This year's been a big one for news. Three dictators — Tunisia's Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, Egypt's Hosni Mubarak and Libya's Mummar Gaddafi — were ousted from power as their countries revolted against their regimes. Navy SEALs (along with a German Shepherd) found and killed Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in a compound in Abottabad, Pakistan. The euro hovered on the brink of collapse.

But there was more. Pizza became a vegetable, we came even closer to finding the God particle and Herman Cain kept us thoroughly entertained.

Here's to 2012. But before we get there, here's the annual GlobalPost guide to what became popular in 2011, and what went out.

                                                                     

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