Steve Jobs’ Death and Occupy Wall Street Round Out the Top 10 Biggest Events of 2011

During a meet-and-greet organized by US Rep. Gabrielle Giffords at an Arizona grocery store, a deranged man went on a shooting spree that killed six and wounded 13 others. Despite a bullet to the head at close range, Rep. Giffords survived and continues her miraculous recovery.

When the Egyptian president's decades-long rule came to an end after a revolution powered largely by a social media movement, hundreds of thousands of people took to Cairo's Tahrir Square to celebrate the fall of a man many had feared for years.

A massive 9.0 earthquake that struck off the coast of Japan sparked a tsunami that engulfed large parts of the north-eastern portion of the country and damaged the Fukushima nuclear plant, causing the worst nuclear crisis in decades.

In a covert operation ordered by President Barack Obama, special forces killed the world's most-wanted terrorist and 9/11 mastermind after finding him in Pakistan.

In years past, raising the US debt ceiling has been a routine matter with little fanfare. But this year it became a political football as members of both parties waged a bitter battle that shook worldwide faith in the US economy.

The Florida woman accused of killing her toddler daughter became a media sensation after lawyer and talk show host Nancy Grace gave the case a national spotlight, and Anthony's subsequent acquittal outraged many and lead to death threats for the jurors.

Inspired by the Middle East's discontent with many of its leaders, the OWS movement -- comprised of citizens upset about social and economic inequality -- began in New York City and has spread to cities all over the world, becoming the most prolonged protest in US history.

After serving four years of a 26-year sentence for the sexual assault and murder of her British roommate in Perugia, Italy, Amanda Knox was freed. An appeals court overturned the decision, freeing her co-defendant and former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, as well. Knox collapsed in tears when the jury read the verdict after their 11-hour deliberation.

After an eight-year battle with cancer, the Apple visionary and creative genius finally succumbed to the disease, sending countless tech aficionados the world over into a state of mourning.

A civil uprising supported by NATO airstrikes drove the longtime Libyan dictator into hiding, where he was eventually captured and killed at the hands of his own people.