Human Race

EXECUTED: John Allen Muhammad, the mastermind of the 2002 Beltway sniper attacks that terrorized the Washington, D.C., area and left 10 people dead, died by lethal injection Nov. 10 after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to stay his execution. Muhammad, 48, and accomplice Lee Boyd Malvo, who is serving a life sentence without parole, randomly targeted their victims over a period of three weeks outside shopping plazas, schools, and gas stations.

HONORED: Country music sensation Taylor Swift, 19, swept the Country Music Association Awards Nov. 11, taking home awards for Video of the Year, Album of the Year, Female Vocalist of the Year, and Entertainer of the Year—making her the youngest winner of the association's highest honor. "I will never forget this moment," she said, "because in this moment everything that I have ever wanted has just happened to me."