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The Year in Review - BET.com recaps the top national news stories of 2012. – Britt Middleton

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Sandy Hook Victims Mourned - Twenty children and six adults were killed when gunman Adam Lanza opened fire at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut, on Dec. 14. The tragedy would intensify debate over gun control laws in the United States. (Photo: AP Photo/David Goldman)

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NRA Speaks Out After Newtown Shootings - Following the Newtown shootings, the National Rifle Association broke its silence and attacked critics calling for tighter gun laws. NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre blamed mass shootings on violent video games and movies and called for armed guards to patrol schools. (Photo: AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)

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N.C. Judge Commutes 3 Death Sentences; Cites Bias  - A North Carolina judge ruled in December that prosecutors purposely tried to reduce the number of Black jurors in the cases of three convicted killers, two of which who are Black and one who is a Lumbee Indian. The judge based his ruling under the state’s Racial Justice Act, which allows death row inmates to appeal their sentences if they can prove race played an unjust role in their conviction. (AP Photo/The Fayetteville Observer, Raul R. Rubiera) 

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The Mayan Apocalypse - To the uninitiated, Dec. 21 was just another day, but to the superstitious it signaled the end of the world based on some interpretations of the Mayan Long Count Calendar. According to Mayan scholars, the Dec. 21 date was simply the culmination of a 400-year cycle called a b'ak'tun — an ancient Mayan unit of time. (Photo: Franicisco Martin/Landov/EPA)

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Same-Sex Marriage Goes Before the Supreme Court - For the first time, the U.S. Supreme Court announced in December that it would rule on same-sex marriage, looking specifically at cases concerning California’s Proposition 8 and the Defense of Marriage Act. (Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

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Yet Another Racist Receipt  - The trend of service employees writing racist names was a trend that refused to die in 2012. One of the more notable and disgusting incidents happened at a New York City Papa John’s Pizza in January. An Asian-American woman tweeted a photo of the receipt in which an employee typed in her order as “lady chinky eyes.” (Photo: Courtesy Gawker)

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Trayvon Martin Shooting - In February, the nation's attention shifted to the suburbs of Orlando, Florida, where 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was shot by neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman. Zimmerman claims he shot Trayvon, who was unarmed, in self-defense under Florida's controversial "Stand Your Ground" law. (Photo: UPI via Newscom)

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Paging Doc McStuffins - Adding more diversity to its lineup, the Disney Channel introduced the adorable Doc McStuffins cartoon in March to high ratings. The show revolves around a 6-year-old African-American girl who runs a clinic for broken toys in her playhouse.  (Photo: Courtesy Disney)

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Fifteen Charged in Florida A&M Hazing Death - In May, 15 former members of the Florida A&M marching band were charged in the hazing death of drum major Robert Champion, pictured above. Two months later, university president James Ammons resigned from his post. (Photo: Courtesy of Florida A&M University)

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Obama's Supports Same-Sex Marriage  - President Obama added another first to his tenure in May when he endorsed same-sex marriage, the first U.S. president to do so.  (Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

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USDA Discrimination Lawsuit Wraps Up - African-American farmers were given until May to claim their share of a more than $1 billion class action lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture. USDA reached a settlement in 2010 after it was found to have discriminated against Blacks between the years of 1981 and 1996. (Photo: Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)

Photo By Photo: Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call

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The Beginning of the Zombie Apocalypse? - In May, a Miami man high on marijuana gnawed on the face of another man until he was fatally shot by police. In the weeks that followed, a string of similarly violent incidents made headlines, resulting from people getting high on synthetic drugs marketed as "bath salts." (Photo: AP Photo/Miami-Dade Police Dept.)

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Jahessye Shockley Case Goes Cold - In June, Arizona police concluded search efforts for the body of five-year-old Jahessye Shockley, who disappeared in October 2011. Jahessye's mother, Jerice Hunter, has been accused of physically abusing the child and remains the only suspect in the case. (AP Photo/Maricopa County Sheriffs Office)

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Mega-Church Pastor Creflo Dollar Charged With Battery - Pastor Creflo Dollar, leader of Atlanta's World Changers Church International, was arrested in June after his 15-year-old daughter claimed he kicked and punched her following an argument. Dollar vehemently denied those allegations. (Photo: AP Photo/Fayette County Sheriff's Office, File)

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Rodney King Found Dead - Rodney King, whose 1991 beating by white Los Angeles Police Department officers spurred riots in the city, was found dead in an apparent drowning accident at his home on Jun. 17, 2012. King had PCP, cocaine and marijuana in his system at the time of his death. (Photo: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

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Bad Fashion Sense - In June, Adidas canned its new sneakers that featured plastic ankle shackles following public outcry that they mocked slavery. (Photo: Courtesy Adidas)

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Supreme Court Approves Affordable Care Act  - On Jun. 28, in a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the much-contested mandate in President Obama's Affordable Care Act requiring all individuals to have health insurance. (Photo: AP Photo/David Goldman)

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The God Particle - In July, scientists discovered the Higgs boson, nicknamed "The God Particle," which is space matter that populates the universe and explains why particles have mass and, arguably, explains the origins of the universe. (Photo: Courtesy CERN)

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Movie Theater Massacre  - On July 20, a lone gunman believed to be 24-year-old James Holmes opened fire inside a midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises at an Aurora, Colorado, movie theater, killing 12 people and injuring 58 others. (Photo: EPA/BOB PEARSON /LANDOV)

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Chick-fil-A Gay Marriage Fallout  - Chick-fil-A president Dan Cathy's public condemnation of same-sex marriage in July fired up marriage equality advocates and exposed the fast food chain's history of supporting anti-gay groups. (Photo: Facebook)

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Bankruptcy Sweeps Local Governments - Scranton, Pennsylvania, Stockton, California, and Detroit were among cities driven to the financial brink this summer. (Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

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Chavis Carter Death Ruled Suicide  - Accusations of police misconduct arose after Chavis Carter was shot in the head while handcuffed in the back of a police car in Arkansas. In August, an autopsy report confirmed the 21-year-old's death by suicide.  (Photo: AP Photo/Danny Johnston)

Photo By AP Photo/Danny Johnston

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Sikh Temple Shooter Linked to White Supremacy - In August, Wade Michael Page was accused of killing six people worshiping at a Sikh Temple in Wisconsin before fatally shooting himself in the head. According to officials, Page had ties to white supremacy groups and played in a skinhead rock band. (Photo: FBI via Getty Images)

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Curiosity Rover Makes Contact - Curiosity Rover, an SUV-sized space rover, successfully landed on the planet Mars on Aug. 6, beginning its two-year mission to determine if the Red Planet ever had the environment to support life. (Photo: Bill Ingalls/NASA via Getty Images)

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Police Cleared in Jordan Miles Beating  - In August, a federal judge cleared three white Pittsburgh police officers in the 2010 beating of then 18-year-old Jordan Miles. The officers suspected Miles, who was unarmed and had no criminal record, was prowling near a neighbor's home. (Photo: Courtesy of Post Gazette)

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Disappearance of Amir Jennings  - In September, the mother of 18-month-old Amir D'Rod Jennings, was sentenced to a maximum of 10 years in prison after she refused to tell authorities about her son's whereabouts. Amir has been missing since December 2011. (Photo: Tim Dominick, Landov/The State/MCT)

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NASA Endeavor Retired in California  - Strapped to the back of a special Boeing 747, NASA's space shuttle Endeavour took a historic three-day flight around the country in September before being retired at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. (Photo: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

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iPhone 5 Hits Stores - In September, die hard Apple fans drove sales for the new iPhone 5 to a record-setting five million in its first weekend alone. Click here for the top tech news of the year.  (Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

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Arizona Judge OKs “Show Your Papers” Immigration Law - In September, a U.S. district judge lifted an injunction on Section 2B of Senate Bill 1070, Arizona's controversial immigration law that allows authorities to verify the immigration status of anyone they think may have entered the country illegally. (Photo: AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)

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Manifest Destiny Shirt Goes Too Far? - The Gap clothing store pulled its controversial "Manifest Destiny" shirt from stores in October because the slogan refers to a 19th-century concept that led to the slaughter of millions of Native-Americans. (Photo: courtesy Gap)

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D.C. Sniper Expresses Remorse - On the 10th anniversary of the shootings, D.C. sniper Lee Boyd Malvo spoke out to victims' families in October, asking them to not allow the actions of him or his accomplice John Allen Muhammad "to victimize you for the rest of your life." (Photo: AP Photo/Chris Gardner, Pool, File)

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Hurricane Sandy Slams the East Coast - In late October Hurricane Sandy's heavy rains and winds battered the Eastern seaboard, leaving a trail of destruction across several states, leaving millions without power and causing the deaths of more than 150 people in the U.S. and Caribbean. (Photo: Mike Stobe/Getty Images

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Elmo Puppeteer Kevin Clash Resigns Amid Underage Sex Claims  - A scandal rocked Sesame Street in November when Elmo puppeteer Kevin Clash faced allegations that he had a sexually relationship with three different accusers when they were underage. (Photo: AP Photo/Victoria Will, file)

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Another Unarmed Black Teen Killed in Florida  - The shooting death of 17-year-old Jordan Davis in November drew comparisons to the Trayvon Martin tragedy and again called into question Florida's controversial "Stand Your Ground" law. After asking Davis and his friends to turn down their music, Michael David Dunn fired into their car, killing Davis. Dunn says he fired his gun at the Jacksonville gas station because he felt threatened by Dunn. (Photos: CNN)

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Strauss-Kahn Settles Lawsuit With NYC Hotel Maid - In November Former International Monetary Fund Chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn settled an ongoing lawsuit with the New York City housekeeper, who accused him of trying to rape her last year. Details of the agreement were not made public. (Photo: AP Photo, File)