idea, following a theory first proposed by Munro Edmonson, alleged that the Maya based their calendar on observations of the Great Rift or Dark Rift, a band of dark dust clouds in the Milky Way, which, according to some scholars, the Maya called the Xibalba be or "Black Road". John Major Jenkins claims that the Maya were aware of where the ecliptic intersected the Black Road and gave this position in the sky a special significance in their cosmology. Jenkins said that precession would align the Sun precisely with the galactic equator at the 2012 winter solstice.


2012 phenomenon, New Age beliefs, Galactic alignment, Mysticism
Jenkins claimed that the classical Maya anticipated this conjunction and celebrated it as the harbinger of a profound spiritual transition for mankind. New Age proponents of the galactic alignment hypothesis argued that, just as astrology uses the positions of stars and planets to make claims of future events, the Maya plotted their calendars with the objective of preparing for significant world events. Jenkins attributed the insights of ancient Maya shamans about the galactic center to their use of psilocybin mushrooms, psychoactive toads, and other psychedelics. Jenkins also associated the Xibalba be with a "world tree", drawing on studies of contemporary (not ancient) Maya cosmology.


2012 phenomenon, New Age beliefs, Galactic alignment, Criticism
Astronomers such as David Morrison argue that the galactic equator is an entirely arbitrary line and can never be precisely drawn, because it is impossible to determine the Milky Way's exact boundaries, which vary depending on clarity of view. Jenkins claimed he drew his conclusions about the location of the galactic equator from observations taken at above 11,000 feet (3,400 m), an altitude that gives a clearer image of the Milky Way than the Maya had access to. Furthermore, since the Sun is half a degree wide, its solstice position takes 36 years to precess its full width. Jenkins himself noted that even given his determined location for the line of the galactic equator, its most precise convergence with the center of the Sun already occurred in 1998, and so asserts that, rather than 2012, the galactic alignment instead focuses on a multi-year period centered in 1998.


2012 phenomenon, New Age beliefs, Galactic alignment, Criticism
There is no clear evidence that the classic Maya were aware of precession. Some Maya scholars, such as Barbara MacLeod, Michael Grofe, Eva Hunt, Gordon Brotherston, and Anthony Aveni, have suggested that some Mayan holy dates were timed to precessional cycles, but scholarly opinion on the subject remains divided. There is also little evidence, archaeological or historical, that the Maya placed any importance on solstices or equinoxes. It is possible that only the earliest among Mesoamericans observed solstices, but this is also a disputed issue among Mayanists. There is also no evidence that the classic Maya attached any importance to the Milky Way; there is no glyph in their writing system to represent it, and no astronomical or chronological table tied to it.


2012 phenomenon, New Age beliefs, Timewave zero and the I Ching
"Timewave zero" is a numerological formula that purports to calculate the ebb and flow of "novelty", defined as increase over time in the universe's interconnectedness, or organized complexity. Terence McKenna claimed that the universe has a teleological attractor at the end of time that increases interconnectedness. He believed this which would eventually reach a singularity of infinite complexity in 2012, at which point anything and everything imaginable would occur simultaneously. He conceived this idea over several years in the early to mid-1970s whilst using psilocybin mushrooms and DMT. The scientific community considers novelty theory to be pseudoscience.


2012 phenomenon, New Age beliefs, Timewave zero and the I Ching
McKenna expressed "novelty" in a computer program which produces a waveform known as "timewave zero" or the "timewave". Based on McKenna's interpretation of the King Wen sequence of the I Ching, an ancient Chinese book on divination, the graph purports to show great periods of novelty corresponding with major shifts in humanity's biological and sociocultural evolution. He believed that the events of any given time are resonantly related to the events of other times, and chose the atomic bombing of Hiroshima as the basis for calculating his end date of November 2012. When he later discovered this date's proximity to the end of the 13th bʼakʼtun of the Maya calendar, he revised his hypothesis so that the two dates matched.


2012 phenomenon, New Age beliefs, Timewave zero and the I Ching
The 1975 first edition of The Invisible Landscape referred to 2012 (but no specific day during the year) only twice. In the 1993 second edition, McKenna employed Sharer's date of 21 December 2012 throughout.


2012 phenomenon, New Age beliefs, Timewave zero and the I Ching
Novelty theory has been criticized for "rejecting countless ideas presumed as factual by the scientific community", depending "solely on numerous controversial deductions that contradict empirical logic", and encompassing "no suitable indication of truth", with the conclusion that novelty theory is a pseudoscience.


2012 phenomenon, Doomsday theories
The idea that the year 2012 presaged a world cataclysm, the end of the world, or the end of human civilization, became a subject of popular media speculation as the date of 21 December 2012 approached. This idea was promulgated by many pages on the Internet, particularly on YouTube. The Discovery Channel was criticized for its "quasi-documentaries" about the subject that "sacrifice[d] accuracy for entertainment".


2012 phenomenon, Doomsday theories, Other alignments
Some people interpreted the galactic alignment apocalyptically, claiming that its occurrence would somehow create a combined gravitational effect between the Sun and the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy (known as Sagittarius A*), creating havoc on Earth. Apart from the "galactic alignment" already having happened in 1998, the Sun's apparent path through the zodiac as seen from Earth did not take it near the true galactic center, but rather several degrees above it.


2012 phenomenon, Doomsday theories, Other alignments
Even were this not the case, Sagittarius A* is 30,000 light years from Earth; it would have to have been more than 6 million times closer to cause any gravitational disruption to Earth's Solar System. This reading of the alignment was included on the History Channel documentary Decoding the Past. John Major Jenkins complained that a science fiction writer co-authored the documentary, and he went on to characterize it as "45 minutes of unabashed doomsday hype and the worst kind of inane sensationalism".


2012 phenomenon, Doomsday theories, Other alignments
Some believers in a 2012 doomsday used the term "galactic alignment" to describe a different phenomenon proposed by some scientists to explain a pattern in mass extinctions supposedly observed in the fossil record. According to the Shiva Hypothesis, mass extinctions are not random, but recur every 26 million years. To account for this, it was suggested that vertical oscillations made by the Sun on its 250-million-year orbit of the galactic center cause it to regularly pass through the galactic plane.


2012 phenomenon, Doomsday theories, Other alignments
When the Sun's orbit takes it outside the galactic plane which bisects the galactic disc, the influence of the galactic tide is weaker. However, when re-entering the galactic disc—as it does every 20–25 million years—it comes under the influence of the far stronger "disc tides", which, according to mathematical models, increase the flux of Oort cloud comets into the inner Solar System by a factor of 4, thus leading to a massive increase in the likelihood of a devastating comet impact. However, this "alignment" takes place over tens of millions of years, and could never be timed to an exact date. Evidence shows that the Sun passed through the plane bisecting the galactic disc three million years ago and in 2012 was moving farther above it.


2012 phenomenon, Doomsday theories, Other alignments
A third suggested alignment was some sort of planetary conjunction occurring on 21 December 2012; however, there was no conjunction on that date. Multi-planet alignments did occur in both 2000 and 2010, each with no ill result for the Earth. Jupiter is the largest planet in the Solar System; larger than all other planets combined. When Jupiter is near opposition, the difference in gravitational force that the Earth experiences is less than 1% of the force that the Earth feels daily from the Moon.


2012 phenomenon, Doomsday theories, Geomagnetic reversal
Another idea tied to 2012 involved a geomagnetic reversal (often referred to as a pole shift by proponents), possibly triggered by a massive solar flare, that would release an energy equal to 100 billion atomic bombs. This belief was supposedly supported by observations that the Earth's magnetic field was weakening, which could precede a reversal of the north and south magnetic poles, and the arrival of the next solar maximum, which was expected sometime around 2012.


2012 phenomenon, Doomsday theories, Geomagnetic reversal
Most scientific estimates, however, say that geomagnetic reversals take between 1,000 and 10,000 years to complete, and do not start on any particular date. The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted that the solar maximum would peak in late 2013 or 2014, and that it would be fairly weak, with a below-average number of sunspots. There was no scientific evidence linking a solar maximum to a geomagnetic reversal, which is driven by forces entirely within the Earth.


2012 phenomenon, Doomsday theories, Geomagnetic reversal
A solar maximum does affect satellite and cellular phone communications. David Morrison attributed the rise of the solar storm idea to physicist and science popularizer Michio Kaku, who claimed in an interview with Fox News that a solar peak in 2012 could be disastrous for orbiting satellites, and to NASA's headlining a 2006 webpage as "Solar Storm Warning", a term later repeated on several doomsday pages.


2012 phenomenon, Doomsday theories, Geomagnetic reversal
On 23 July 2012, a massive, potentially damaging, solar storm came within nine days of striking Earth.


2012 phenomenon, Doomsday theories, Planet X/Nibiru
Some believers in a 2012 doomsday claimed that a planet called Planet X, or Nibiru, would collide with or pass by the Earth. This idea, which appeared in various forms since 1995, initially predicted Doomsday in May 2003, but proponents abandoned that date after it passed without incident. The idea originated from claims of channeling alien beings and is widely ridiculed. Astronomers calculated that such an object so close to Earth would be visible to anyone looking up at the night sky.


2012 phenomenon, Doomsday theories, Other catastrophes
Author Graham Hancock, in his book Fingerprints of the Gods, interpreted Coe's remarks in Breaking the Maya Code as evidence for the prophecy of a global cataclysm. Filmmaker Roland Emmerich later credited the book with inspiring his 2009 disaster film 2012.


2012 phenomenon, Doomsday theories, Other catastrophes
Other speculations regarding doomsday in 2012 included predictions by the Web Bot project, a computer program that purports to predict the future by analyzing Internet chatter. However, commentators have rejected claims that the bot is able to predict natural disasters, as opposed to human-caused disasters like stock market crashes.


2012 phenomenon, Doomsday theories, Other catastrophes
The 2012 date was also loosely tied to the long-running concept of the Photon Belt, which predicted a form of interaction between Earth and Alcyone, the largest star of the Pleiades cluster. Critics argued that photons cannot form belts, that the Pleiades, located more than 400 light years away, could have no effect on Earth, and that the Solar System, rather than getting closer to the Pleiades, was in fact moving farther away from it.


2012 phenomenon, Doomsday theories, Other catastrophes
Some media outlets tied the fact that the red supergiant star Betelgeuse would undergo a supernova at some point in the future to the 2012 phenomenon. However, while Betelgeuse was certainly in the final stages of its life, and would die as a supernova, there was no way to predict the timing of the event to within 100,000 years. To be a threat to Earth, a supernova would need to be no further than 25 light years from the Solar System. Betelgeuse is roughly 600 light years away, and so its supernova would not affect Earth. In December 2011, NASA's Francis Reddy issued a press release debunking the possibility of a supernova occurring in 2012.


2012 phenomenon, Doomsday theories, Other catastrophes
Another claim involved alien invasion. In December 2010, an article, first published in examiner.com and later referenced in the English-language edition of Pravda claimed, citing a Second Digitized Sky Survey photograph as evidence, that SETI had detected three large spacecraft due to arrive at Earth in 2012. Astronomer and debunker Phil Plait noted that by using the small-angle formula, one could determine that if the object in the photo were as large as claimed, it would have had to be closer to Earth than the Moon, which would mean it would already have arrived. In January 2011, Seth Shostak, chief astronomer of SETI, issued a press release debunking the claims.


2012 phenomenon, Public reaction
The phenomenon spread widely after coming to public notice, particularly on the Internet. Hundreds of thousands of websites were posted on the subject. "Ask an Astrobiologist", a NASA public outreach website, received over 5,000 questions from the public on the subject from 2007, some asking whether they should kill themselves, their children or their pets.


2012 phenomenon, Public reaction
In May 2012, an Ipsos poll of 16,000 adults in 21 countries found that 8 percent had experienced fear or anxiety over the possibility of the world ending in December 2012, while an average of 10 percent agreed with the statement "the Mayan calendar, which some say 'ends' in 2012, marks the end of the world", with responses as high as 20 percent in China, 13 percent in Russia, Turkey, Japan and Korea, and 12 percent in the United States. At least one suicide was directly linked to fear of a 2012 apocalypse, with others anecdotally reported.


2012 phenomenon, Public reaction
Jared Lee Loughner, the perpetrator of the 2011 Tucson shooting, followed 2012-related predictions. A panel of scientists questioned on the topic at a plenary session at the Astronomical Society of the Pacific contended that the Internet played a substantial role in allowing this doomsday date to gain more traction than previous similar panics.


2012 phenomenon, Public reaction, Europe
Beginning in 2000, the small French village of Bugarach, population 189, began receiving visits from "esoterics"—mystic believers who had concluded that the local mountain, Pic de Bugarach, was the ideal location to weather the transformative events of 2012. In 2011, the local mayor, Jean-Pierre Delord, began voicing fears to the international press that the small town would be overwhelmed by an influx of thousands of visitors in 2012, even suggesting he might call in the army. "We've seen a huge rise in visitors", Delord told The Independent in March 2012.


2012 phenomenon, Public reaction, Europe
"Already this year more than 20,000 people have climbed right to the top, and last year we had 10,000 hikers, which was a significant rise on the previous 12 months. They think Pic de Bugarach is 'un garage à ovnis' [a garage for UFOs]. The villagers are exasperated: the exaggerated importance of something which they see as completely removed from reality is bewildering. After 21 December, this will surely return to normal." In December 2012, the French government placed 100 police and firefighters around both Bugarach and Pic de Bugarach, limiting access to potential visitors.


2012 phenomenon, Public reaction, Europe
Ultimately, only about 1,000 visitors appeared at the height of the "event". Two raves were foiled, 12 people had to be turned away from the peak, and 5 people were arrested for carrying weapons. Jean-Pierre Delord was criticised by members of the community for failing to take advantage of the media attention and promote the region.


2012 phenomenon, Public reaction, Europe
The Turkish village of Şirince, near Ephesus, expected to receive over 60,000 visitors on 21 December 2012, as New Age mystics believed its "positive energy" would aid in weathering the catastrophe. Only a fraction of that number actually arrived, with a substantial component being police and journalists, and the expected windfall failed to materialise.


2012 phenomenon, Public reaction, Europe
Similarly, the pyramid-like mountain of Rtanj, in the Serbian Carpathians, attracted attention, due to rumors that it would emit a powerful force shield on the day, protecting those in the vicinity. Hotels around the base were full.


2012 phenomenon, Public reaction, Europe
In Russia, inmates of a women's prison experienced "a collective mass psychosis" in the weeks leading up to the supposed doomsday, while residents of a factory town near Moscow reportedly emptied a supermarket of matches, candles, food and other supplies. The Minister of Emergency Situations declared in response that according to "methods of monitoring what is occurring on the planet Earth", there would be no apocalypse in December. When asked when the world would end in a press conference, Russian President Vladimir Putin said, "In about 4.5 billion years."


2012 phenomenon, Public reaction, Europe
In December 2012, Vatican astronomer Rev. José Funes wrote in the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano that apocalyptic theories around 2012 were "not even worth discussing".


2012 phenomenon, Public reaction, Asia and Australia
In China, up to one thousand members of the Christian cult Almighty God were arrested after claiming that the end of bʼakʼtun 13 marked the end of the world, and that it was time to overthrow Communism. Shoppers were reported to be hoarding supplies of candles in anticipation of coming darkness, while online retailer Taobao sold tickets to board Noah's Ark to customers. Bookings for wedding ceremonies on 21 December 2012 were saturated in several cities. On 14 December 2012, a man in Henan province attacked and wounded twenty-three children with a knife. Authorities suspected the man had been "influenced" by the prediction of the upcoming apocalypse. Academics in China attributed the widespread belief in the 2012 doomsday in their country to a lack of scientific literacy and a mistrust of the government-controlled media.


2012 phenomenon, Public reaction, Asia and Australia
On 6 December 2012, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard delivered a hoax speech for the radio station triple J in which she declared "My dear remaining fellow Australians; the end of the world is coming. Whether the final blow comes from flesh-eating zombies, demonic hell-beasts or from the total triumph of K-Pop, if you know one thing about me it is this—I will always fight for you to the very end." Radio announcer Neil Mitchell described the hoax as "immature" and pondered whether it demeaned her office.


2012 phenomenon, Public reaction, Mexico and Central America
Those Mesoamerican countries that once formed part of the Maya civilization—Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador—all organized festivities to commemorate the end of bʼakʼtun 13 at the largest Maya sites. On 21 December 2011, the Maya town of Tapachula in Chiapas activated an eight-foot digital clock counting down the days until the end of bʼakʼtun 13. On 21 December 2012, major events took place at Chichén Itzá in Mexico and Tikal in Guatemala. In El Salvador, the largest event was held at Tazumal, and in Honduras, at Copán. In all of these archaeological sites, Maya rituals were held at dawn led by shamans and Maya priests.


2012 phenomenon, Public reaction, Mexico and Central America
On the final day of bʼakʼtun 13, residents of Yucatán and other regions formerly dominated by the ancient Maya celebrated what they saw as the dawn of a new, better era. According to official figures from Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), about 50,000 people visited Mexican archaeological sites on 21 December 2012. Of those, 10,000 visited Chichén Itzá in Yucatán, 9,900 visited Tulum in Quintana Roo, and 8,000 visited Palenque in Chiapas. An additional 10,000 people visited Teotihuacan near Mexico City, which is not a Maya site.


2012 phenomenon, Public reaction, Mexico and Central America
The main ceremony in Chichén Itzá was held at dawn in the plaza of the Temple of Kukulkán, one of the principal symbols of Maya culture. The archaeological site was opened two hours early to receive thousands of tourists, mostly foreigners who came to participate in events scheduled for the end of bʼakʼtun 13.


2012 phenomenon, Public reaction, Mexico and Central America
The fire ceremony at Tikal was held at dawn in the main plaza of the Temple of the Great Jaguar. The ceremony was led by Guatemalan and foreign priests. The President of Guatemala, Otto Pérez, and of Costa Rica, Laura Chinchilla, participated in the event as special guests. During the ceremony the priests asked for unity, peace and the end of discrimination and racism, with the hope that the start of a new cycle will be a "new dawn". About 3,000 people participated in the event.


2012 phenomenon, Public reaction, Mexico and Central America
Most of these events were organized by agencies of the Mexican and Central American governments, and their respective tourism industries expected to attract thousands of visitors. Mexico is visited by about 22 million foreigners in a typical year. However, in 2012, the national tourism agency expected to attract 52 million visitors just to the regions of Chiapas, Yucatán, Quintana Roo, Tabasco and Campeche. A Maya activist group in Guatemala, Oxlaljuj Ajpop, objected to the commercialization of the date.


2012 phenomenon, Public reaction, Mexico and Central America
A spokesman from the Conference of Maya Ministers commented that for them the Tikal ceremony is not a show for tourists but something spiritual and personal. The secretary of the Great Council of Ancestral Authorities commented that living Maya felt they were excluded from the activities in Tikal. This group held a parallel ceremony, and complained that the date has been used for commercial gain. In addition, before the main Tikal ceremony, about 200 Maya protested the celebration because they felt excluded. Most modern Maya were indifferent to the ceremonies, and the small number of people still practising ancient rites held solemn, more private ceremonies.


2012 phenomenon, Public reaction, Mexico and Central America
Osvaldo Gomez, a technical advisor to the Tikal site, complained that many visitors during the celebration had illegally climbed the stairs of the Temple of the Masks, causing "irreparable" damage.


2012 phenomenon, Public reaction, South America
In Brazil, Décio Colla, the Mayor of the City of São Francisco de Paula, Rio Grande do Sul, mobilized the population to prepare for the end of the world by stocking up on food and supplies. In the city of Corguinho, in the Mato Grosso do Sul, a colony was built for survivors of the expected tragedy. In Alto Paraíso de Goiás, the hotels also made specific reservations for prophetic dates.


2012 phenomenon, Public reaction, South America
In Bolivia, President Evo Morales participated in Quechua and Aymara rituals, organized with government support, to commemorate the Southern solstice that took place in Isla del Sol, in the southern part of Lake Titicaca. During the event, Morales proclaimed the beginning of "Pachakuti", meaning the world's wake up to a culture of life and the beginning of the end to world capitalism, and he proposed to dismantle the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.


2012 phenomenon, Public reaction, South America
On 21 December 2012, the Uritorco in Córdoba, Argentina was closed, as a mass suicide there had been proposed on Facebook.


2012 phenomenon, Public reaction, United States
In the United States, sales of private underground blast shelters increased noticeably after 2009, with many construction companies' advertisements calling attention to the 2012 apocalypse. In Michigan, schools were closed for the Christmas holidays two days early, in part because rumours of the 2012 apocalypse were raising fears of repeat shootings similar to that at Sandy Hook. American reality TV stars Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt revealed that they had spent most of their $10 million of accumulated earnings by 2010 because they believed the world would end in 2012.


2012 phenomenon, 2012 after 2012
Authors such as Graham Hancock continue to refer to supposed Maya prophecies about 2012 in Magicians of the Gods (2015). For example, he writes, “... the Maya were not speaking of the end of the world, as such, but rather the end of an age—‘a time of great transformation and world rebirth’—that would be followed by the beginning of a new great cycle or world age”.


2012 phenomenon, Cultural influence
The 2012 phenomenon was discussed or referenced in several media. Several TV documentaries, as well as some contemporary fictional references to the year 2012, referred to 21 December as the day of a cataclysmic event.


2012 phenomenon, Cultural influence
The UFO conspiracy TV series The X-Files cited 22 December 2012 as the date for an alien colonization of the Earth and mentioned the Mayan calendar "stopping" on this date. The History Channel aired a handful of special series on doomsday that included analysis of 2012 theories, such as Decoding the Past (2005–2007), 2012, End of Days (2006), Last Days on Earth (2006), Seven Signs of the Apocalypse (2009), and Nostradamus 2012 (2008).


2012 phenomenon, Cultural influence
The Discovery Channel also aired 2012 Apocalypse in 2009, suggesting that massive solar storms, magnetic pole reversal, earthquakes, supervolcanoes, and other drastic natural events could occur in 2012. In 2012, the National Geographic Channel launched a show called Doomsday Preppers, a documentary series about survivalists preparing for various cataclysms, including the 2012 doomsday.


2012 phenomenon, Cultural influence
Hundreds of books were published on the topic. The bestselling book of 2009, Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol, featured a coded mock email number (2456282.5) that decoded to the Julian date for 21 December 2012.


2012 phenomenon, Cultural influence
In cinema, the 2009 disaster film 2012 was inspired by the phenomenon, and advance promotion prior to its release included a stealth marketing campaign in which TV spots and websites from the fictional "Institute for Human Continuity" called on people to prepare for the end of the world. As these promotions did not mention the film itself, many viewers believed them to be real and contacted astronomers in panic. Although the campaign was heavily criticized, the film became one of the most successful of its year, grossing nearly $770 million worldwide.


2012 phenomenon, Cultural influence
An article in The Daily Telegraph attributed the widespread fear of the 2012 phenomenon in China to the film, which was a smash hit in that country because it depicted the Chinese building "survival arks". Lars von Trier's 2011 film Melancholia featured a plot in which a planet emerges from behind the Sun on a collision course with Earth.


2012 phenomenon, Cultural influence
The phenomenon also inspired several rock and pop music hits. As early as 1997, "A Certain Shade of Green" by Incubus referred to the mystical belief that a shift in perception would arrive in 2012 ("Are you gonna stand around till 2012 A.D.? / What are you waiting for, a certain shade of green?"). More recent hits include "2012 (It Ain't the End)" (2010) performed by Jay Sean and "Till the World Ends" (2011) performed by Britney Spears.


2012 phenomenon, Cultural influence
Towards mid-December 2012, an internet hoax related to South Korean singer Psy being one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse was widely circulated around social media platforms. The hoax purported that once Psy's "Gangnam Style" YouTube video amassed a billion views, the world would end. Indian composer A. R. Rahman, known for Slumdog Millionaire, released his single "Infinite Love" to "instill faith and optimism in people" prior to the predicted doomsday. The artwork for All Time Low's 2012 album "Don't Panic" satirizes various cataclysmic events associated with the world ending on 21 December 2012.


2012 phenomenon, Cultural influence
A number of brands ran commercials tied to the 2012 apocalypse in the months and days leading to the date. In February 2012, American automotive company General Motors aired an advertisement during the annual Super Bowl football game in which a group of friends drove Chevrolet Silverados through the ruins of human civilization following the 2012 apocalypse, while on 17 December 2012, Jell-O ran an ad saying that offering Jell-O to the Mayan gods would appease them into sparing the world. John Verret, Professor of Advertising at Boston University, questioned the utility of tying large sums of money to such a unique and short-term event.


2012 reasons of the Supreme Court of Canada
The table below lists the decisions (known as reasons) delivered from the bench by the Supreme Court of Canada during 2012. The table illustrates what reasons were filed by each justice in each case, and which justices joined each reason. This list, however, does not include reasons on motions.


2012 rush to Pingo Doce
On 1 May 2012, as a result of a campaign that guaranteed a 50% discount for clients who purchased more than 100 euros in products, there was a rush to the Pingo Doce chain of hypermarkets, on the 369 stores all over Portugal.


2012 rush to Pingo Doce
This sale resulted in an abnormal flow of vehicles and shoppers to the stores, and the Polícia de Segurança Pública (Police for Public Security) registered more than fifty occurrences, among them civil disorder and assaults, more than half having taken place in the Lisbon region. A row between two shoppers in a store in Senhora da Hora resulted in two people getting injured, hospitalised in Porto. Multiple other assaults between customers in Lisbon, Amadora, Cacem and Loures were reported.


2012 rush to Pingo Doce
The Jerónimo Martins Group, who owns the Pingo Doce chain of hypermarkets, has denied accusations of dumping after the media attraction the incidents had in the press and public opinion. The Autoridade de Segurança Alimentar e Económica (Authority for Alimentary and Economic Safety) is currently investigating alleged infractions that have taken place during the sale.


2012 rush to Pingo Doce
The matter was also debated in the Portuguese Parliament, where the parliamentary left accused the Jerónimo Martins Group of illegal practices: Catarina Martins, Member of Parliament for the Left Bloc, accused Jerónimo Martins of "crushing" the competition by "taking advantage of the poor economic situation of the Portuguese people". Agostinho Lopes, Member of Parliament for the Portuguese Communist Party, has pointed out that the sale was "yet another act of prepotence by a major sales group", adding that "it's them who run the Government now, apparently."


2012 rush to Pingo Doce
Many people who witnessed the incidents published videos in the web, via sites like YouTube, that show huge numbers of people crowding the stores, along with empty shelves.


2012 storm in southern Uruguay
In 2012, a strong storm swept across southern Uruguay from 18 to 19 September.


2012 storm in southern Uruguay, Facts
The main area affected were the departments on the River Plate and Atlantic coasts: Colonia, San José, Montevideo, Canelones, Maldonado, Rocha.


2012 storm in southern Uruguay, Facts
The strongest winds were in Punta del Este (172 km/h), Montevideo (122 km/h), Laguna del Sauce (120 km/h), Colonia (103 km/h), San José (102 km/h), Melo (98 km/h), Tacuarembó (87 km/h), Rivera (83 km/h).


2012 storm in southern Uruguay, Facts
The government was forced to close public buildings, suspend transport and recommend residents in the capital Montevideo and other locations along the coast to remain at home. Luckily enough, it was the week of spring holidays, so children did not have to attend school.


2012 storm in southern Uruguay, Aftermath
General comment was that his cyclone was less severe than the 2005 storm.


2012 storm in southern Uruguay, Aftermath
Three people were reported dead in San José, due to a flood.


2012 storm in southern Uruguay, Aftermath
This storm is part of a regional phenomenon, called sudestada, covering also Argentina, Paraguay, and Bolivia, where other people were reported dead as well.


2012 supranational electoral calendar
This supranational electoral calendar for the year 2012 lists the supranational elections held in 2012. All the elections are non-popularly elected.


2012 term opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States
The 2012 term of the Supreme Court of the United States began October 1, 2012, and concluded October 6, 2013. The table illustrates which opinion was filed by each justice in each case and which justices joined each opinion.


2012 term opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States, 2012 term membership and statistics
This was the eighth term of Chief Justice Roberts's tenure and the third term with the same membership.


2012 term per curiam opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States handed down six per curiam opinions during its 2012 term, which began October 1, 2012 and concluded October 6, 2013.


2012 term per curiam opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States
Because per curiam decisions are issued from the Court as an institution, these opinions all lack the attribution of authorship or joining votes to specific justices. All justices on the Court at the time the decision was handed down are assumed to have participated and concurred unless otherwise noted.


2012 term per curiam opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States, Court membership
Associate Justices: Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy, Clarence Thomas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Samuel Alito, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan


2012 term per curiam opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States, Lefemine v. Wideman
568 U.S. 1 Decided November 5, 2012. Fourth Circuit vacated and remanded.


2012 term per curiam opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States, Lefemine v. Wideman
The Supreme Court vacated a Fourth Circuit ruling that a civil rights plaintiff who had been awarded an injunction, but not monetary damages, was not entitled to attorney's fees as a "prevailing plaintiff" under 42 U.S.C. §1988. The Court ruled that the plaintiff was indeed a "prevailing plaintiff" within the meaning of 42 U.S.C. §1988, "[b]ecause the injunction ordered the defendant officials to change their behavior in a way that directly benefited the plaintiff", and that the plaintiff was therefore entitled to attorney's fees.


2012 term per curiam opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States, Nitro-Lift Technologies, L. L. C. v. Howard
568 U.S. 17 Decided November 26, 2012. Supreme Court of Oklahoma vacated and remanded.


2012 term per curiam opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States, Nitro-Lift Technologies, L. L. C. v. Howard
The U.S. Supreme Court vacated the Oklahoma Supreme Court's ruling that a noncompetition covenant in an employment contract was unenforceable under state law, where the contract as a whole was subject to arbitration. Under the Federal Arbitration Act, the Court wrote, "it is for the arbitrator to decide in the first instance whether the covenants not to compete are valid as a matter of applicable state law."


2012 term per curiam opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States, Marshall v. Rodgers
569 U.S. 58 Decided April 1, 2013. Ninth Circuit reversed and remanded.


2012 term per curiam opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States, Boyer v. Louisiana
569 U.S. 238 Argued January 14, 2013.Decided April 29, 2013. The Court dismissed the writ of certiorari as improvidently granted.


2012 term per curiam opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States, Boyer v. Louisiana
Alito filed a concurrence, joined by Scalia and Thomas. Sotomayor filed a dissent, joined by Ginsburg, Breyer, and Kagan.


2012 term per curiam opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States, Nevada v. Jackson
569 U.S. 505 Decided June 3, 2013. Ninth Circuit reversed and remanded.


2012 term per curiam opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States, Ryan v. Schad
570 U.S. 521 Decided June 24, 2013. Ninth Circuit reversed, vacated, and remanded.


2012 timeline of the Somali Civil War
This is a 2012 timeline of events in the Somali Civil War (2009–present).


2012 transit of Venus
The 2012 transit of Venus, when the planet Venus appeared as a small, dark spot passing across the face of the Sun, began at 22:09 UTC on 5 June 2012, and finished at 04:49 UTC on 6 June. Depending on the position of the observer, the exact times varied by up to ±7 minutes. Transits of Venus are among the rarest of predictable celestial phenomena and occur in pairs.


2012 transit of Venus
Consecutive transits per pair are spaced 8 years apart, and consecutive pairs occur more than a century apart: The previous transit of Venus took place on 8 June 2004 (preceded by transits on 9 December 1874 and 6 December 1882); the next pair of transits will occur on 10–11 December 2117 and December 2125 within the 22nd century.


2012 transit of Venus, Observations of the event
The entire transit was visible from the western Pacific Ocean, northwesternmost North America, northeastern Asia, Japan, the Philippines, eastern Australia, New Zealand, and high Arctic locations including northernmost Scandinavia, and Greenland. In North America, the Caribbean, and northwestern South America, the beginning of the transit was visible on 5 June until sunset. From sunrise on 6 June, the end of the transit was visible from South Asia, the Middle East, east Africa, and most of Europe. The phenomenon was not visible from most of South America, nor from western Africa. There were a number of live online video streams with footage from telescopes around the world. Midway through the transit one of the NASA streams had nearly 2 million total views and was getting roughly 90,000 viewers at any given moment.


2012 transit of Venus, Observations of the event
In Los Angeles, crowds jammed Mount Hollywood where the Griffith Observatory set up telescopes for the public to view the transit. In Hawaii, hundreds of tourists watched the event on Waikiki Beach where the University of Hawaii set up eight telescopes and two large screens showing webcasts of the transit. The transit was also observed and photographed by a flight engineer aboard the International Space Station, Don Pettit.


2012 transit of Venus, Observations of the event
NASA's Solar and Heliospheric Observatory could not see the transit as it was not in between the Earth and the Sun at the time of the event, but high-definition images of the event were obtained by Solar Dynamics Observatory, from 36,000 km (22,000 mi) above the Earth. Agency astrophysicist Dr. Lika Guhathakurta said, "We get to see Venus in exquisite detail because of SDO's spatial resolution, SDO is a very special observatory. It takes images that are about 10 times better than a high-definition TV and those images are acquired at a temporal cadence of one every 10 seconds. This is something we've never had before".


2012 transit of Venus, Research
The 2012 transit gave scientists a number of research opportunities. These included:


2012 transit of Venus, Gallery
This visualization shows the orbital paths of Venus and Earth that led to this rare alignment on 5–6 June 2012


2012 transit of Venus, Gallery
Close-up of Venus by the Japanese Hinode spacecraft on the sun-synchronous orbit.


2012 transit of Venus, Gallery
Visualization generated by compositing the small field-of-view, high-cadence closeups of Venus with the full-disk, low-cadence imagery from SDO.


2012 yellow fever outbreak in Darfur, Sudan
In late 2012, a yellow fever outbreak occurred in the Darfur region of Sudan that was the largest yellow fever epidemic to strike Africa in two decades. On 10 January 2013, the Sudan Federal Ministry of Health and the World Heath Organization (WHO) reported that there had been 847 suspected cases since 2 September 2012, including 171 deaths, for an estimated case fatality rate of 20%. A mass vaccination campaign was launched in mid-November. By early January, the five states of Darfur were free of any new cases.


2012 yellow fever outbreak in Darfur, Sudan, Epidemiology
The first cases of yellow fever occurred in early September, but the first blood samples for confirmation were not sent to the Institut Pasteur reference laboratory in Dakar, Senegal until 30 October. On 9 November, WHO Sudan reported 266 suspected cases and 85 deaths for a case fatality rate of 32%. Most cases were in Central Dafur state (51.5 percent, reported in March 2013), but the outbreak later expanded to the four other states of North Darfur (21 percent), West Darfur (17.4 percent) and South Darfur (9.5 percent), including refugee camps related to the ongoing war in Darfur. Laboratory confirmation of yellow fever came on 13 November. Most of the cases were among nomads, which contributed to the rapid spread.


2012 yellow fever outbreak in Darfur, Sudan, Epidemiology
According to newspaper reports, about 10 000 workers from the gold mines of Jebel Amer fled to Nyala, the capital of South Darfur, after more than 60 deaths in the gold mining area. One newspaper reported: "The spread of the disease in South Darfur is a disaster and the epidemic requires organizations and the international community to address the disease and provide enough vaccines to vaccinate all citizens of the state." Hundreds of patients had accumulated at the Nyala Teaching Hospital, some sleeping outside, and there was a shortage of medical personnel and supplies. By early December the number of deaths had reached 164.


2012 yellow fever outbreak in Darfur, Sudan, Epidemiology
Health authorities in China began scanning travelers and Chinese citizens returning from Sudan. As many as a million Chinese workers are employed in oil, mining and construction in Africa. Introduction of yellow fever into Asia, where it has never appeared, is a serious concern.


2012 yellow fever outbreak in Darfur, Sudan, Vaccination Campaign
On 13 November, the government of Sudan requested help from the International Coordinating Group on Yellow Fever Vaccine Provision (YF-ICG) in starting a mass vaccination campaign. Besides the WHO, the YF-ICG consists of representatives of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). The United Nations–African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) airlifted the first batches of vaccines from Khartoum to Darfur on 18 November. Mass vaccination began on 20 November. Efforts were also undertaken to eliminate mosquitoes.


2012 yellow fever outbreak in Darfur, Sudan, Vaccination Campaign
A team from the Naval Medical Research Unit Three (NAMRU-3) and the WHO Collaborating Center was deployed from Cairo to help collect and test samples and train local personnel. The vaccination campaign, from late November 2012 through early January 2013, covered more than 3 million people and halted the outbreak. A new phase of the campaign beginning in January covered more than 2 million more people at risk. One of the difficulties was maintaining a cold chain for vaccine viability while transporting vaccine by donkey into remote areas.


2012 yellow fever outbreak in Darfur, Sudan, Vaccination Campaign
A situation report released on 10 January 2013 reported that 171 people had died of the disease as of 9 January 2013. The number of suspected cases since 2 September 2012 was 847. The Minister of Health had announced on 5 January that no additional cases had appeared in the previous 3 weeks.


2012 Åtvidabergs FF season
In 2012 Åtvidabergs FF will compete in Allsvenskan and Svenska Cupen.


2012 Åtvidabergs FF season, Season statistics, Superettan
= Number of bookings = Number of sending offs after a second yellow card= Number of sending offs by a direct red card


2012 Úrvalsdeild
The 2012 Úrvalsdeild (also known as the "Pepsi-deild" for sponsorship reasons) is the 101st season of top-tier football in Iceland. The season began on 6 May 2012 and concluded 29 September 2012. The league was won by FH, the club's sixth Icelandic league title, while defending champions KR finished as runners-up, some 13 points behind FH. At the other end of the table, Grindavík and Selfoss ended the campaign in the bottom two and were thereby relegated to the 2013 1. deild karla.


2012 Úrvalsdeild, Teams
A total of twelve teams will contest the league, including ten sides from the 2011 season and two promoted teams from the 1. deild karla.


2012 Úrvalsdeild, Teams
Þór Akureyri and Víkingur R. were relegated from 2011 Úrvalsdeild after finishing the season in the bottom two places of the league table. Both teams were relegated having just achieved promotion the season before.


2012 Úrvalsdeild, Teams
2011 1. deild karla champions ÍA Akranes and runners-up Selfoss secured direct promotion to the Úrvalsdeild. ÍA returned to the Úrvalsdeild after a three-year absence while Selfoss return immediately to the top league after a one-year absence.


2012 Úrvalsdeild, Results
Each team play every opponent once home and away for a total of 22 matches.


2012 Ýokary Liga
The 2012 Turkmenistan Higher League (Ýokary Liga) season was the 20th season of Turkmenistan's professional football league. It started on 10 April 2012 with the first round of games and will end in November.


2012 ʻEua Noble by-election
A by-election was held for the ʻEua Noble seat to the Legislative Assembly of Tonga on 2 August 2012. It was triggered by the dismissal from Parliament of the incumbent, the Speaker Lord Lasike, following his conviction for illegal possession of ammunition in July.


2012 ʻEua Noble by-election
The Tongan nobility elect nine representatives to Parliament. Technically, ʻEua is not a distinct constituency. Seventeen nobles jointly elect the three representatives of Tongatapu and the single representative of ʻEua, from within the same pool of nobles.


2012 ʻEua Noble by-election, Candidates and voters
Nobles do not officially stand as candidates, and none belong to any political party. Of the seventeen nobles attached to the joint Tongatapu / ʻEua constituency, three (Lord Ramsay Robertson Dalgety, Lord Tevita Poasi Tupou and Lord Feleti Sevele) are life peers, were entitled to vote but not to be elected. There were fourteen titles of hereditary nobility attached to the constituency, entitling their bearers to vote and be elected. However, Lord Lasike was barred from the election, while the Lavaka title was at that time held by King Tupou VI. In addition, three nobles (Prime Minister Lord Tuʻivakano, Lord Maʻafu, and Lord Vaea) were already members of the Assembly.


2012 ʻEua Noble by-election, Result
Twelve votes were cast. Lord Nuku (former Minister for Police, Prisons and Fire Services under Prime Minister Prince Lavaka Ata from 2005 to 2006, then Minister for Works under Prime Minister Feleti Sevele from 2006 to 2010) was elected with eight votes, regaining a seat he had lost in the 2010 general election. Lord Vahaʻi received two votes. Prince Ata, the King's younger son, received one vote, as did Lord Veʻehala.


2012 ʻEua Noble by-election, Aftermath
In October, Lord Lasike was acquitted on appeal; the Court of Appeal ruled that the Crown prosecution had not proved that Lasike had been aware that the incriminating ammunition was in his possession. Lasike immediately announced that he would challenge his dismissal from Parliament.


2012: Kurse a di Xtabai
2012: Kurse a di Xtabai (Curse of the Xtabai) is an 80-minute Belizean Creole-language supernatural thriller and the first major feature length dramatic movie to be entirely made in Belize. It was directed by Matthiew Klinck and selected as the opening night movie of the 2012 Belize International Film Festival. It was then taken on a national tour around the country and projected for audiences on an inflatable screen. The movie was made with an entirely Belizean cast, some of which had never acted before.


2012: Supernova
2012: Supernova is a 2009 direct-to-video science fiction disaster film directed by Anthony Fankhauser and starring Brian Krause, Heather McComb, and Najarra Townsend. It was distributed by The Asylum. As with the previous film, titled 2012: Doomsday, 2012: Supernova is a mockbuster of the Roland Emmerich film  2012, which was released a month later. It is the second film in the Asylum's 2012 Trilogy though the films have nothing to do with one another. The third film is titled 2012: Ice Age.


2012: Supernova, Premise
When a star gone supernova threatens to destroy Earth, an astrophysicist puts together a dangerous and desperate plan to shield Earth from the destructive burst of radiation heading toward it.


2012: Supernova, Reception
HorrorNews.net reviewed the film, writing that "Frankhauser’s depiction of what will happen in 2012 is action packed, but lacks in character development and believability impedes the likability of the movie to a certain extent."


2012: Supernova, Sequel
Another sequel was released the following year entitled 2012: Ice Age and borrowing elements from another of Roland Emmerich's films, The Day After Tomorrow.


2012: Time for Change
2012: Time for Change is a 2010 feature-length documentary film directed by João G. Amorim. Based in part on the books of Daniel Pinchbeck, it premiered on April 9, 2010 at the Lumiere Theater in San Francisco. The film presents a positive alternative to apocalyptic doom and gloom, and features, among others, David Lynch, Sting, Elliot Page, Gilberto Gil, Barbara Marx Hubbard, Michael Dorsey and Paul Stamets.


2012: Zwanzig Zwölf
2012: Zwanzig Zwölf is the fifth full-length album American industrial metal band Hanzel und Gretyl. It was released via Metropolis Records on February 5, 2008. It was based on the idea that in the year 2012, Hanzel und Gretyl will play a show at one of the ancient Mayan temples that will actually reveal itself to be a space ship. This space ship will then take HuG on a tour around the universe.


2012–13 1. FC Heidenheim season
During the 2012–13 1. FC Heidenheim season the club played in the 3. Liga, the third tier of German football. It is the club's fourth season in this league, having been promoted from the Regionalliga in 2009.


2012–13 1. FC Heidenheim season
The club also took part in the 2012–13 edition of the DFB-Pokal, the German Cup, but was knocked out in the first round by 2. Bundesliga side VfL Bochum.


2012–13 1. FC Heidenheim season
1. FC Heidenheim also takes part in the 2012–13 edition of the Württemberg Cup, having reached the quarter finals after a 7–0 win over VfL Mühlheim.


2012–13 1. FC Kaiserslautern season
The 2012–13 1. FC Kaiserslautern season was the 113th season in club history. In 2012–13 the club played in the 2. Fußball-Bundesliga, the second tier of German football. It was the club's first season back in this league, after it was relegated from the Fußball-Bundesliga in 2012. They were denied an instant return to the top flight after finishing 3rd and losing in the relegation play-offs to TSG 1899 Hoffenheim 5-2 on aggregate.


2012–13 1. FC Kaiserslautern season
The club also took part in the 2012–13 edition of the DFB-Pokal, the German Cup, where it reached the second round being eliminated by Bundesliga side FC Bayern Munich.


2012–13 1. FC Kaiserslautern season, Review and events
During the off-season, 1. FC Kaiserslautern hired Franco Foda as their new head coach.


2012–13 1. FC Köln season
The 2012–13 1. FC Köln season was the 64th season in club history. In the 2012–13 season, the club played in the 2. Bundesliga; the second tier of German football. It was the club's first season back in this league, after being relegated from the Bundesliga in 2012. The season started on 5 August 2012 and ended on 19 May 2013.


2012–13 1. FC Köln season, Review and events, Season
The club is taking part of the 2012–13 edition of the 2. Bundesliga and the 2012–13 edition of the DFB-Pokal. The season started on 5 August 2012 with a loss against Eintracht Braunschweig and  ended on 19 May 2013 against Ingolstadt 04.


2012–13 1. FC Köln season, Review and events, Season
The club started their league season with a six-match winless streak. Their first league win came against FSV Frankfurt on matchday seven. Overall, The first victory came against SpVgg Unterhaching in the opening round of the cup.


2012–13 1. FC Köln season, Review and events, Season
Holger Stanislawski was hired as the new head coach on 14 May 2012.


2012–13 1. FC Köln season, Review and events, Discipline
1. FC Köln was hit with a €50,000 fine. The club was only allowed to sell 15.000 tickets to its own supporters and a maximum of 5.000 tickets to supporters of SV Sandhausen. The club stated that this is an economic loss of approximately €500,000. The club appealed the decision and will only pay €40,000 fine and the maximum number of tickets that can be sold  to its own supporters was increased to 22.500.


2012–13 1. FC Köln season, Review and events, Financial problems
There have been repeated rumours about the club being in a grave financial situation. In a letter to club supporters, the club stated "The current financial position of the 1st FC Köln is serious. However, we also want to use this letter to continually eliminate repeated rumors that are without substance. An over-dramatizing the situation is just as damaging as to trivialize it." The club stated that they'll be using revenue bonds for debt restructuring.


2012–13 1. FC Köln season, Review and events, Problem supporters
Supporters of the club went to the home of Kevin Pezzoni and harassed and threatened him. Pezzoni's car was "smeared." There was an anti-Pezzoni Group on Facebook where more than 400 people joined. This isn't the first case where club supporters went to the home of a 1. FC Köln footballer. Club supporters went to Pedro Geromel's home during the night. Pezzoni had his contract dissolved because of the incident. Pezzoni stated that he didn't want to terminate his contract and had hoped that the club would stand behind him against the problem supporters.


2012–13 1. FC Nürnberg season
The 2012–13 1. FC Nürnberg season is the 113th season in the club's football history.


2012–13 1. FC Nürnberg season, Review and events
In 2012–13, the club plays in the Bundesliga, the top tier of German football. It is the clubs fourth consecutive season in this league, having been promoted from the 2. Bundesliga in 2009.


2012–13 1. FC Nürnberg season, Review and events
The club also took part in the 2012–13 edition of the DFB-Pokal, the German Cup, where it was knocked out by fourth division side TSV Havelse, losing 3–2 in extra time.


2012–13 1. FC Saarbrücken season
The 2012–13 1. FC Saarbrücken season is the 106th season in the club's football history. In 2012–13 the club plays in the 3. Liga, the third tier of German football. It is the club's third season in this league, having been promoted from the Regionalliga in 2010. They are also participating in the DFB-Pokal and Saarland Cup.


2012–13 1. FC Saarbrücken season, Review and events
The club also took part in the 2012–13 edition of the DFB-Pokal, the German Cup, but was knocked out in the first round by Fußball-Bundesliga side FC Schalke 04.


2012–13 1. FC Saarbrücken season, Review and events
1. FC Saarbrücken also takes part in the 2012–13 edition of the Saarland Cup, entering the third round with a match against SV Altstadt on 18 September.


2012–13 1. FC Tatran Prešov season
The 2012–13 Tatran Prešov season is the 14th straight season that the club will play in the Slovak First League, the highest tier of football in Slovakia.


2012–13 1. FC Tatran Prešov season, Squad
As of 28 February 2013Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2012–13 1. FC Tatran Prešov season, Squad
For recent transfers, see List of Slovak football transfers winter 2012–13.


2012–13 1. FC Union Berlin season
The 2012–13 1. FC Union Berlin season is the 107th season in the club's football history. In 2012–13 the club plays in the 2. Fußball-Bundesliga, the second tier of German football. It is the clubs fourth consecutive season in this league, having played at this level since 2009–10, after it was promoted from the 3. Liga in 2009.


2012–13 1. FC Union Berlin season
The club also takes part in the 2012–13 edition of the DFB-Pokal, the German Cup, where it reached the second round and will face third division side Kickers Offenbach next.


2012–13 1. FSV Mainz 05 season
The 2012–13 1. FSV Mainz 05 season is the 108th season in the club's football history. In 2012–13 the club plays in the Bundesliga, the top tier of German football. It is the club's fourth consecutive season in this league, having been promoted from the 2. Bundesliga at the conclusion of the 2008–09 season.


2012–13 1. FSV Mainz 05 season
The club also takes part in the 2012–13 edition of the DFB-Pokal, the German Cup, where Mainz was eliminated in the quarter-final stage by fellow Bundesliga side SC Freiburg on 26 February 2013.


2012–13 2. Bundesliga
The 2012–13 2. Bundesliga was the 39th season of the 2. Bundesliga, Germany's second-level football league. The season began on 3 August 2012 and ended with the last games on 19 May 2013, with a winter break held between the weekends around 15 December 2012 and 2 February 2013.


2012–13 2. Bundesliga
The league comprised eighteen teams: The teams placed fourth through fifteenth of the 2011–12 season, the worst two teams from the 2011–12 Bundesliga, the best two teams from the 2011–12 3. Liga, the losers of the relegation play-off between the 16th-placed Bundesliga team and the third-placed 2. Bundesliga team and the winners of the relegation play-off between the 16th-placed 2. Bundesliga team and the third-placed 3. Liga team.


2012–13 2. Bundesliga, Teams
At the end of the 2011–12 season, SpVgg Greuther Fürth and Eintracht Frankfurt were directly promoted to the 2012–13 Bundesliga. Greuther Fürth left the second level after fifteen seasons and will make debut for top level, while Eintracht only made a cameo appearance in the league. The two promoted teams were replaced by 1. FC Köln and 1. FC Kaiserslautern, who were relegated at the end of the 2011–12 Bundesliga season. Köln re-entered the second level after four consecutive Bundesliga seasons, while Kaiserslautern returned to the 2. Bundesliga after two years.


2012–13 2. Bundesliga, Teams
On the other end of the table, Alemannia Aachen and Hansa Rostock were directly relegated to the 2012–13 3. Liga. Aachen dropped to the third tier for the first time since the 1998–99 season, while Rostock concluded a cameo appearance in the league. The two relegated clubs will be replaced with 2011–12 3. Liga champions SV Sandhausen and runners-up VfR Aalen, who earned direct promotion spots are thus both made their debut on this level of the league system.


2012–13 2. Bundesliga, Teams
Two further spots were available via two-legged play-offs. The playoff between 16th-placed 2011–12 Bundesliga sides Hertha BSC and third-placed 2011–12 2. Bundesliga team Fortuna Düsseldorf ended 4–3 on aggregate for the latter. Consequently, Fortuna finished a three-year spell at second level and returned to the Bundesliga after fifteen years in lower leagues; in turn, Hertha concluded a cameo appearance at the top level and returned to the 2. Bundesliga. However, this decision is provisional since Hertha have appealed against the result of the second leg, which was marred by several incidents of crowd disturbance.


2012–13 2. Bundesliga, Teams
Elsewhere, the playoff between 16th-placed 2011–12 2. Bundesliga sides Karlsruher SC and third-placed 2011–12 3. Liga team Jahn Regensburg ended 3–3 on aggregate and saw Jahn promoted via the away goal rule. The Bavarian club returned to the second level after eight years; in turn, Karlsruhe finished a three-year spell at the second level and returned to the third level for the first time since the 2000–01 season.


2012–13 2. Bundesliga, Teams, Stadiums and locations
Five clubs expanded the seating capacities of their stadiums. Following their promotion, Aalen, Jahn Regensburg and Sandhausen all increased the capacity of their stadiums to 12,500, 13,251 and 12,100 spectators, respectively. Elsewhere, St. Pauli's Millerntor-Stadion was undergoing reconstruction during the autumn as the entire Back Straight was being rebuilt. Finally, 1860 Munich will benefit from an expansion of Allianz Arena by co-tenants and city rivals Bayern Munich, who increased the total capacity of the ground to 71,000 people in late August 2012.


2012–13 2. Bundesliga, Teams, Stadiums and locations
An additional three clubs will have a slightly decreased capacity, as Eintracht Braunschweig, FSV Frankfurt and Union Berlin all are rebuilding a stand of their stadiums. Braunschweig will thus be able to host 22,100 spectators, while Frankfurt and Union can accommodate 10,470 and 16,750 people, respectively, during reconstruction.


2012–13 2. Bundesliga, Relegation play-offs
Dynamo Dresden, who finished 16th, faced VfL Osnabrück, the third-placed 2012–13 3. Liga side for a two-legged play-off. The winner on aggregate score after both matches will earn a spot in the 2013–14 2. Bundesliga. The two sides met in the same fixture two seasons ago, although this time the roles are reversed.


2012–13 2. Bundesliga, Relegation play-offs
Dynamo Dresden won 2–1 on aggregate and retained its 2. Bundesliga spot for the 2013–14 season.


2012–13 2. Frauen-Bundesliga
The 2012–13 season of the Women's 2nd Fußball-Bundesliga was the ninth season of Germany's second-tier women's football league.


2012–13 2. Frauen-Bundesliga
BV Cloppenburg and 1899 Hoffenheim gained promotion to the 2013–14 Fußball-Bundesliga (women) season, by respectively winning the North and South groups. 1. FFC Recklinghausen and BW Hohen Neuendorf will play each other as they finished in the tenth position from each groups, for the playoff match to determine the fifth team that will be relegated.


2012–13 2. Frauen-Bundesliga, Relegation Play-off
Blau-Weiß Hohen Neuendorf won the play-off 6–3 on aggregate and remained in the second division.


2012–13 2. Liga (Slovakia)
The 2012–13 season of the 2. Liga is the 20th season of the second-tier football league in Slovakia, since its establishment in 1993.


2012–13 2. Liga (Slovakia)
Twelve teams compete in the league, with bottom two sides being relegated to the Slovak third level.


2012–13 2. Liga (Slovakia), Results
The schedule consisted of three rounds. The two first rounds consisted of a conventional home and away round-robin schedule. The pairings of the third round were set according to the 2011–12 final standings. Every team played each opponent once for a total of 11 games per team.


2012–13 2. národní hokejová liga season
The 2012–13 2. národní hokejová liga season was the 20th season of the 2nd Czech Republic Hockey League, the third level of ice hockey in the Czech Republic. 30 teams participated in the league, and VSK Technika Brno, AZ Havířov, and HC Tábor qualified for the qualification round of the 1st Czech Republic Hockey League.


2012–13 2. národní hokejová liga season, Playoffs, Group: Center
VSK Technika Brno proceeded directly to the qualification round of the 1st Czech Republic Hockey League after winning their final series. They qualified for the 1st Czech Republic Hockey League.


2012–13 2. národní hokejová liga season, Playoffs, Group: East
AZ Havířov proceeded directly to the qualification round of the 1st Czech Republic Hockey League after winning their final series. They qualified for the 1st Czech Republic Hockey League.


2012–13 2. národní hokejová liga season, Playoffs, Group: West
HC Tábor proceeded directly to the qualification round of the 1st Czech Republic Hockey League after winning their final series. They qualified for the 1st Czech Republic Hockey League.


2012–13 2. národní hokejová liga season, 2. Liga Promotion - Qualification, Group C
HC Orlová (Moravian champion) won Group C automatically as the winners of the South Moravian and Zlin regional championships declined to participate.


2012–13 3. Liga
The 2012–13 3. Liga was the fifth season of the 3. Liga, Germany's third-level football league. The season began on the weekend of 21 July 2012 and ended with the last games on 18 May 2013, with a winter break held between the weekends around 15 December 2012 and 26 January 2013.


2012–13 3. Liga
The league consisted of twenty teams: The teams placed fourth through seventeenth of the 2011–12 season, the worst two teams from the 2011–12 2nd Bundesliga, the three division champions of the 2011–12 Fußball-Regionalliga and the losers of the relegation play-off between the 16th-placed 2nd Bundesliga team and the third-placed 3rd Liga team.


2012–13 3. Liga, Teams
At the end of the 2011–12 season, SV Sandhausen and VfR Aalen were directly promoted to the 2012–13 2nd Bundesliga. Sandhausen, having been a charter member of the 3rd Liga for its first four seasons, left the third level after five seasons overall, while Aalen celebrated their second consecutive promotion within twelve months. The two promoted teams were replaced by Alemannia Aachen and Hansa Rostock, who finished in the bottom two places of the 2011–12 2nd Bundesliga table and thus were directly relegated. Aachen gave their debut in the 3rd Liga, returning to the third level after thirteen seasons, while Rostock returned to the league after only one year in the second tier.


2012–13 3. Liga, Teams
On the other end of the table, Rot-Weiß Oberhausen, FC Carl Zeiss Jena and SV Werder Bremen II were relegated to the 2012–13 Fußball-Regionalliga; Oberhausen entered the newly formed Regionalliga West, with Jena going to the Regionalliga Nordost and Werder Bremen reserves being admitted to the Regionalliga Nord. The three relegated teams will be replaced by the champions of the three 2011–12 Regionalliga divisions.


2012–13 3. Liga, Teams
Borussia Dortmund II from the Western division and Stuttgarter Kickers from the Southern Division returned after absences of two and three years respectively, while Hallescher FC from the Northern division will return to a national level of football for the first time since the 1991–92 2nd Bundesliga season and to third level after 18 years.


2012–13 3. Liga, Teams
A further place in the league was available via a two-legged play-off between third-placed 2011–12 3rd Liga team Jahn Regensburg and 16th-placed 2011–12 2. Bundesliga sides Karlsruher SC. The tie ended 3–3 on aggregate and saw Jahn promoted via the away goal rule. Being a charter member of the 3rd Liga, Regensburg returned to the second level after eight years in the third tier of the German football league system; in turn, Karlsruhe gave their debut in the 3rd Liga after finishing a three-year 2nd Bundesliga spell, returning to the third level for the first time since the 2000–01 season in the process.