Contemporary · North America · Disaster

2012

Sandy Hook massacre

December 14, 2012

A twenty-year-old man with a semiautomatic assault rifle walked into a quiet elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, and killed twenty first-graders and six adults in less than five minutes before turning the gun on himself. President Obama wept on television. America passed no significant new gun law. The mass-shooting era settled into a grim, unbroken rhythm.

More from 2012 Contemporary

In context

Also in 2012 (4 other events on record)

Higgs boson confirmed · Europe · Science
Curiosity lands on Mars · North America · Science
Malala shot in Swat · South Asia · Politics
London Olympics open · Europe · Culture

Before and after in North America

Before: April 20, 2010: Deepwater Horizon explodes
After: April 15, 2013: Boston Marathon bombing

Before and after in Disaster

Before: March 11, 2011: Tōhoku earthquake and Fukushima
After: April 24, 2013: Rana Plaza collapse

Era

Contemporary (2001–2026), one of 196 events from that era on Saeculum.