Photos: From Linsanity to Galloping Gangnam, a Look Back at Asia in 2012

December 31st, 2012

Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (shown here with co-director Daniel Junge, L) became the first Pakistani to win an Oscar for her documentary short "Saving Face" at the 84th Annual Academy Awards in Hollywood, California on February 26, 2012. (Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images)

Jeremy Lin (#17) took both the United States and East Asia by a storm when he became the first American of Taiwanese descent to play for the NBA. Photographed at New York City's Madison Square Garden on March 16, 2012. (Al Bello/Getty Images)

Bo Xilai, Communist Party chief in Chongqing, made headlines when he was stripped of his posts and investigated along with his wife in the death of a British businessman. Photographed at the closing ceremony of the National People's Congress in Beijing on March 14, 2012. (Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images)

In the first six months under Kim Jong Un's leadership, North Korea developed a nuclear warhead that could hit the United States within a few years. Photographed in Pyongyang on April 15, 2012. (Ed Jones/AFP/Getty Images)

Blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng, best known for exposing China's alleged abuses in official family-planning practices, escaped house arrest in China and moved to New York City with his family. Photographed in New York on May 19, 2012. (Andy Jacobsohn/Getty Images)

Sectarian violence and revenge attacks broke out between Buddhists and Muslims in Myanmar's Rakhine state in June. These refugees were trying to enter Teknaf, Bangladesh on June 18, 2012. (Munir uz Zaman/AFP/Getty Images)

North Korean weightlifter Kim Un Guk celebrating the thrill of victory after winning the gold medal at the Olympics in the Men's 62-kilogram division, setting a world record total of 327 kg in London on July 30, 2012. (Yuri Cortez/AFP/GettyImages)

South Korean épée fencer Shin A-Lam after losing due to a clock stoppage issue during the Women's Epee Individual Fencing Semifinals at the Olympics in London on July 30, 2012. (Hannah Johnston/Getty Images)

Pakistani cricketer turned politician Imran Khan led Western activists and thousands of supporters on a defiant march to the tribal belt to protest against U.S. drone strikes in Mianwali, Pakistan, on October 6, 2012. (A Majeed/AFP/GettyImages)

South Korean musician Psy released a video of his song "Gangnam Style" in July 2012 which gained immediate worldwide popularity. Psy performed his famous galloping dance moves in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, on November 11, 2012. (Ian Gavan/Getty Images for MTV)

Indian university students in Delhi celebrated as U.S. President Barack Obama won his second term in office on November 7, 2012. (Roberto Schmidt/AFP/Getty Images)

Malala Yousufzai, a 15-year-old Pakistani activist, was shot by the Taliban on October 9, 2012 for promoting girls' education. Her supporters held her photographs as they stood alongside burning candles at a ceremony to mark "Malala Day" in Karachi on November 10, 2012. (Rizwan Tabassum/AFP/Getty Images)

During his trip to Asia, President Barack Obama became the first U.S. president to visit Myanmar. He kissed opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi at her residence in Yangon on November 19, 2012. (Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images)

Shown here in Stockholm on December 6, 2012, writer Mo Yan became the first Chinese citizen to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. (Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP/Getty Images)

World-renowned Indian sitar maestro Ravi Shankar, shown here in Bangalore on February 7, passed away on December 11, 2012. (Manjunath Kiran/AFP/Getty Images)

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It was a year of many firsts in Asia in 2012.

Asia Society Fellow Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy became the first Pakistani to win an Oscar. The Swedish Academy made Guan Moye, better known by his pen name Mo Yan, became the first Chinese citizen to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. President Barack Obama became the first U.S. president to visit Myanmar. And "Linsanity" swept over Asia as Jeremy Lin became the first American of Taiwanese descent to play for the NBA.

Speaking of sports, it was also a year of Asian athletes sweeping up a significant number of medals at the Summer Olympics in London — amid a few controversies. Meanwhile, a more serious scandal engulfed Chinese Communist Party official Bo Xilai. In another political development, meanwhile, Burmese democracy advocate Aung San Suu Kyi made her first visit to the United States in more than 40 years.

And who could forget the galloping dance moves that took over not just Asia, but seemingly the entire world, with the release of Psy's "Gangnam Style" video?

Here's a look at all those moments and more from Asia in 2012.