Getty Images/Chip Somodevilla
Speaker of the House John Boehner, right, wipes his eyes as outgoing Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi prepares to hand over over the speaker's gavel following his election in the House chamber Jan. 5, 2011 in Washington, D.C. The 112th U.S. Congress was sworn-in, with Republican legislators taking control of the House of Representatives and expected to begin attempts to dismantle portions of U.S. President Barack Obama's legislative agenda.
AP Photo/James Palka
Two people embrace each other at the scene where Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., and others were shot outside a Safeway grocery store in Tucson, Ariz. on Saturday, Jan. 8, 2011. Giffords was meeting with constituents when a gunman opened fire. Jared Lee Loughner was charged in the shooting, which killed six people and injured 13 more. Rep. Giffords survived the attack and is recovering.
Getty Images/Chip Somodevilla
A man dressed as George Washington is saluted by Jim Griffin of Fort Washington, Md., who is dressed as Captain America, while they stand outside the Supreme Court building and cheer on thousands of abortion rights opponents marchers during the March for Life on Jan. 24, 2011, in Washington, DC. The annual march marks the anniversary of the landmark Roe v. Wade decision by the Supreme Court that made abortion legal in the United States.
Getty Images/Scott Olson
Cars sit in the northbound lanes of Lake Shore Drive after accidents and drifting snow stranded the drivers during a blizzard on Feb. 1-2, 2011 in Chicago. The snowstorm was the third largest recorded in the city.
AP Photo/Charles Dharapak
President Barack Obama outlines his fiscal policy during an address at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., on April 13, 2011.
AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais
President Barack Obama reads his statement to photographers after making a televised statement on the death of Osama bin Laden from the East Room of the White House in Washington, on May 1, 2011.
AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta
Crowds gathers outside the White House in Washington early on May 2, 2011, to celebrate after President Barack Obama announced the death of Osama bin Laden.
AP Photo/Julio Cortez
International Monetary Fund leader Dominique Strauss-Kahn, center, is brought into the Municipal Court on May 16, 2011, in New York. Strauss-Kahn was accused of sexually assaulting a maid in his hotel room. (Charges against Strauss-Kahn were dropped on Aug. 23, 2011.)
Getty Images/Scott Olson
The historic Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroad Station is surrounded by floodwater on May 17, 2011, in Vicksburg, Miss. Heavy rains left the ground saturated, rivers swollen, and have caused widespread flooding along the Mississippi River from Illinois to Louisiana.
AP Photo/Gerald Herbert
An old school bus sits in floodwaters from the rising Mississippi River in St. Francisville, La., where a dozen homes and businesses, and several camps were flooded, on May 20, 2011.
Getty Images/Mario Tama
Christal Comstock sits outside her family home which was destroyed when a massive tornado passed through the town, killing 161 people in Joplin, Mo. The tornado, that ripped through the town of about 50,000 people on May 22, 2011, is being called the deadliest single tornado in the U.S. in 60 years.
Getty Images/Joe Raedle
Shanie Spencer salvages what she can from what remains of her house on May 28, 2011, in Joplin, Mo. After the town was hit by a massive tornado that killed 161 people, denizens continue the process of recovering from the storm.
Getty Images/Joe Raedle
Katlyn Wilkins (in tree) and Andrea Wilkins Morelli work on securing an American flag on May 29, 2011, as they deal with the destruction caused by a massive tornado that passed through Joplin, Mo. The tornado, which killed 161 people, hit Joplin on May 22, 2011.
AP Photo/Steve Helber
Rescue personnel work on a bus that overturned on May 31, 2011, in Bowling Green, Va. The commercial tour bus went off Interstate 95 in Virginia and flipped on its roof, killing four people and injuring many more, state police said.
Getty Images/Kevork Djansezian
A butterfly hovers over a flower as smoke rises around the Lee Valley Recreational area in the Apache National Forest during back burn operations as the Wallow Fire continued to burn June 12, 2011, in Big Lake, Ariz. The fire destroyed thousands of structures.
AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast
Floodwaters from the Souris River surround homes and a back hoe on 3rd St. N.W. near Minot State University on June 27, 2011m in Minot, N.D. As the river hit its record-shattering peak and began a slow retreat, residents looked ahead to an arduous rebuilding job while continuing to deal with short-term obstacles such as sharing the homes of friends and relatives, traffic tie-ups and an advisory to boil drinking water.
Getty Images/Darren McCollester
Republican candidates (left to right) former House Speaker Newt Gingrich laughs along with former Governor Mitt Romney and U.S. Rep. Ron Paul prior to their debate June 13, 2011, at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, N.H. This was the first debate for the GOP contenders in the "First in the Nation" primary state of New Hampshire.
Pool,AP Photo/Red Huber
Casey Anthony reacts after the jury acquitted her of murdering her daughter, Caylee, during Anthony's murder trial at the Orange County Courthouse in Orlando, Fla., on July 5, 2011.
Getty Images/Chip Somodevilla
Space shuttle Atlantis blasts off from launch pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center on July 8, 2011 in Cape Canaveral, Fla. This lift off was the last in the 30-year-old shuttle program.
AP Photo/ Houston Chronicle, Smiley N. Pool
The drag chute is deployed as the space shuttle Atlantis lands at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, completing STS-135, the final mission of the NASA shuttle program, on July 21, 2011.
Getty Images/Mario Tama
John Feinblatt, right and Jonathan Mintz, left celebrate after marrying with their daughters Maeve and Georgia at Gracie Mansion on July 24, 2011 in New York City. The longtime partners work at City Hall for Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who officiated the wedding; July 24 marked the first day same-sex couples were allowed to legally marry in New York state.
AP Photo/Richard Drew
Specialist Michael Pistillo, left, calls out prices as he works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on July 27, 2011.
AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez
Texas State Park police officer Thomas Bigham walks across the cracked lake bed of O.C. Fisher Lake on Aug. 3, 2011, in San Angelo, Texas. A bacteria called chromatiaceae has turned the 1-to-2 acres of lake water remaining the color red. A combination of the long periods of 100-plus degree days and the lack of rain in the drought-stricken region has dried up the lake that once spanned over 5,400 acres.
Getty Images/Joey Foley
The stage collapses at the Indiana State Fair on Aug. 13, 2011 in Indianapolis. The stage fell just before country duo Sugarland were scheduled to perform. Five people were killed, and dozens more injured, in the collapse.
Getty Images/Joe Raedle
President Barack Obama speaks at a town hall-style meeting at the Seed Savers Exchange on Aug. 15, 2011 in Decorah, Iowa. Obama was on a three-day bus tour of Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois where he spoke with people about economic issues.
Getty Images/Mark Wilson
A U.S. Army carry team moves the remains of U.S. Army Spc. Joseph A. Van Dreumel during a transfer at Dover Air Force Base on Aug. 17, 2011 in Dover, Del. Spc. Van Dreumel, who was from Grand Rapids, Mich., was killed while participating in combat operations in Afghanistan.
AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin
The statue of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is seen unveiled from scaffolding during the soft opening of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial in Washington, on Aug. 22, 2011. The memorial was supposed to be officially dedicated later that month, but the ceremony had to be postponed due to Hurricane Irene. It was eventually dedicated on Oct. 16, 2011.
Getty Images/Scott Olson
Billy Stinson comforts his daughter Erin Stinson as they sit on the steps where their cottage once stood before it was destroyed by Hurricane Irene on Aug. 28, 2011 in Nags Head, N.C. The cottage, built in 1903, was one of the first vacation cottages built on Roanoke Sound in Nags Head. Stinson has owned the home, which is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, since 1963. "We were pretending, just for a moment, that the cottage was still behind us and we were just sitting there watching the sunset," said Erin afterward.
Getty Images/Brendan Hoffman
Branches litter an alley as a result of Hurricane Irene on Aug. 28, 2011, in Virginia Beach, Va. The hurricane made landfall in North Carolina and Virginia and then moved further up the East Coast.
Getty Images/Chip Somodevilla
High winds from Hurricane Irene knocked down five large trees in front of the East River Cooperative Village apartment buildings along Grand Street on Aug. 28, 2011, in New York City. The hurricane hit New York as a Category 1 storm before being downgraded to a tropical storm.
AP Photo/Sandy Macys
A person searches for anyone who may be occupying a building as raging flood waters from Tropical Storm Irene cross Route 100, closing the main road to traffic in Waitsfield, Vt., Aug. 28, 2011.
Getty Images/Mario Tama
People view the Tribute in Light from the Top of the Rock observation deck on Sept. 10, 2011, in New York City. The Tribute in Light is an art installation honoring those who perished in the 9/11 attacks. The following day, New York City and the nation marked the tenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on lower Manhattan which resulted in the deaths of 2,753 people at the World Trade Center. There were also services at the Pentagon and in Shanksville, Pa., the site where United Airlines flight 93 crashed into a field.
AP Photo/Mary Altaffer
Nancy Gregory hugs her sons Carl, left, and Gregory as they pay their respects to her husband firefighter Ken Kumpel at the National September 11 Memorial during a ceremony marking the 10th anniversary of the attacks at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2011, in New York.
AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite
Secret Service counter-sniper team looks out from atop the flag-draped Pentagon during a 10th anniversary remembrance ceremony at the Pentagon Memorial on Sept. 11, 2011.
NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images
People arrive to attend on Sept. 11, 2011, the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, at the newly dedicated Flight 93 memorial at the site where the United plane crashed in Shanksville, Pa.
Getty Images/Mario Tama
Protesters affiliated with the Occupy Wall Street movement are reflected in a stock ticket screen as they march though Lower Manhattan on Oct. 5, 2011 in New York City. Thousands of protesters, including union members and college students from an organized walkout, joined the rally and march.
Getty Images/Andrew Burton
Candles, flowers, and an iPhone with a Steve Jobs photo displayed, are seen in remembrance of Jobs, founder and former CEO of Apple Inc, outside the Apple Store at West 66th Street on Oct. 5, 2011, in New York City. Jobs, 56, passed away Oct. 5, 2011 after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. Jobs co-founded Apple in 1976 and is credited, along with Steve Wozniak, with marketing the world's first personal computer, in addition to the popular iPod, iPhone and iPad.
Getty Images/John Moore
A protester's face is cleaned after he was pepper-sprayed by police at the "Occupy Denver" camp on Oct. 29, 2011, in Denver. Following a march by protesters, police tried to tear down some newly-erected tents at the encampment and and a melee ensued. Police detained about a half dozen people and pepper-sprayed others before calling for reinforcements.
Getty Images/Ethan Miller
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, left and Texas Gov. Rick Perry participate in the Republican presidential debate airing on CNN on Oct. 18, 2011 in Las Vegas. Seven GOP contenders took part in the debate, which was sponsored by the Western Republican Leadership Conference in Las Vegas and held in the Venetian Hotel's Sands Expo and Convention Center.
Al Seib
Dr. Conrad Murray listens as the jury returns with a guilty verdict in his involuntary manslaughter trial Monday, Nov. 7, 2011 in a Los Angeles courtroom. Murray was convicted of involuntary manslaughter after a trial that painted him as a reckless caregiver who administered a lethal dose of a powerful anesthetic that killed the pop star. In late November, Murray received the maximum sentence of four years; he is only expected to serve two years behind bars.
Getty Images/Mario Tama
Occupy Wall Street activists protest near Duarte Square after police removed the protesters early in the morning from Zuccotti Park on Nov. 15, 2011, in New York City. Hundreds of protesters, who rallied against inequality in America, have slept in tents and under tarps since Sept. 17 in Zuccotti Park, which has since become the epicenter of the global Occupy movement. The raid in New York City follows recent similar moves in Oakland, Calif., and Portland, Ore.
AP Photo/Steve Helber
Flowers lie on the ground as a memorial to Virginia Tech police Officer Deriek Crouse who was gunned down during a traffic stop on the campus of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., on Dec. 9, 2011.
AP Photo/Gregory Bojorquez
This image provided by Gregory Bojorquez shows Los Angeles Police officers advancing on a wounded gunman on Dec. 9, 2011, at Sunset and Vine Streets in Los Angeles. Police say the 26-year-old man walked down the middle of a street in Hollywood, firing on passing cars with no clear target until police shot and killed him.
AP Photo/Jim Cole
Republican presidential candidate former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks during a "We the People" Presidential Forum at VFW Post in Hudson, N.H., on Dec. 11, 2011.
AP Photo/Matt Rourke
Jerry Sandusky, the former Penn State assistant football coach charged with sexually abusing boys, leaves the Centre County Courthouse in Bellefonte, Pa., on Dec. 13, 2011, after waiving his preliminary hearing. The decision moves him toward a trial on charges of child sex abuse. At least some of his 10 accusers had been expected to testify at the hearing.
AP Photo/Jessie Ward
Lamont Pride, center, stands at his arraignment for the shooting and death of a New York Police Department officer, Peter Figoski, 22, on Dec. 13, 2011, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. Pride was already wanted in a previous, non-fatal shooting in North Carolina but remained on the streets because arrest warrants didn't require his return there.
AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo
The last vehicles in a convoy of the U.S. Army's 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division crosses the border from Iraq into Kuwait, on Dec. 18, 2011. The brigade's special troops battalion are the last American soldiers to leave Iraq. The U.S. military announced that the last American troops have left Iraq, as the nearly nine-year war ends.
