2015: Year in Review

January 1 - The Eurasian Economic Union comes into effect, creating a political and economic union between Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

January 1 - Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes the nineteenth Eurozone country.

January 1 - Mario Cuomo, former Governor of New York, died at age 82 from heart failure.

January 3 - Former Senator Edward Brooke of Massachusetts died at age 95. He was a Republican and became the first African American popularly elected to the United States Senate in 1966. Massachusetts did not elect another Republican Senator until 2010.

January 3–7 – A series of massacres in Baga, Nigeria and surrounding villages by Boko Haram kills more than 2,000 people.

January 9 – Józef Oleksy, 7th Prime Minister of Poland died at age 68 from cancer.

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 22 – After Houthi forces seize the presidential palace, Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi resigns after months of unrest.

January 23 – King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia died at age 90 from pneumonia.

January 24 – Otto Carius, German WWII tank commander died at age 92.

January 29 – Colleen McCullough, Australian writer died at age 77 from renal failure.

January 30 - Carl Djerassi, American chemist known for his contribution to the development of oral contraceptive pills died at age 91 from complications of liver and bone cancer.

January 31 - Richard von Weizsäcker, President of Germany died at age 94.

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.

February 14 (Valentine's Day) - Michele Ferrero, Italian businessman died at age 89. He owned the chocolate manufacturer Ferrero SpA, Europe's second largest confectionery company.

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.

February 27 - Boris Nemtsov, Russian politician assassinated on on a bridge near the Kremlin and Red Square in Moscow at age 55. Nemtsov was one of the most important figures in the introduction of capitalism into the Russian post-Soviet economy. He had a successful political career in the 1990s under President Boris Yeltsin, and since 2000 had been an outspoken critic of Vladimir Putin.

February 27 - Leonard Nimoy, American actor died at age 83 from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

February 28 - Anthony Mason, American basketball player died at age 48 from a heart attack.

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 8 – Sam Simon, American producer and philanthropist, co-creator of the television series The Simpsons, died at age 59 from colorectal cancer.

March 12 – The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant becomes allies with fellow jihadist group Boko Haram, effectively annexing the group.

March 12 - Terry Pratchett, English writer best known for his Discworld series of 41 novels died at age 66 from Alzheimer’s disease.

March 15 - Xu Caihou, Chinese army general died at age 71 from bladder cancer and multiple organ failure.

March 20 – Malcolm Fraser, 22nd Prime Minister of Australia died at age 84.

March 23 – Lee Kuan Yew, 1st Prime Minister of Singapore died at age 91 from cardiac dysrhythmia.

March 24 – An Airbus A320-211 operated by Germanwings crashes in the French Alps, killing all 150 on board. The crash was deliberately caused by the co-pilot Andreas Lubitz.

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.

March 26 - Dinkha IV, Iraqi patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East died at age 79 in Rochester, Minnesota.

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 24 – Władysław Bartoszewski, Polish politician, resistance fighter, and Auschwitz concentration camp prisoner died at age 93 from a heart attack.

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 27 - Andrew Lesnie, Australian cinematographer best known as the cinematographer for The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001–2003) and its prequel The Hobbit trilogy died at age 59 of a heart attack.

April 29 – The World Health Organization (WHO) declares that rubella has been eradicated from the Americas.

May 2 - Princess Charlotte of Cambridge in England is born.

May 9 – Kenan Evren, Turkish military officer, seventh President of Turkey died at age 97.

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 14 – B.B. King, American singer-songwriter and guitarist died at the age of 89 from complications of Alzheimer's disease along with congestive heart failure and diabetic complications.

May 18 - Raymond Gosling, British scientist who deduced the structure of DNA with Maurice Wilkins and Rosalind Franklin died at age 88.

May 23 – Ireland votes to legalize same-sex marriage, becoming the first country to legalize same-sex marriage by popular vote.

May 23 - John Forbes Nash, Jr., American Nobel mathematician died at age 86 in a car crash while riding in a taxi on the New Jersey Turnpike with his wife.

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 5 – Tariq Aziz, Iraqi politician, an Iraqi Foreign Minister (1983–1991) and Deputy Prime Minister (1979–2003) and a close advisor of President Saddam Hussein died at age 79 from a heart attack. He accused the Bush Administration of attacking Iraq for oil and Israel. He was on the 8 of Spades in the Most-wanted Iraqi playing cards. He surrendered 2003 and was sentenced to death.

June 6 – The governments of India and Bangladesh officially ratify their 1974 agreement to exchange enclaves along their border.

June 7 – Christopher Lee, English actor and World War II veteran died at age 93 from respiratory problems and heart failure.

June 14 Qiao Shi, Chinese politician and one of the top leaders of the Communist Party of China died at age 90.

June 15 - Prince Nicolas, Duke of Ångermanland in Sweden is born.

June 22 - James Horner, American film composer died at age 61 when his S312 Tucano turboprop aircraft crashed into the Los Padres National Forest near Ventucopa, California.

June 25–26 – ISIL claim responsibility for three 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 30 - Cuba becomes the first country in the world to eradicate mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis.

June 30 - 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 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 1 - Nicholas Winton, British humanitarian died at age 106 from cardio-respiratory failure. He organized the rescue of 669 children, most of them Jewish, from Czechoslovakia on the eve of the Second World War in an operation later known as the Czech Kindertransport (German for "children transportation"). Winton's death came 76 years to the day after 241 of the children he saved left Prague on a train.

July 10 - Omar Sharif, Egyptian actor died at age 83 from a heart attack.

July 11 - Satoru Iwata, Japanese businessman and video game programmer, the fourth president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Nintendo died at age 55 from a tumor in his bile duct.

July 14 - NASA's New Horizons spacecraft performs a close flyby of Pluto, becoming the first spacecraft in history to visit the distant world.

July 14 - Iran agrees to long-term limits of its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.

July 15 - Wan Li, Chinese Communist revolutionary and politician, died at age 98.

July 20 – Cuba and the United States reestablish full diplomatic relations, ending a 54-year stretch of hostility between the nations.

July 21 - E. L. Doctorow, American author died at age 84 of lung cancer. He married fellow Columbia University student Helen Esther Setzer while serving in the U.S. Army in West Germany.

July 24 – Turkey begins a series of airstrikes against PKK and ISIL targets after the 2015 Suruç bombing.

August 3 – Robert Conquest, British-born American historian notable for his influential works on Soviet history including The Great Terror: Stalin's Purges of the 1930s died at age 98 of respiratory failure due to complications from Parkinson's disease.

August 5 – Debris found on Réunion Island is confirmed to be that of Malaysian Airlines Flight 370, missing since March 2014.

August 7 - Manuel Contreras, Chilean general and the former head of the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA), Chile's secret police during the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet died at age 86 due to kidney problems. At the time of his death in August 2015, Contreras was serving 59 un-appealable sentences totaling 529 years in prison for kidnapping, forced disappearance and assassination. The announcement of his death was greeted by a demonstration of several dozen people in front of the hospital, who shouted "murderer!" and toasted his death with champagne. There were also celebrations by hundreds of people at Plaza Italia, a square in downtown Santiago.

August 7 - Frances Oldham Kelsey, Canadian physician died at age 101. As a reviewer for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), she refused to authorize thalidomide for market because she had concerns about the drug's safety. Her concerns proved to be justified when it was shown that thalidomide caused serious birth defects. Kelsey was the second woman to be awarded the President's Award for Distinguished Federal Civilian Service by President John F. Kennedy.

August 14 – Bob Johnston, American record producer best known for his work with Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Leonard Cohen, and Simon and Garfunkel died at age 83.

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.

August 29 – Wayne Dyer, American author and motivational speaker died at age 75. His first book, Your Erroneous Zones (1976), is one of the best-selling books of all time, with an estimated 35 million copies sold to date.

August 30 - Wes Craven, American film director and writer died at age 76 from brain cancer.

August 30 - Oliver Sacks, British-American neurologist and writer died at age 82 from an ocular tumor.

September 3 – Chandra Bahadur Dangi, Nepalese dwarf, world's shortest man died at age 75 from pneumonia. His height was 1 foot 9 1⁄2 inches. Three of his five brothers were less than four feet tall, while his two sisters and two other brothers are of average height.

September 10 – Scientists announce the discovery of Homo naledi, a previously unknown species of early human in South Africa.

September 13 – Moses Malone, American basketball player died at age 60 from hypertensive and atherosclerotic heart disease.

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 19 – Jackie Collins, British novelist whose books have sold over 500 million copies died at age 77 of breast cancer.

September 22 – Yogi Berra, American baseball player, died at age 90. Berra, who quit school after the eighth grade, was also known for his malapropisms as well as pithy and paradoxical quotes.

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.

September 30 – Russia begins air strikes against ISIL and anti-government forces in Syria in support of the Syrian government.

October 5 - Infante Carlos, Spanish nobleman and the last infante of Spain during the reigns of his cousins King Juan Carlos I and King Felipe VI died at age 77.

October 7 - Harry Gallatin, American basketball player and coach died at age 88.

October 7 - Jurelang Zedkaia, Fifth President of the Marshall Islands died at age 65. This island country is part of the Compact of Free Association with the United States.

October 10 – A suicide bomb 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, with winds of 200 mph and a pressure of 879 mbar.

October 25 – Flip Saunders, American basketball player and coach died at age 60 from Hodgkin's lymphoma.

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 – 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. ISIS terrorists detonated a bomb on the aircraft.

November 1 - Günter Schabowski, German politician died at age 86 from infarctions and strokes. Schabowski gained worldwide fame in November 1989 when he improvised a slightly mistaken answer to a press conference question, raising popular expectations much more rapidly than the government planned so that massive crowds gathered the same night at the Berlin Wall, forcing its opening after 28 years; soon after, the entire inner German border was opened.

November 1 - Fred Thompson, American politician and actor died at age 73 from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

November 3 – Ahmed Chalabi, Iraqi politician died at age 71 from a heart attack. In the lead-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the Iraqi National Congress (INC), with the assistance of lobbying powerhouse BKSH & Associates, provided a major portion of the information on which U.S. Intelligence based its condemnation of the Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, including reports of weapons of mass destruction and alleged ties to al-Qaeda. Most, if not all, of this information has turned out to be false and Chalabi has been called a fabricator.

November 4- Melissa Mathison, American screenwriter and an activist for Tibetan freedom died at age 65 from neuroendocrine cancer. From 1983 to 2004, Mathison was married to Harrison Ford; they had two children together.

November 7 – Chinese and Taiwanese presidents, Xi Jinping and Ma Ying-jeou, formally meet for the first time.

November 7 - Yitzhak Navon, Israeli politician, President of Israel died at age 94.

November 10 - Helmut Schmidt, German politician, Chancellor of West Germany died at age 96 after surgery for a blood clot in his leg.

November 12 – Several suicide bombings occur in Beirut, Lebanon, killing 43 and injuring 239. The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant claim responsibility.

November 12 - Mohammed Emwazi, also known as Jihadi John, a Kuwaiti member of ISIS died at age 27 from a drone strike in Al-Raqqah, Syria.

November 13 – Multiple attacks claimed by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Paris, France, resulting in 130 fatalities.

November 22 – Kim Young-sam, South Korean politician, President of South Korea died at age 87 from a blood infection and heart failure.

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.

November 30 – The 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 21) is held in Paris, attended by leaders from 147 nations.

December 1 – Jim Loscutoff, American basketball player died at age 85 from complications of Parkinson's disease and pneumonia.

December 3 – Scott Weiland, American singer and musician and the lead singer for the band Stone Temple Pilots from 1989 to 2013 died at age 48 from an accidental overdose of cocaine, ethanol, and methylenedioxyamphetamine.

December 4 - Yossi Sarid, Israeli politician and news commentator died at age 75 from a heart attack.

December 10 - Dolph Schayes, American basketball player and coach died at age 87 from cancer.

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 22 – SpaceX lands a Falcon 9 rocket, the first reusable rocket to successfully enter orbital space and return.

December 23 - Bülent Ulusu, Prime Minister of Turkey died at age 92.

December 28 - Eloy Inos, American politician, Republican Governor of the Northern Mariana Islands died at age 66 while recovering from open heart surgery.

December 31 - Natalie Cole, American singer and daughter of Nat King Cole died at age 65 due to congestive heart failure.

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