Below are some of the best photos of 2011 from around the globe. Warning: All images in this entry are shown in full, not screened out for graphic content. Some images contain dead bodies, graphic content and tragic events. The staff at the blog all consider these images an important part of human history.
A woman holds a wounded relative at a mosque that was turned into a hospital by anti-government protesters during clashes with security forces in Sanaa, the capitol of Yemen, Oct. 15, 2011. At least 12 antigovernment protesters were killed by forces loyal to embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh near the Foreign Ministry and at least four civilians were killed in a battle near the airport, opposition officials said. (The New York Times)
PATTANI, THAILAND - AUGUST 12: Thai Muslim women pray during a special evening prayer during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan at the Pattani Central Mosque on August 12, 2011 in Pattani, southern Thailand. The long evening prayer comes after Iftar, the breaking of the day-long fast from sunrise to sunset. (Photo by Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)
President Barack Obama is seen silhouetted inside Marine One helicopter during his arrival on the South Lawn of the White House, Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2011 in Washington. Obama made an unannounced trip to Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware, to pay tribute to the 30 U.S. troops killed over the weekend in Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel of Germany steers his car during the free practice for the F1 Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium, Saturday, Aug. 27, 2011. The F1 race will be held on Sunday. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)
The stage collapses at the Indiana State Fair August 13, 2011 in Indianapolis, Indiana. The stage fell just before country duo Sugarland were scheduled to perform, killing at least four people and injuring as many as 40 more. (Photo by Joey Foley/Getty Images)
Billy Stinson (L) comforts his daughter Erin Stinson as they sit on the steps where their cottage once stood before it was destroyed by Hurricane Irene August 28, 2011 in Nags Head, North Carolina. The cottage, built in 1903, was one of the first vacation cottages built on Roanoke Soundin 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. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
SoHo residents Amy Eagle (R) and Rich Thompson take an early morning walk just before high tide along the World Financial Center Esplanade as the effects of Hurricane Irene are felt in Manhattan August 28, 2011 in New York City. Hurricane Irene made a second landfall near Atlantic City, New Jersey early Sunday morning, battering the northeast with high winds and rain. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
People run from gunfire followed by rocket attacks near the U.S Embassy and NATO headquarters in Kabul, Sept. 13, 2011. Insurgents launched a complex assault against the embassy and NATO complex on Tuesday, pelting the heavily guarded compounds with rockets in an attack that raised new questions about the security of Afghanistanâs capital and the Westerners working there. (Kuni Takahashi/The New York Times)
A child waves a flag of the State of Israel during part of a march with Jewish settlers in Itamar on the West Bank, Sept. 20, 2011. At least 200 settlers protested against Palestinian plans to seek United Nations endorsement of their statehood on Tuesday, many marching on a main road linking Nablus and Ramallah. (Rina Castelnuovo/The New York Times)
A man suspected of smuggling marijuana across the U.S. border from Mexico is detained by U.S. Border patrols agents in Douglas, Ariz., Sept. 26, 2011. The area, which used to be one of the major crossing points in Arizona, illustrates the cat-and-mouse nature of stopping crossers, the permeability of the much-ballyhooed border fence and the fact that, no matter the dire rhetoric often heard in political circles, crossings at this stretch of border are nowhere near what they once was. (Joshua Lott/The New York Times)
Blackpool, England - September 01: A visitor tries out the new glass Skywalk at the top of the refurbished Blackpool Tower on September 1, 2011 in Blackpool, England. After a 20million GBP refurbishment the iconic seaside Blackpool Tower opened today to the general public. The observation deck at the top of the tower becomes the Blackpool Tower Eye and features a skywalk made of glass overlooking the sea and the promenade. The opening is part of Blackpool's 250million GBP regeneration project. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)
Lightning flashes during a thunderstorm early on September 13, 2011 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Stormy weather is expected to continue through Thursday.
Robert Peraza, who lost his son Robert David Peraza in the attacks at the World Trade Center, pauses at his son's name at the North Pool of the 9/11 Memorial before the 10th anniversary ceremony at the site, Sunday Sept. 11, 2011, in New York. (AP Photo/Justin Lane, Pool)
A P-51 Mustang airplane crashes into the edge of the grandstands at the Reno Air show on Friday, Sept. 16, 2011 in Reno Nevada. The World War II-era fighter plane flown by a veteran Hollywood stunt pilot Jimmy Leeward plunged Friday into the edge of the grandstands during the popular air race creating a horrific scene strewn with smoking debris. (AP Photo/Ward Howes)
University of California, Davis Police Lt. John Pike uses pepper spray to move Occupy UC Davis protesters while blocking their exit from the school's quad in Davis, Calif on November 18, 2011. Pike, the riot-clad police officer who pepper sprayed a row of peaceful Occupy Wall Street protesters at a California university last week, is a retired U.S. Marine sergeant twice honored for his police work on campus. (AP Photo/The Enterprise, Wayne Tilcock)
Current British long jump champion J.J. Jegede is silhouetted as he performs an exhibition jump over three Mini cars backdropped by Tower Bridge in London, Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2011. The event took place Wednesday to mark the launch of the Mini London 2012 edition models, of which 2,012 will be produced ahead of the London 2012 Olympic Games. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)
In this handout image provided by NASA, The Soyuz TMA-21 spacecraft, carrying Expedition 28 Commander Andrey Borisenko and Flight Engineers Ron Garan, and Alexander Samokutyaev, lands in a remote area on September 16, 2001 outside of the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan. NASA astronaut Garan and Russian cosmonauts Borisenko and Samokuttayevare returning from more than five months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 27 and 28 crews. (Photo by NASA via Getty Images)
Sirte, Libya - October 14: National Transitional Council (NTC) fighters take part in a street battle in the center of the city on October 14, 2011 in Sirte, Libya. NTC fighters say this is the final assault on Muammar Gaddafi's home town as they capture the main hospital, university and the Ouagadougou Conference Center. (Photo by Majid Saeedi/Getty Images)
Libyan rebel fighters fire their machine guns toward loyalist positions down town Sirte, Libya, Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2011. Libyan revolutionary forces fought building by building Wednesday against the final pocket of resistance in Moammar Gadhafi's hometown - the last major city in Libya to have been under the control of forces loyal to the fugitive leader. (AP Photo/Manu Brado)
Las Vegas - September 15: during the Las Vegas Indy 300 part of the IZOD IndyCar World Championships presented by Honda on September 15, 2011 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Robert Laberge/Getty Images)
Athens, Greece - October 19: Demonstrators clashes with police during a protest against plans for new austerity measures Octiber 19, 2011 in Athens, Greece. Greece's largest labor unions have called for a 48-hour strike, while the Socialist government is beginning to push through legislation for cost cutting reforms. (Photo by Milos Bicanski/Getty Images)
In this handout provided by Maritime New Zealand, fuel pumping between the stranded cargo vessel Rena and oil tanker Awanuia continues on October 20, 2011 in Tauranga, New Zealand. Salvage crews continue to pump oil off the ship in an effort to remove as much as possible before bad weather predicted for the evening threatens to break the vessel and release more oil into the sea. Over 300 tonnes of oil has leaked from Rena since it hit the reef on October 5. (Photo by Maritime New Zealand via Getty Images)
A protester's face is cleaned after he was pepper-sprayed by police at the "Occupy Denver" camp on October 29, 2011 in Denver, Colorado. 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. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)
An aerial view of Honda vehicles at the flooded Honda factory in the Rojuna Industrial district on November 14, 2011 in Ayutthaya, Thailand. While the city of Ayutthaya is recovering from the floods the factories have remained underwater over the last month. Thailand has experienced it's worst flooding in over 50 years and is now into it's third month having affected over 25 of Thailand's 64 provinces. Over 500 people have died in flood-related incidents since late July according to the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation. (Photo by Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)
Rescue workers evacuate a woman after a fire engulfed Amri hospital in the eastern Indian city of Kolkata on December 9, 2011. More than 60 people were killed when a fire engulfed a hospital, with many victims believed to be patients who died of smoke inhalation. AFP PHOTO/STR (Photo credit should read STRDEL/AFP/Getty Images)
This file picture taken on December 6, 2011 shows 12-year-old Afghan girl Tarana Akbari (C) wearing a bright green robe as she stands among bodies and injured people shortly after a bomb exploded outside a riverside shrine in Kabul during the celebrations of the Shiite holy day of Ashura. After a suicide bomber ripped apart the lives of Tarana's family and scores of others, the image of her standing horrified in the blood-stained outfit came for many to symbolise Afghanistan's violent present and its uncertain future. AFP PHOTO/FILES/Massoud HOSSAINI (Photo credit should read MASSOUD HOSSAINI/AFP/Getty Images)
Protesters gather in Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt, Monday, Nov. 21, 2011. Security forces fired tear gas and clashed Monday with several thousand protesters in Cairo's Tahrir Square in the third straight day of violence that has killed dozens of people and has turned into the most sustained challenge yet to the rule of Egypt's military. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
A plane flies over the northern New Jersey sky with the full moon in the background, Saturday, Dec. 10, 2011, in Newark, N.J. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
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