2015 Archives | HISTORY

Around midday on January 7, 2015, gunmen raid the offices of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, killing 12 people. The attack, a response to the magazine's criticism of Islam and depiction of Muhammad, demonstrated the danger of homegrown terror in Europe as well as the deep conflicts within French society.

On March 24, 2015, the co-pilot of a German airliner deliberately flies the plane into the French Alps, killing himself and the other 149 people onboard. When it crashed, Germanwings flight 9525 had been traveling from Barcelona, Spain, to Dusseldorf, Germany.

For the first time in over 50 years, the presidents of the United States and Cuba meet on April 11, 2015. Barack Obama and Raúl Castro, President of Cuba and brother of Fidel Castro, with whom the United States broke off diplomatic contact in 1961, shook hands and expressed a willingness to put one of the world’s highest-profile diplomatic feuds in the past.

On April 25, 2015 a magnitude 7.8 earthquake tears through Nepal, killing nearly 9,000 and injuring 16,800. It was the worst such earthquake for the Asian country since 1934.

On May 23, 2015 thousands of LGBTQ activists celebrated as Ireland became the first country to legalize same-sex marriage through referendum.

On June 2, 2015, Sepp Blatter, president of international soccer’s governing body FIFA, steps down, just a few days after he had been re-elected to a fifth four-year term. His resignation came amid rumors that he would soon be under investigation by the United States and Sweden on charges of fraud and corruption. All over the world, soccer fans rejoiced, as Blatter’s 17-year term had been marred with allegations of misdeeds, seemingly from the very beginning.

Harlem Hellfighter Henry Johnson is awarded a posthumous Medal of Honor. The medal comes after a decades-long effort by Johnson's family and New York Senator Chuck Schumer to recognize Johnson's bravery and service during World War I.

On June 14, 2015, sheriff’s deputies in Missouri discover a grisly scene: the bloody body of Claudine “Dee Dee” Blanchard, who had been stabbed to death a few days before. The murder of Blanchard, lying face down in bed in a pool of blood, becomes a highly publicized case about Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy, a rare mental illness and form of child abuse where a caretaker feigns a child’s dire symptoms—or induces real ones—to gain sympathy and/or financial support.

On the evening of June 17, 2015, a mass shooter took the lives of nine African American people at a Bible study at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. The massacre at a historic Black church deeply shook a nation already jaded by frequent gun violence and heralded a new chapter of violent white nationalism in America.

June 26, 2015 marks a major milestone for civil rights in the United States, as the Supreme Court announces its decision in Obergefell v. Hodges. By one vote, the court rules that same-sex marriage cannot be banned in the United States and that all same-sex marriages must be recognized nationwide, finally granting same-sex couples equal rights to heterosexual couples under the law.

On the morning of June 27, 2015, activists posing as joggers signal to one of their comrades that the police have momentarily turned their attention away from the flagpole outside the South Carolina State House. Having received the signal, Brittany "Bree" Newsome scales the pole, takes down the Confederate flag that was flying there and is placed under arrest. Newsome's actions reverberated across the nation and eventually resulted in the state of South Carolina permanently removing the flag from its capitol.

Misty Copeland becomes the first African American woman promoted to principal dancer in the 75-year history of the American Ballet Theatre, one of the leading classical ballet companies in the world.

On July 10, 2015, Texas State Trooper Brian Encinia pulls over a 28-year-old Black woman, Sandra Bland, for failing to signal a lane change. After a heated encounter, he arrests her and takes her to a nearby jail. Three days later, on the morning of July 13, she is found dead in her cell, apparently by suicide. The circumstances surrounding her death lead many to question how Bland could end up losing her life following a minor traffic stop.

Igniting a heated debate within her nation and across the globe, German Chancellor Angela Merkel declares “Wir schaffen das” (“We can do this”) on August 31, 2015, as she commits to accepting a mass influx of refugees amid Europe’s biggest refugee crisis since World War II.

A 14-year-old Muslim boy is arrested at his high school in Irving, Texas after a digital clock he had reassembled at home using a pencil case was mistaken by his teacher as a bomb.

On October 26, 2015, the International Olympic Committee announces the creation of the first Olympic refugee team, drawing attention to the plight of forcibly displaced people around the world. The declaration, delivered at the United Nations, provided support for athletes displaced by conflict, persecution or human rights violations—and announced a new opportunity to “build a peaceful and better world for all through sport.”

On October 29, 2015, the Chinese government officially announces the end of its one-child policy, ending the most extreme state birth control project in history after 35 years.

On November 13, 2015, a cell of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant commits a string of terrorist attacks across Paris, killing 131 and injuring over 400. It was the deadliest day in France since World War II, as well as the deadliest operation ISIL has carried out in Europe to date.

On November 27, 2015, Pope Francis—widely admired for his humility and concern for society’s most vulnerable—releases Wake Up! Music Album with His Words and Prayers, blending the pope’s own voice with a surprising mix of progressive rock and traditional sacred sounds. Produced with Vatican approval by Believe Digital, the 11-track album features hymns with excerpts of his most inspiring sermons in English, Portuguese, Spanish and Italian.