What happened in 2015

53 events　World 4, Japan 1, North America 5, Europe 15, USSR / Russia 1, Asia 5, Middle East 15, Latin America 4, Africa 3

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Highlights of 2015

World4

  • Apr 4The April 2015 lunar eclipse is visible in Asia, Australia, Pacific and the Americas. It is a shallow total lunar eclipse, with 0.08% of that diameter inside of Earth's umbral shadow, and is the 30th eclipse of the 132nd saros cycle.
  • Sep 13A partial solar eclipse is visible in southern Africa, the southern Indian Ocean, and Antarctica. It is the 54th eclipse of Saros cycle 125.
  • Oct 26A magnitude 7.5 earthquake strikes the Hindu Kush region and causes 398 deaths, with 279 in Pakistan, 115 in Afghanistan and 4 in India.
  • Dec 15The Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition is formed in order to fight terrorism.

Japan1

  • Jul 11Nintendo's president and CEO Satoru Iwata dies.

North America5

  • Jul 29Microsoft releases the desktop operating system Windows 10.
  • JulA probe reaches PlutoNew Horizons, launched in January 2006, flew past Pluto after nine years and sent back the first detailed pictures of its surface.
  • SepFirst detection of gravitational wavesLIGO in the United States detected ripples in space-time from two black holes merging 1.3 billion light-years away (announced in February 2016). It was 100 years after Einstein predicted gravitational waves.
  • Dec 2Two gunmen open fire at a workplace in San Bernardino, California, killing 14 before dying themselves in a shootout with police. ISIL claimed responsibility.
  • Dec 11OpenAI, a non-profit artificial intelligence research company, is founded.

Europe15

  • Feb 14A lone gunman leaves 2 people dead in a terrorist attack in Copenhagen, Denmark.
  • Mar 20A total solar eclipse is visible in the north Atlantic, Faroe Islands, and Svalbard. It is the 61st eclipse of the 120th saros cycle.
  • Mar 24An Airbus A320-211 operated by Germanwings is deliberately crashed by First officer Andres Lubitz in the French Alps, killing all 150 people on board.
  • May 1Expo 2015 is held in Milan, Italy.
  • May 10The first round of the 2015 Polish presidential election is held.
  • May 19The Eurovision Song Contest 2015 is held in Vienna, Austria, and is won by Swedish entrant Måns Zelmerlöw with the song "Heroes".
  • May 24The second round of the 2015 Polish presidential election is held, with Andrzej Duda reigning victorious over then-incumbent president Bronisław Komorowski.
  • Jun 2The 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.
  • Jul 5Greek 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.
  • Aug 5Debris found on Réunion Island is confirmed to be that of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, missing since March 2014.
  • Sep 18Automaker Volkswagen is alleged to have been involved in worldwide rigging of diesel emissions tests, affecting an estimated 11 million vehicles globally.
  • Oct 30Colectiv nightclub fire: a fire ignited by a failed fireworks show sets the walls and columns covered in foam of the Colectiv nightclub, located in Romania's capital Bucharest. 27 people die at the scene, including four out the five members of the Romanian metalcore band "Goodbye to Gravity", and 37 would succumb later due to the injuries and intoxication with fumes, but also because of the poor treatment conditions. The event and the poor management of the situation spark a riot in all of Romania, known as the "Colectiv Revolution".
  • Nov 4Romanian prime-minister Victor Ponta resigns amid calls from the people angered by the Colectiv nightclub fire, marking the end of an almost four years period of unrest in Romania. Peaceful protests would continue until November 9.
  • Nov 13Multiple terrorist attacks claimed by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Paris, France, result in 130 fatalities.
  • Dec 12A global climate change pact is agreed at the COP 21 summit in Paris, committing all countries to reduce carbon emissions for the first time.

USSR / Russia1

  • Feb 12Leaders from Russian Federation, Ukraine, Germany and French Republic reach an agreement on the war 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.

Asia5

  • Apr 25A magnitude 7.8 earthquake strikes Nepal and causes 8,857 deaths in Nepal (including 19 at Everest base camp), 130 in India, 27 in China and 4 in Bangladesh with a total of 9,018 deaths.
  • May 12A 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.
  • Aug 17A bombing takes place inside the Erawan Shrine at the Ratchaprasong intersection in Pathum Wan District, Bangkok, Thailand, killing 20 people and injuring 125.
  • AugAugust 12 and 15 – Large explosions in Tianjin, China kill 173 and injure more than 800 people. The causes of the explosions were found to be an overheated container of dry nitrocellulose and around 800 tonnes of ammonium nitrate.
  • Nov 7CCP general secretary Xi Jinping and ROC president Ma Ying-jeou formally meet for the first time.

Middle East15

  • Jan 7Two 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.
  • Jan 22After Houthi forces seize the presidential palace, Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi resigns after months of unrest.
  • Mar 25A 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.
  • Jun 25Kuwait 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.
  • Jun 25Kobanî massacre: ISIL fighters detonate three car bombs, enter Kobanî, Syria, and open fire at civilians, killing more than 220 people.
  • Jun 25ISIL claim responsibility for three attacks around the world during Ramadan:
  • Jul 14Iranian nuclear deal: Iran agrees to long-term limits of its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.
  • Jul 24Turkey begins a series of airstrikes against PKK and ISIL targets after the 2015 Suruç bombing.
  • Sep 24A crush during the Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca kills at least 2,200 people and injures more than 900 others, with more than 650 missing.
  • Sep 30Russia begins air strikes against ISIL and anti-government forces in Syria, in support of the Syrian government.
  • Oct 3A United States airstrike on a Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) hospital in Afghanistan kills an estimated 20 people.
  • Oct 10A series of suicide bombings kills at least 100 people at a peace rally in Ankara, Turkey, and injures more than 400 others.
  • Oct 31Metrojet 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. Later investigations revealed a bomb was likely responsible for the crash with Islamic State being the primary suspect.*
  • Nov 122015 Beirut bombings: Two suicide bombers detonate explosives in Bourj el-Barajneh, Beirut, killing 43 people and injuring over 200 others.
  • Nov 24Turkey 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.

Latin America4

  • Jun 18Pope Francis releases the encyclical letter Laudato si, dated May 24, 2015.
  • Sep 16An 8.4 earthquake strikes 46 km from Coquimbo (in Chile). 22 people are killed and 34 more injured.
  • Oct 23Hurricane 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.
  • Nov 5In Mariana, Minas Gerais, Brazil, a tailings dam of iron ore collapses, causing 19 deaths and releasing a toxic mudflow to pollute the Doce River.

Africa3

  • Jan 3A series of massacres in Baga, Nigeria and surrounding villages by Boko Haram kills more than 2,000 people.
  • Apr 2148 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.
  • Jun 25Sousse attacks: 22-year-old Seifeddine Rezgui opens fire at a tourist resort at Port El Kantaoui, Tunisia, killing 38 people.