Clockwise from top-left: civil service in remembrance of theNovember Paris attacks ;Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into theFrench Alps by suicidal co-pilot Andreas Lubitz, killing all 150 people on board; anearthquake inNepal kills 8,964 people; world leaders pose for a picture during theParis Agreement , an international agreement onclimate change ; an airstrike inSana'a during theSaudi Arabian–led intervention in Yemen ;refugees of the Syrian civil war come ashore inGreece amidst amigrant crisis in Europe ;FIFA presidentSepp Blatter is forced to resign in disgrace in the wake of theFIFA corruption case ;New Horizons Pluto .
This article is about the year 2015. For the American video game development company, see
2015 (company) .
Calendar year
2015 (MMXV ) was acommon year starting on Thursday of theGregorian calendar , the 2015th year of theCommon Era (CE) andAnno Domini 3rd millennium and the21st century , and the 6th year of the2010s decade.
Calendar year
2015 by topic By international organization
2015 was designated by theUnited Nations as:
January 1 –Lithuania officiallyadopts theeuro as its currency, replacing thelitas , andbecomes the 19thEurozone country.[ 2] January 3 –7 – Aseries of massacres in Baga , Nigeria and surrounding villages byBoko Haram kills more than 2,000 people.[ 3] [ 4] [ 5] [ 6] January 7 – Two gunmen belonging toAl-Qaeda 'sYemen branchkill 12 people and injure 11 more at theParis headquarters of satirical newspaperCharlie Hebdo [ 7] [ 8] January 12 –A Boko Haram and Islamic State assault onKolofata in theFar North Region of Cameroon is repelled by theCameroonian Army , who kill 143Boko Haram andIslamic State insurgents .[ 9] January 15 – TheSwiss National Bank abandons the cap on thefranc 's value relative to theeuro , causing turmoil in international financial markets.[ 10] [ 11] January 22 – AfterHouthi forces seize the presidential palace,Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi resigns aftermonths of unrest .[ 12] January 25 –Legislative elections are held inGreece to elect all 300 members of theHellenic Parliament and theSYRIZA party, led byAlexis Tsipras , comes out as the largest party winning 149 out of 300 seats.[ 13] [ 14] [ 15] April 2 – 148 people are killed, the majority students, in amass shooting at theGarissa University College inKenya , perpetrated by the militant terrorist organizational-Shabaab .[ 29] April 4 – Atotal 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 Earth's umbral shadow, and it was the 30th eclipse of the132nd saros cycle .April 25 –A magnitude 7.8 earthquake strikesNepal and causes 8,857 deaths[ 30] [ 31] India ,[ 32] China [ 33] Bangladesh [ 34] April 29 – TheWorld Health Organization (WHO) declares thatrubella has been eradicated from theAmericas .[ 35] May 1 –October 31 –Expo 2015 is held inMilan, Italy .[ 36] May 7 – The2015 UK General Election results in the firstConservative majority government in 18 years.May 8 – Aprison break occurred in the Iraqi town ofAl Khalis , resulting in over fifty escapees.May 10 – The first round of the2015 Polish presidential election is held.May 11 –12 –Version O ofLes Femmes d'Alger Pablo Picasso sells forUS$ 179.3 million atChristie's auction in New York, while the sculptureL'Homme au doigt Alberto Giacometti sells forUS$ 141.3 million, setting a new world recordfor a painting andfor a sculpture , respectively.[ 37] [ 38] May 12 – Asecond major earthquake inNepal , measuring 7.3 on themoment magnitude scale , results in 153 deaths in Nepal,[ 39] India ,[ 40] China [ 41] Bangladesh ,[ 41] May 19 –23 – TheEurovision Song Contest 2015 is held inVienna ,Austria , and is won bySwedish entrantMåns Zelmerlöw with the song "Heroes ".May 21 – ISIS captures the ancient city of Palmyra in Syria.[ 42] May 24 – The second round of the2015 Polish presidential election is held, withAndrzej Duda reigning victorious over then-incumbent presidentBronisław Komorowski .May 29 – InTonga , theMata ʻo e Laʻa Solar Facility is officially opened byKing Tupou VI .[ 43] September 9 –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, surpassingQueen Victoria who had reigned for 63 years, 216 days upon her death on January 22, 1901.[ 61] [ 62] September 10 – Scientists announce the discovery ofHomo naledi early human inSouth Africa .[ 63] September 13 – Apartial solar eclipse was visible in South Africa, South India and Antarctica. It was the 54th eclipse of the125th saros cycle .[citation needed September 14 September 16 – An8.4 earthquake strikes 46 km fromCoquimbo (inChile ). 22 people are killed and 34 more injured.September 18 –October 31 – The2015 Rugby World Cup is held in England and is won byNew Zealand who beatAustralia inthe final .September 18 – AutomakerVolkswagen is alleged to have been involved in worldwiderigging of diesel emissions tests , affecting an estimated 11 million vehicles globally.[ 67] [ 68] September 20 –Snap legislative elections are held inGreece , following the resignation ofprime minister Alexis Tsipras , to elect all 300 members of theHellenic Parliament and theSYRIZA party, led by Alexis Tsipras comes out as the largest party winning 145 out of 300 seats.[ 69] [ 70] [ 71] [ 72] September 24 – Astampede during theHajj pilgrimage inMecca kills at least 2,200 people and injures more than 900 others, with more than 650 missing.[ 73] September 28 –NASA announces that liquid water has been found onMars .[ 74] September 30 – Russia beginsair strikes againstISIL andanti-government forces in Syria, in support of the Syrian government.[ 75] October 3 – AUnited States airstrike on aMédecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) hospital inAfghanistan kills an estimated 20 people.[ 76] October 10 – A series ofsuicide bombings kills at least 100 people at a peace rally inAnkara, Turkey , and injures more than 400 others.[ 77] October 23 –Hurricane Patricia becomes the mostintense hurricane ever recorded in theWestern Hemisphere and the second strongest worldwide, with winds of 215 mph and a pressure of 872 mbar.[ 78] October 25 – The2015 Polish parliamentary election is held for theSejm of the Republic of Poland, with the election being won by the largest opposition party, the right-wingLaw and Justice (PiS).October 26 – Amagnitude 7.5 earthquake strikes theHindu Kush region and causes 398 deaths,[ 79] Pakistan , 115 inAfghanistan and 4 inIndia .October 30 –Colectiv nightclub fire : a fire ignited by a failed fireworks show sets the walls and columns covered in foam of the Colectiv nightclub, located inRomania 's capitalBucharest . 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 situationspark a riot in all of Romania, known as the "Colectiv Revolution".October 31 –Metrojet Flight 9268 , anAirbus A321 airliner en route toSaint Petersburg fromSharm 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.[ 80] Nobel medal ^ "United Nations Observances: International Years" .United Nations .Archived from the original on May 8, 2015. RetrievedApril 29, 2015 .^ Kropaitas, Zivile (January 1, 2015)."Lithuania joins Baltic neighbours in euro club" .BBC News .Archived from the original on July 3, 2021. RetrievedJanuary 1, 2015 . ^ "Boko Haram destroys at least 16 villages in NE Nigeria: officials" .Business Insider .Agence France-Presse . January 8, 2015. Archived fromthe original on April 1, 2018. 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