As 2011 comes to end, we thought it'd be interesting to look back at the events that made headlines this year, and a few of the bloggers who were there in person (or closely connected to the events) to document history in the making. Here's a recap of some of the biggest news stories of the year, as blogged by WordPress.com users.
January 25: Tens of thousands of people take to the streets of Cairo and other Egyptian cities to demand an end to the rule of President Hosni Mubarak.
Cairo-based journalist Max Strasser reported on the events from Istanbul. Marilyn Gardner posted updates on the situation after speaking with her daughter, who was living in Egypt for school.
Flickr.com/photos/sarahcarr
March 11: Japan is hit with an 8.9-magnitude earthquake, the strongest in its history.
The author of Amblerangel.WordPress.com was at a grocery store in Shibuya-ku when it happened. She recounted the experience in We're Being Shaken and Stirred in Japan. According to Liz Tagami, who was at Narita International Airport when the quake hit, "It started as a silent rolling wave."
Amblerangel.WordPress.com
June 24: New York legalizes same-sex marriage, becoming the largest state in the U.S. to pass the law. It goes into effect thirty days later on July 24, 2011.
TalkAboutEquality.WordPress.com was on site at the New York City Clerk's office to chat with the couples who lined up for marriage licenses, as documented in the post Thousands of New Yorkers Put a Ring on It. In August, Jacob Murphy shared photographs of a pop-up chapel ceremony in New York City's Columbus Circle.
TalkAboutEquality.WordPress.com
July 9: South Sudan becomes the world's newest nation after seceding from Sudan.
Uganda-based photographer Will Boase was there to capture the celebration, which he blogged about in Happy Birthday South Sudan.
TheMzunguDiaries.WordPress.com
July 20: WordPress.com blogger discovers a fake Apple store in Kunming, China.
The author of BirdAbroad.WordPress.com published pictures of the store in a post titled Are You Listening, Steve Jobs?, which quickly caught the attention of major news outlets around the world.
BirdAbroad.WordPress.com
September 11: Americans remember 9/11, ten years later.
In the post 3,652 Days Later, Dale Roe of Project 2,996 declared, "Take this day, not to remember mass murder, but to remember the 2,996 people who are loved and missed." The project uses WordPress.com to organize tributes to the victims of 9/11. Amalie Flynn was just blocks away from the Twin Towers on 9/11. She started SeptemberEleventh.WordPress.com on 9/11/2010 and posted every day last year.
Project2996.WordPress.com
October: The Occupy Wall Street movement gains momentum.
Terrell Starr visited New York's Financial District to document the demonstration. Many Occupy movements like Occupy Oakland, Occupy London, Occupy Albany, and Occupy Together use the WordPress open source software or WordPress.com to power their web sites.
HiddenNewYorkers.com
November 18: UC Davis campus police pepper spray nonviolent protestors, sparking outrage.
The next day, Nathan Brown, an Assistant Professor at UC Davis, wrote an Open Letter to Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi, demanding that the school's chancellor resign.
BicycleBarricade.WordPress.com
Will you be the next blogger to break or cover news live from the field?
Download WordPress for your mobile device and you'll always be prepared to share your perspective with the world! To make your posts easy for others to find, be sure to include relevant tags that indicate the city, venue, or event that you blog about.
What did we miss?
Did you live blog any major news events this year? Leave a comment with a link to the post!
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