2015

2015 (twenty fifteen) (MMXV) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, the 2015th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 15th year of the 3rd millennium, the 15th year of the 21st century, and the 6th year of the 2010s decade.

Events

January

• • The Eurasian Economic Union comes into effect, creating a political and economic union between Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.^[1]
  • Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes the nineteenth Eurozone country.^[2]
• January 7:
  • A terror attack by Islamic extremists in Paris, France results in the deaths of 12 people at a French newspaper (Charlie Hebdo) building.
  • A car bomb explodes in Yemen, killing at least 38 people, standing near the entrance of a police officers' academy in central Sana'a.
• January 14:
  • 11th President of Italy, Giorgio Napolitano, resigns from his office due to old age. Italian senate president, Pietro Grasso, succeeds him as president.
  • Two climbers, Kevin Jorgesen and Tommy Caldwell, become the first people to successfully climb El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, California.
• January 23:
  • Houthi rebels attack and occupy Yemen's presidential palace. President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi and his cabinet along with Prime minister Khaled Bahah resign.
  • Saudi Arabian king Abdullah of Saudi Arabia dies from complications of pneumonia at the age of 90. His half-brother Salman of Saudi Arabia succeeds him as king.
• January 30 - Bulgaria's first freely democratically elected president Zhelyu Zhelev dies at 79.

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.^[3]
• February 14 - A spree-shooting occurs in Copenhagen, Denmark at a local cultural center and synagogue. 3 people are killed including the suspected shooter.
• 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.^[4]

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.^[5][6][7]
• March 6 - NASA's Dawn probe enters orbit around Ceres, becoming the first spacecraft to visit a dwarf planet.^[8][9]
• March 12 – The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant becomes allies with fellow jihadist group Boko Haram, effectively annexing the group.^[10]
• March 24 - An Airbus A320-211 operated by Germanwings crashes in the French Alps, killing all 150 on board.^[11]
• 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.^[12][13]

April

• April 2 – 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.^[14]
• April 25 – A major earthquake in Nepal, measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale, results in more than 6,000 deaths^[15][16] in Nepal, India,^[17] China^[18] and Bangladesh.^[19]
• April 29 – The World Health Organization (WHO) declares that rubella has been eradicated from the Americas.^[20]

May

• May 1–October 31 – Expo 2015 is held in Milan, Italy.^[21]
• May 2 – Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge gives birth to Princess Charlotte of Cambridge in London, England. This is Catherine's and Prince William, Duke of Cambridge second child.
• 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.^[22][23]
• May 12 – A second major earthquake in Nepal, measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale, results in 153 deaths in Nepal,^[24] 62 in India,^[25] 1 in China^[26] and 2 in Bangladesh^[26] with a total of 218 deaths.
• May 23 – Ireland votes to legalize same-sex marriage, becoming the first country to legalize same-sex marriage by popular vote.^[27]

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.^[28]
• June 7–8 – The 41st G7 summit is held in Schloss Elmau, Bavaria.
• June 25–26 – ISIL claim responsibility for four attacks around the world during the 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 40 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 26 – After the Supreme Court ruling, the United States legalizes gay marriage across the nation.
• June 30
  • Cuba becomes the first country in the world to eradicate mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis.^[29]
  • A Lockheed C-130 Hercules operated by the Indonesian Air Force crashed into a crowded residential neighborhood in Medan shortly after take-off from Soewondo Air Force Base, killing 143 people including 22 others on the ground, marking the second-deadliest air disaster to ever occur in Medan and the deadliest crash in Indonesian Air Force peacetime history.

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.^[30]
• July 14
  • NASA's New Horizons spacecraft performs a close flyby of Pluto, becoming the first spacecraft in history to visit the distant world.^[31]
  • Iran agrees to long-term limits of its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.^[32]
• July 20 – Cuba and the United States reestablish full diplomatic relations, ending a 54-year stretch of hostility between the nations.^[33]
• 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 Malaysian Airlines Flight 370, missing since March 2014.^[34]
• August 12 – Former President of the United States Jimmy Carter is diagnosed with melanoma in his brain at the age of 90.
• 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.^[35]

September

• September 9 – Queen Elizabeth II became the longest reigning monarch in the history of the United Kingdom.
• September 10 – Scientists announce the discovery of Homo naledi, a previously unknown species of early human in South Africa.^[36]
• September 18 – Automaker Volkswagen is alleged to have been involved in worldwide rigging of diesel emissions tests, affecting an estimated 11 million vehicles globally.^[37][38]
• September 24 – A stampede during the Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, 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.^[39]
• September 30 – Russia begins air strikes against ISIL and anti-government forces in Syria in support of the Syrian government.

October

• October 10 – A suicide bomb kills at least 100 people at a peace rally in Ankara, Turkey, and injures more than 400 others.
• October 19 - Liberals win Canadian federal elections and Justin Trudeau becomes new Prime Minister.
• October 23 – Hurricane Patricia becomes the most intense hurricane ever recorded in the Western Hemisphere, with winds of 200 mph and a pressure of 879 mbar.^[40]
• October 26 – A magnitude 7.5 earthquake strikes the Hindu Kush region and causes 398 deaths,^[41] with 279 in Pakistan, 115 in Afghanistan and 4 in India.
• October 29 – United States representative Paul Ryan becomes the new Republican Speaker of the United States House of Representatives after John Boehner resigned.
• October 31 – Flight KGL9268, 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.^[42]

November

• November 7 – Chinese and Taiwanese leaders, Xi Jinping and Ma Ying-jeou, formally meet for the first time.^[43]
• November 13 – Multiple terrorist attacks claimed by the terrorist group ISIS (ISIL) in Paris, France, result in 139 deaths.^[44]
• November 24 – Syrian Civil War: Turkey shoots down a Russian fighter jet in the first case of a NATO member destroying a Russian aircraft since the 1950s.^[45]
• November 30 – The 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 21) is held in Paris, attended by leaders from 147 nations.^[46]

December

• 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.^[47]
• December 21 – After a mass corruption scandal, the FIFA committee suspended its president Sepp Blatter for 7 years thus forcing him to resign.
• December 22 – SpaceX lands a Falcon 9 rocket, the first reusable rocket to successfully enter orbital space and return.^[48]

Predicted events

• December 31 – Millennium Development Goals are targeted for achievement.
• December 31 – Microcredit Summit Campaign goals are targeted for achievement.

Unknown dates

• Analog television will be switched off in the Russian Federation.^[49]
• The first plasma operation of the fusion reactor ITER is expected.
• Target date for OECD countries to raise aid levels to 0.7% of Gross Domestic Product, as per the Paris Agreement.
• The United States Navy will commission USS Gerald R. Ford, the first ship in a new class of supercarriers.
• The winning nation for the 2022 Winter Olympics will be announced by the IOC.
• Brood XXIII (Lower Mississippi Valley Brood) of the Magicicada will emerge after a 13-year hiatus.
• Cricket World Cup will be played in Australia and New Zealand.
• NASA Solar probe, will orbit the Sun
• ESA Solar Orbiter (SOLO), will orbit the Sun to perform close observations of the polar regions of the Sun
• 2015 is the earliest year the European Space Agency might launch the Darwin Mission to search for exoplanets that could possibly harbor life.
• Tenth season premiere of SpongeBob SquarePants.
• Toronto will host the 2015 Pan American Games.
• New Songdo City, South Korea, a high-tech city of 65,000 will be completed.^[50]
• A Mass-Transit specific bridge (Caruthers Bridge) will open in Portland, Oregon.

Sports

• 2015 Pan American Games, in Toronto, Canada.
• 2015 Rugby World Cup, in England.
• 2015 Cricket World Cup, in Australia and New Zealand.

Births

• May 2 – Princess Charlotte of Cambridge^[51]

Deaths

In fiction

Computer and video games

• Doom: The Union Aerospace Corporation is founded by Thomas Kelliher.
• Star Control: The Small War of 2015 takes place, a war where many of humanity's nuclear weapons were used, and resolved in the isolations of the weapons. It is called the "small war" because it could have been much worse.
• "Jetfighter 2015" (2005)
• Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation: The first Ace Combat installment for the Xbox 360. The game takes place on the Anean continent in a war between Emmeria and Estovakia.
• Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots: The first Metal Gear Solid installment for the PlayStation 3. The game takes place in the Middle East, South America, Eastern Europe, Alaska, and a submersible Ark, takes place in 2015.

Movies

• "Firebird 2015 AD" (1981)
• Dr. Emmett Brown, Marty McFly, and Jennifer Parker travel to October 21 of this year in the movie Back to the Future Part II. According to a holographic newscast, the Chicago Cubs win the World Series against a team from Miami (in which the movie was released in 1989, there were no teams from Miami, until 1993 when the Florida Marlins, a team that plays in Miami was established). Inventions will also include flying cars, self-fitting clothes and shoes, hoverboards (devices similar to skateboards), television goggles, hydrating pizzas, and various other developments. According to the movie, 2015 is also the year Jaws 19 premieres, in holographic 3D without requiring 3D glasses.
• Event Horizon: The first permanent colony will be established on the Moon.
• The 6th Day (2000)

Television

Set in 2015:

• Defenders of the Earth (1986):
• Future GPX Cyber Formula (1991): Hayato Kazami becomes the youngest driver ever in Cyber formula with Sugo Grand Prix.
• Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995–1996): The main events of the series take place in this year.
• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine ("Past Tense," 1995): By 2015, London has its own Major League Baseball team, the London Kings.
• Space: Above and Beyond (1995–1996): Aerospace and defense supplier Aero-Tech is founded.
• 3rd Rock from the Sun: According to Dick Solomon in the episode "Angry Dick", a giant meteor is destined to collide with Earth. When he says this in his physics class and all of his students turn towards him in shock, he adds, "which obviously doesn't exist because I'm kidding!"

Media franchises

• .hack: A fire occurs at the main CC Corp building, resulting in a large loss of data forcing The World to shut down. By splicing in data from what would have been another game, CC Corp is able to rebuild the game system, thus creating The World:R2.

Other fiction

• John Titor, a claimed time traveler from year 2036, said that World War III would begin during 2015 on his world line.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 2015.