January 12 - Haiti earthquake On January 12, a 7.0-magnitude earthquake shook Port-au-Prince, Haiti, toppling buildings and destroying most of the country's infrastructure. The Haitian government estimated 230,000 people were killed, more than 300,000 injured, and more than one million people were left homeless. Humanitarian aid began flowing into the country within hours of the quake. However, it was insufficient to prevent rioting in the economically ravaged nation. January 19 -Scott Brown elected to Senate On January 19, Republican Senate candidate Scott Brown shocked the political world, upsetting Democrat Martha Coakley in a special election for Sen. Ted Kennedy's seat. Brown's victory tipped the Senate away from a Democratic Super Majority. February 18 - Plane flew into IRS building On February 18, Joseph Stack, a 53-year-old software engineer, committed suicide by flying a small plane into an IRS building in Austin, Texas. Thirteen others were hurt, two
"Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity." Martin Luther King Jr.