Year 2015
Events
January
January 1
The Eurasian Economic Union comes into effect, creating a political and
economic union between Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan and
Kyrgyzstan.
Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the
litas, and becomes the nineteenth Eurozone country.
January 3–7 – A series of massacres in Baga, Nigeria and surrounding
villages by Boko Haram kills more than 2,000 people.
January 7 – Two gunmen belonging to Al-Qaeda's Yemen branch kill 12
people and injure 11 more at the Paris headquarters of satirical
newspaper Charlie Hebdo, prompting an anti-terrorism demonstration
attended by over a million people and more than 40 world leaders.
January 12 – Government raids kill 143 Boko Haram fighters in Kolofata,
Cameroon.
January 15 – The Swiss National Bank abandons the cap on the franc's
value relative to the euro, causing turmoil in international financial
markets.
January 19 – The Eritrean Catholic Church is founded.
January 22 – After Houthi forces seize the presidential palace, Yemeni
President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi resigns after months of unrest.
February
February 12
Leaders from Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France reach an agreement on
the conflict in eastern Ukraine that includes a ceasefire and withdrawal
of heavy weapons. However, several days later, the Ukrainian government
and pro-Russian rebels claim that, within its first day, the ceasefire
was broken 139 times, as both sides failed to withdraw their heavy
weapons and fighting had continued.
The United Nations Security Council adopts Resolution 2199 to combat
terrorism.
February 14 – Two people were killed and five policemen wounded in
Copenhagen, Denmark, at a shooting at Krudtønden cultural centre and the
Great Synagogue.
February 16 – The Egyptian military begins conducting airstrikes against
a branch of the Islamic militant group ISIL in Libya in retaliation for
the group's beheading of over a dozen Egyptian Christians.
March
March 5–8 – The ancient city sites of Nimrud, Hatra and Dur-Sharrukin in
Iraq are demolished by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
March 6 – NASA's Dawn probe enters orbit around Ceres, becoming the
first spacecraft to visit a dwarf planet.
March 12 – The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant becomes allies with
fellow jihadist group Boko Haram, effectively annexing the group.
March 20 – A total solar eclipse was visible in the north Atlantic,
Faroe Islands, Svalbard. It was the 61st eclipse of the 120th saros
cycle which started on May 27, 933 AD and will end on July 7, 2195,
which is 180 years ahead of 2015.
March 24 – An Airbus A320-211 operated by Germanwings crashes in the
French Alps, killing all 150 on board.
March 25 – A Saudi Arabia-led coalition of Arab countries starts a
military intervention in Yemen in order to uphold the Yemeni government
in its fight against the Houthis' southern offensive.
April
April 2 – 148 people are killed, the majority students, in a mass
shooting at the Garissa University College in Kenya, perpetrated by the
militant terrorist organization Al-Shabaab.
April 4 - A total lunar eclipse was visible in Asia, Australia, Pacific
and Americas. It was a shallow total lunar eclipse, with 0.08% of that
diameter inside of the Earth's umbral shadow, and it was the 30th
eclipse of the 132nd saros cycle, which began with a penumbral lunar
eclipse in Earth's penumbral northern edge of the shadow on May 12, 1492
and will conclude with another penumbral lunar eclipse in Earth's
penumbral southern edge of the shadow on June 26, 2754.
April 25 – A magnitude 7.8 earthquake strikes Nepal and causes 8,857
deaths in Nepal, 130 in India, 27 in China and 4 in Bangladesh with a
total of 9,018 deaths.
April 29 – The World Health Organization (WHO) declares that rubella has
been eradicated from the Americas.
May
May 1 – October 31 – Expo 2015 is held in Milan, Italy.
May 7 – the 2015 UK General Election results in the first Conservative
majority government in 18 years.
May 11–12 – Version O of Les Femmes d'Alger by Pablo Picasso sells for
US$179.3 million at Christie's auction in New York, while the sculpture
L'Homme au doigt by Alberto Giacometti sells for US$141.3 million,
setting a new world record for a painting and for a sculpture,
respectively.
May 12 – A second major earthquake in Nepal, measuring 7.3 on the moment
magnitude scale, results in 153 deaths in Nepal, 62 in India, 1 in China
and 2 in Bangladesh with a total of 218 deaths.
May 20 – The two constituent republics of Novorossiya, the Donetsk
People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic, announce the
suspension of the Novorossiya project, returning to separate (though
internationally unrecognised) states.
May 21 – ISIS captures the ancient city of Palmyra in Syria.
May 23 – Ireland votes to legalize same-sex marriage, becoming the first
country to legalize same-sex marriage by popular vote.
June
June 2 – FIFA President Sepp Blatter announces his intention to resign
amidst an FBI-led corruption investigation, and calls for an
extraordinary congress to elect a new president as soon as possible.
June 6 – The governments of India and Bangladesh officially ratify their
1974 agreement to exchange enclaves along their border.
June 25–26 – ISIL claim responsibility for three attacks around the
world during Ramadan:
Kobanî massacre: ISIL fighters detonate three car bombs, enter Kobanî,
Syria, and open fire at civilians, killing more than 220.
Sousse attacks: 22-year-old Seifeddine Rezgui opens fire at a tourist
resort at Port El Kantaoui, Tunisia, killing 38 people.
Kuwait mosque bombing: A suicide bomber attacks the Shia Mosque Imam
Ja'far as-Sadiq at Kuwait City, Kuwait, killing 27 people and injuring
227 others.
June 30 – Cuba becomes the first country in the world to eradicate
mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis.
July
July 1 – Greek government-debt crisis: Greece becomes the first advanced
economy to miss a payment to the International Monetary Fund in the
71-year history of the IMF.
July 5–13 – Greek government-debt crisis: After six months of clashes
and futile negotiations between Greece's newly elected, leftist
government and the country's creditors, over the austerity measures
imposed through bailout programmes, tension peaks as Greece votes in a
referendum to reject the terms offered in a third programme; however the
government eventually proceeds to concur to harsher terms than those
offered before, in what was widely characterized as a coup on the
creditors' part.
July 14
NASA's New Horizons spacecraft performs a close flyby of Pluto, becoming
the first spacecraft in history to visit the distant world.
Iran agrees to long-term limits of its nuclear program in exchange for
sanctions relief.
July 20 – Cuba and the United States reestablish full diplomatic
relations, ending a 54-year stretch of hostility between the nations.
July 24 – Turkey begins a series of airstrikes against PKK and ISIL
targets after the 2015 Suruç bombing.
August
August 5 – Debris found on Réunion Island is confirmed to be that of
Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, missing since March 2014.
August 17 – A bombing takes place inside the Erawan Shrine at the
Ratchaprasong intersection in Pathum Wan District, Bangkok, Thailand,
killing 20 people and injuring 125.
September
September 10 – Scientists announce the discovery of Homo naledi, a
previously unknown species of early human in South Africa.
September 11 – Queen Elizabeth II, having been on the throne for 63
years, 217 days, became the longest-reigning British monarch in history
and the longest-serving head of state of any nation in modern history,
surpassing Queen Victoria who had reigned for 63 years, 216 days upon
her death on January 22, 1901.
September 13 - A partial solar eclipse was visible in South Africa,
south Indian and Antartica. It was the 54th eclipse of the 125th saros
cycle which began with a partial solar eclipse on February 4, 1060 and
will end on April 9, 2358.
September 14
First observation of gravitational waves: Gravitational waves are
detected for the first time, by LIGO. This is not announced until
February 11, 2016.
Malcolm Turnbull defeats Tony Abbott in a Liberal Party leadership
ballot. Turnbull becomes Prime Minister of Australia, being sworn in the
following day.
September 18 – Automaker Volkswagen is alleged to have been involved in
worldwide rigging of diesel emissions tests, affecting an estimated 11
million vehicles globally.
September 24 – A stampede during the Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca kills at
least 2,200 people and injures more than 900 others, with more than 650
missing.
September 28
NASA announces that liquid water has been found on Mars.
A total lunar eclipse was visible in Eastern Pacific, Americas, Europe,
Africa and western Asia. It was the 26th eclipse of the 137th saros
cycle, which began with a penumbral lunar eclipse in Earth's penumbral
southern edge of the shadow on December 17, 1564 and will conclude with
another penumbral lunar eclipse in Earth's penumbral northern edge of
the shadow on April 20, 2953.
September 30 – Russia begins air strikes against ISIL and
anti-government forces in Syria, in support of the Syrian government.
October
October 3 – A United States airstrike on a Médecins Sans Frontières
(Doctors Without Borders) hospital in Afghanistan accidentally kills an
estimated 20 people.
October 10 – A series of suicide bombings kills at least 100 people at a
peace rally in Ankara, Turkey, and injures more than 400 others.
October 23 – Hurricane Patricia becomes the most intense hurricane ever
recorded in the Western Hemisphere and the second strongest worldwide,
with winds of 215 mph and a pressure of 872 mbar.
October 26 – A magnitude 7.5 earthquake strikes the Hindu Kush region
and causes 398 deaths, with 279 in Pakistan, 115 in Afghanistan and 4 in
India.
October 31 – Kogalymavia Flight 9268, an Airbus A321 airliner en route
to Saint Petersburg from Sharm el-Sheikh, crashes near Al-Hasana in
Sinai, killing all 217 passengers and 7 crew members on board.
November
November 7 – CPC general secretary Xi Jinping and ROC president Ma
Ying-jeou formally meet for the first time.
November 12 – Two suicide bombers detonated explosives in Bourj
el-Barajneh, Beirut, killing 43 people and injuring over 200 others.
November 13 – Multiple terrorist attacks claimed by Islamic State of
Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Paris, France, result in 130 fatalities.
November 24 – Turkey shoots down a Russian fighter jet on the
Turkish-Syrian border in the first case of a NATO member destroying a
Russian aircraft since the 1950s.
November 30 – The 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 21)
is held in Paris, attended by leaders from 147 nations.
December
December 2 – Two gunmen open fire at a workplace in San Bernardino,
California, killing 14 before dying themselves in a shootout with
police. ISIL claimed responsibility.
December 12 – A global climate change pact is agreed at the COP 21
summit, committing all countries to reduce carbon emissions for the
first time.
December 15 – The Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition is formed
in order to fight terrorism.
December 22 – SpaceX lands an unmanned Falcon 9 rocket, the first
reusable rocket to successfully enter orbital space and return.
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