New York's 1010 WINS used to remind listeners, "You give us 22 minutes, we'll give you the world." With some hard work and clever editing, we've gotten that down to less than five for you.
You give us four minutes and fifty-two seconds, we'll give you the definitive retrospective of the most significant year in recent memory, 12 powerful months marked by fighting for freedom, protesting inequality, watching in awe the fury of nature and wincing at sex and abuse scandals.
The year began with birds dropping out of the sky and ended with dictators heading into the ground. Bookended by the Aflockalypse and Kim Jong-il's death, 2011 gave us everything: Osama. Occupy. Tsunami. Royal Wedding. Jobs. Egypt. Arab Spring. Phone Hacking. Norway. Gadhafi. Sandusky. Weiner. Sheen. Ted Williams. Cain. Casey Anthony. And much more. All in one wild year.
Now, sit back, and take a look at the people, places and events that shook us all year long:
What an incredible span. That could have run an hour and contained 30 more subjects. Think we left something out? Feel free to note your objections in the comments section below.
Many thanks to our brilliant film editor Steve T. Conroy, who makes pure magic.