1. The Black Keys — Akron natives Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney — had another banner year: a song featured during March Madness broadcasts, induction into the Firestone Hall of Fame, five Grammy nominations for their album El Camino and its single Lonely Boy, and one for Dan Auerbach as a producer.
2. The local talk-radio landscape changed dramatically with the deaths of longtime WNIR hosts Howie Chizek in June and Tom Erickson in November.
3. In May, Christie’s auctioned a photograph from the Akron Art Museum’s collection for $2.5 million — Untitled #96, a work by Cindy Sherman. The money raised went to the museum’s endowment to fund future acquisitions.
4. In April, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame held its induction ceremony in Cleveland for the second time. Members of the class of 2012 included the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Guns N’ Roses and the Beastie Boys.
5. Dante Boccuzzi’s restaurant dba opened in July in the high-profile Akron Northside space formerly occupied by Vegiterranean. It marked the first time a member of Cleveland’s hot cadre of chef/restaurant owners has ventured south to open a place in the Akron area.
6. The Avengers, shot partly in Cleveland, and Alex Cross, with scenes filmed at Akron’s Glendale Cemetery and Stan Hywet Hall, were released in theaters. The Avengers was the top movie of the year, selling $1.5 billion in tickets worldwide. And 3 Day Test, the latest film set and shot in Akron by writer-director Corbin Bernsen, was released on DVD in December.
7. Local gardeners and farmers saw plants blooming as much as six weeks early in a freakishly warm spring, then battled a summer drought.
8. Mitchell Kahan announced his decision to retire as director and CEO of the Akron Art Museum. Under his tenure, the museum increased its collection from 2,000 to 5,000 objects, and in 2007 opened the architecturally daring expansion that greatly expanded the exhibit space.
9. Derf Backderf’s graphic novel My Friend Dahmer, drawing on Backderf’s youthful acquaintance with serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer at Revere High School, was published in April and became nationally acclaimed — making, among other things, Time magazine’s list of the best nonfiction books of the year — and a big seller, with French and German editions coming.
10. The Akron Symphony marked its 60th anniversary in April with the premiere of Akron Chronogram, composed by Roger Zahab with a video presentation by Laura Bidwell, both Akron natives. And Tuesday Musical opened its 125th anniversary season by dedicating its new concert piano.