Given that each one is 365 (and a bit) days long, it's usually possible to fit in a fair amount of news into the course of a year.
Even so we don't think we're alone in thinking that there has been just a little bit more news this year than usual.
From the Arab Spring to the London riots and from natural disasters to dictators falling like dominos, at almost every turn the news in 2011 has challenged the established order.
We've taken a look back at the biggest stories of the year, as well as the best photos that illustrated them.
The Deep Economic Winter And The Bright Arab Spring
In the UK 2011 began with fresh concerns about the economy, after a rise in VAT to 20% took hold and GDP contracted by around 0.5%.
Across the Arab world, however, 2011 began with severe convulsions to the established political order.
(Above) Egyptian protesters gesture as they stand atop an Egyptian army armored vehicle as they celebrate in downtown Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, Jan. 29, 2011.
A series of protests which began in Tunisia and then spread through North Africa to Libya, Egypt and then Middle East nations including Syria, Bahrain, Qatar and Iran became known as the Arab Spring, and left powers and protesters in the region reeling.
In Tunisia President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali left office after 23 years on 14 January. Eleven days later protests erupted in Cairo against Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Demonstrators filled Tahir Square and violence led to dozens of deaths before Mubarak finally stepped down on 11 February.
Further protests followed, some of which were to have even more violent consequences.
In Libya a group of rebels battling leader Colonel Gaddafi formed themselves into a National Transitional Council in late February, under the leadership of a former justice minister. Gaddafi threatened to destroy the movement, leading to the creation of a no-fly zone enforced by Nato and agreed by the UN. In Libya, and also in Syria, the first days of the Arab Spring were the start of months of fighting, not a quick route to liberation.
MORE: In Pictures - The Most Amazing Photographs Of 2011
Natural Disasters: New Zealand, Japan And Africa
(Above) Seagull fly over debris near the March 11 earthquake and tsunami-destroyed area of Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, northern Japan, Wednesday, March 30, 2011.
Three major natural disasters also struck at the start of 2011.
In New Zealand February saw a powerful earthquake strike close to Christchurch, resulting in widespread damage and the deaths of 172 people.
In a terrible portent of what was to come just a few weeks later, 28 Japanese students were killed in the disaster.
Another earthquake, the strongest recorded in Japan, struck on 11 March about 70 kilometres east of the Oshika Peninsula. It created tsunami waves up to 40 metres in height, and resulted in the deaths of 15,839 people. The quake caused deep damage to infrastructure in the country, leaving 4.4m people without electricity and also causing structural trauma to three nuclear plants. At the Fukushima plant a coolant failure led to the declaration of a state of emergency. Even as late as July radioactive beef was on sale in Tokyo's markets.
(Above) A Somali woman from southern Somalia cares for her malnourished child in Banadir hospital in Mogadishu, Somalia, Saturday, July 23, 2011.
In the Horn of Africa another natural disaster struck in April, although its effects were slower to make their true horror known. When the usual rainy season saw just 30% of the usual amount of precipitation a drought was formd, which by July had created a state of famine in areas of Somalia. The blight later spread to South Suden, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda. Up to 29,000 children under five have been killed as of October 2011 according to aid agencies, with more than 13m people have been affected by the disaster.
MORE: In Pictures - The Most Amazing Photographs Of 2011
The Royal Wedding: Wills And Kate Get Hitched
(Above) Prince William and Kate Middleton with her father Michael Middleton at Westminster Abbey, London.
Happier scenes were recorded in London in April as Prince William married Catherine Middleton at Westminster Abbey on 22 April. Their lavish ceremony was a truly global event, and was witnessed by an estimated 2bn people worldwide. William chose not to receive a wedding ring, but was conferred with the titles of Duke of Cambridge, Earl of Strathearn and Baron Carrickfergus, and got to drive out of the palace in a vintage blue Aston Martin DB6 Volante. Which on balance is probably a fair enough for a future king.
Osama Bin Laden: Death Of The World's Most Wanted Man
Al Qaida leader Osama Bin Laden was killed by American special forces in Afghanistan on 2 May in Pakistan. Bin Laden had been sought by the US since 1998 for his involvement in the bombing of US embassies in two African cities, but had been hunted even more relentlessly after he led the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Bin Laden was buried at sea.
Later in the year, on 11 September, the world marked 10 years since the attacks on New York and Washington that killed more than 3,000 people.
Elections And Phone Hacking : Politics As (Un)usual
(Above) News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks and Rupert Murdoch are seen outside Mr Murdochs London flat.
Picture date: Sunday, July 10, 2011.
Back in the UK, and local elections on 5 May resulted in defeats for the Tories and the LibDems, as well as for the hopes of political reformers hoping for a switch to the Alternative Vote system.
Bigger political ramifications were to be felt in July, however, when the Guardian newspaper broke a long-running phone hacking scandal involving News International wide open by revealing that a private investigator working for the News of the World deleted voicemails belonging to the murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler, as well as victims of terrorist attacks and deceased British soldiers' families. As a direct result of this catastrophic revelation, on 7 July the News of the World published its final edition.
News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks and Dow Jones chief executive Les Hinton were forced to resign. News Corp chairman Rupert Murdoch and his son James "humbly" apologised in front of a parliamentary committee, but were interrupted by a man who threw a pie in the senior Murdoch's face. Several inquiries were launched, including the Leveson inquiry into media ethics which began in November and will continue into 2012.
MORE: In Pictures - The Most Amazing Photographs Of 2011
The Last Shuttle And New Scientific Horizons
(Above) Space shuttle Atlantis is seen as it launches from Launch Pad 39A July 8, 2011, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fl, USA, July 8, 2011.
If the closure of the News of the World represented the end of an era, so did the launch of the Space Shuttle Atlantis a day after its final edition. As Nasa's last shuttle flight in a 30-year program, the Atlantis landed safely on 21 July.
Even as one era in science ended another began.
On July 8 it was announced that a month earlier an international team of surgeons had successfully carried out the world's first artificial organ transplant. The 36-year-old Swedish man who underwent the surgery received a new synthetic windpipe.
Death And Tragedy: Norway And The London Riots
In Norway, July ended with a shocking double-terrorist attack by a right-wing extremist. After exploding a bomb near to government buildings in Olso, killing eight people, Brievik arrived at a political camp on the island of Utoya where he posed as a police officer and shot 69 people.
(Above) A rioter walks through a burning barricade on Smithdown Road in Liverpool, as around 200 missile-throwing youths gathered in the Toxteth area of Liverpool causing disorder and damage.
England exploded into riots in August after a series of protests over the fatal shooting by police of a man in Tottenham on 6 August spiralled out of control. By 8 August widespread looting, arson and violence had gripped London and other cities around the UK. Five people died during the riots, many dozens were injured and at least 100 homes were burned. Order was only restored in the capital when 16,000 police officers were deployed to keep the peace. More than 3,000 people were arrested and more than 1,900 charged in London alone as a result of offences committed during the riots.
But amid the debris there was also some sense of (very British) hope as hundreds of people descended on Clapham and other communities with brooms to clean up the mess.
The world of music also suffered a loss in the summer, however, after the sad death of singer Amy Winehouse at the age of 27 on 23 July.
MORE: In Pictures - The Most Amazing Photographs Of 2011
Libya: The Fall Of A Dictator
(Above) Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi is seen in a video, as he is arrested and lynched by an angry crowd of rebels, in Sirte, Libya, on October 20, 2011.
Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi's regime finally fell in August after relentless pressure from rebel fighters, aided by the continuous support of Nato bombers. Gaddafi's regime came to an effective end on 23 August after the rebels stormed his Tripoli compound, revealing his luxurious lifestyle. After further fighting with remaining loyalist forces, particularly in Gaddafi's hometown of Sirte, the dictator was eventually caught and killed by the opposition fighters on 20 October.
Steve Jobs: Apple Loses Its Core
Apple founder Steve Jobs died on 5 October. Credited with the invention of several truly iconic products including the iPod and the iPhone, Jobs was remembered with huge admiration by admirers - and even some detractors - around the world. A feature length documentary consisting solely of a 69-minute interview with Jobs recorded in 1995 was released in cinemas in November.
The Economy: 2011 Ends As it Began
(Above) A ferret looks out of the jacket of an activist of the Frankfurt Occupy movement at the European Central Bank in Frankfurt, Germany, Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011.
Economically 2011 was a terrible year for many around the world, and the eurozone was far from an exception.
Months of uncertainty, bailouts and political crisis came to something of a head in October and November, when the leaders of both Greece and Italy were forced to stand down in order to pass financial reforms.
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi battled to save his political career - even taking to Facebook at one point to deny his resignation - but he left office on 16 November. After more than 10 years in power the 75 year old was forced to accept that his future lay in crooning love songs and spending his considerable billions, not in leading Italy out of the financial mire.
(Above) City protesters settle in for a second night on the steps of St Paul's Cathedral in London. Picture date: Sunday October 16, 2011.
For all the year's news stories 2011 drew to a close in a similar manner to that in which it began - deep economic uncertainty. Represented by both the continuing depression in the markets, crippling inaction in the eurozone and the global Occupy protest movement which took hold both at Zuccotti park close to Wall Street in New York and also St. Paul's Cathedral in London.