Powerful Images from 2011

Robert Peraza, who lost his son Robert David Peraza in 9/11, pauses at his son’s name at the North Pool of the 9/11 Memorial.

A U.S. Army soldier takes five with an Afghan boy during a patrol in Pul-e Alam, a town in Logar province, eastern Afghanistan.

Members of the national security team receive an update on the mission against Osama bin Laden in the Situation Room of the White House on May 1.

Firefighters of Ladder Company 4 — which lost seven men on 9/11 — perched together on their aerial ladder, watching a news bulletin in Times Square declaring that Osama bin Laden was dead on May 2.

Christians protect Muslims during prayer in Cairo, Egypt.

Slain Navy SEAL Jon Tumilson's dog "Hawkeye" lies next to his casket during funeral services in Rockford, Iowa. Tumilson was one of 30 American soldiers killed in Afghanistan on August 6 when their helicopter was shot down during a mission to help fellow troops who had come under fire.

Facebook played an extremely important role in the uprisings throughout the Middle East.

A Libyan rebel is pictured with Gadhafi's golden gun

A monstrous dust storm (Haboob) roared through Phoenix, Arizona in July.

Harold Camping speaks about the end of the world. The world was supposed to end on May 22 of this year.

Hurricane Irene approaches the east coast.

Billy Stinson comforts his daughter Erin Stinson as they sit on the steps where their cottage once stood on August 28 in Nags Head, N.C. The cottage, built in 1903 and destroyed by Hurricane Irene, was one of the first vacation cottages built on Albemarle Sound in Nags Head.

An aerial shot of the damage immediately following the Japanese tsunami.

A before and after shot of Joplin, Missouri after a massive tornado on May 22.

Phyllis Siegel, 76, left, and Connie Kopelov, 84, both of New York, embrace after becoming the first same-sex couple to get married at the Manhattan City Clerk's office.

A phone hangs off the hook on Wall Street.

A University of California Davis police officer pepper-sprays students during their sit-in at an "Occupy UCD" demonstration in Davis, California

84-year-old Dorli Rainey was pepper sprayed during a peaceful march in Seattle, Washington. She would have been thrown to the ground and trampled, but luckily a fellow protester and Iraq vet was there to save her.

A boy looks at a figure of Steve Jobs next to flowers laid in his tribute at an Apple store in Hong Kong, China.

Two lights from the former site of the World Trade Centers shine for the 10th anniversary of 9/11

US gay service members march in a gay pride parade for the first time ever.

Cars are abandoned on Chicago's Lake Shore Drive during the "Snowpocalypse" in February.