2015 In Review Fast Facts

January 1: New Year's fireworks explode over Big Ben in London.

January 4: Law enforcement officers stand outside the funeral of fallen New York police officer Wenjian Liu. Some officers turned their backs while New York Mayor Bill de Blasio spoke on a monitor. The mayor's critics believed his comments after the death of Eric Garner contributed to an anti-police sentiment that led to the shootings of Liu and his partner, Rafael Ramos.

January 6: NASA releases a stunning new image of the so-called Pillars of Creation, one of the space agency's most iconic discoveries. The giant columns of cold gas, in a small region of the Eagle Nebula, were popularized by a similar image taken by the Hubble Space Telescope in 1995. See other wonders of the universe

January 7: A masked gunman runs toward a victim during a terrorist attack at the Paris office of Charlie Hebdo, a French satirical magazine. From January 7 to January 9, a total of 17 people were killed in attacks on Charlie Hebdo, a kosher grocery store, and the Paris suburb of Montrouge. Three suspects were killed by police in separate standoffs. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula claimed responsibility for the attacks.

January 8: U.S. President Barack Obama reaches out to shake hands with someone after he had just spoken in Phoenix about the housing market and the economy.

January 11: The eyes of Charlie Hebdo editor Stephane Charbonnier appear at an anti-terrorism rally in Paris. More than a million people took part in the demonstration, a gesture of unity just days after Charbonnier and 16 others were slaughtered.

January 13: U.S. Sen. John McCain fools around with colleagues upon arriving at a news conference in Washington.

January 17: Comedian Bill Cosby performs at the Buell Theatre in Denver. For more than 50 years, Cosby has been one of America's leading entertainers: a noted comedian, an Emmy-winning actor and an innovative producer. But over the past year his reputation has been tarnished by allegations of rape. More than 40 women have spoken out to various media outlets about allegations of sexual misconduct. Cosby has vehemently denied most of the accusations that he drugged and sexually assaulted young women seeking career guidance, but the stories have taken their toll on his reputation and bankroll.

January 17: Pope Francis wears a plastic poncho as he waves to well-wishers after a Mass in Tacloban, Philippines. During his five-day trip to the country, the Pope visited areas devastated by Typhoon Haiyan in 2013.

January 20: An Afghan security officer aims his weapon at a man who was allegedly planning a suicide bomb attack in Jalalabad, Afghanistan.

January 27: An animatronic polar bear visits the London Underground to mark the launch of "Fortitude," Sky Atlantic's new TV drama.

January 29: In this still image taken from video, a gunman storms NOS, a Dutch television station, and demands to be put on air. The unidentified man wanted 10-15 minutes to "tell his story," said Jan de Jong, the director of the state broadcaster. De Jong said the man put a gun to the head of a guard, who took him to a studio that was not in use. In video from inside the studio, police can be heard shouting before the man drops his weapon and is arrested. No shots were fired, and there were no injuries reported.

February 2: Starlings fly together before sunset in Rahat, Israel.

February 4: In this still image taken from video, TransAsia Airways Flight GE235 clips a bridge in Taipei, Taiwan, shortly after takeoff. The twin-engine turboprop airplane then plunged into the Keelung River. There were only 15 survivors among the 58 people on board. Pilots had grappled with engine problems before the crash, Taiwan's aviation safety agency said.

February 9: People watch as the Mount Sinabung volcano shoots ash into the air during an eruption in Karo, Indonesia. See other recently active volcanoes

February 10: An employee from the Tama Zoo in Tokyo pretends to check a tranquilizer's effectiveness on an employee wearing a snow leopard suit. The annual drill practiced what to do in the event of an animal escape.

February 10: An activist from the Ukrainian feminist group Femen is arrested by police in Lille, France, after protesting in front of the convoy of Dominique Strauss-Kahn. Strauss-Kahn, the former chief of the International Monetary Fund, was on trial for aggravated pimping charges. He was acquitted in June.

February 11: A woman cries during a vigil as she sees photos of the three people who were killed at an apartment near the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Three Muslim students -- Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23; his wife, Yusor Mohammad, 21; and her sister, Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, 19 -- were found shot to death a day earlier. A 46-year-old suspect, Craig Stephen Hicks, was charged with murder.

February 15: Rapper Kanye West performs during the 40th anniversary special of "Saturday Night Live."

February 15: A pro-Russian rebel rests in Debaltseve, Ukraine, one day after a skirmish with Ukrainian troops. Fighting between Ukrainian troops and pro-Russian rebels has left more than 6,000 people dead since April 2014, according to the United Nations. A recent ceasefire, the so-called Minsk Agreement, has been repeatedly violated.

February 16: Philadelphia firefighters work at the scene of an overnight blaze. The cold weather made icicles out of their water.

February 21: A woman reacts as she walks to a cemetery to attend the funeral of Carnival stampede victims in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. At least 16 people were killed during an accident involving an electrical shock on a float, government officials said. Video from the scene appeared to show a power line striking a man atop a float. Chaos erupted, and revelers ran in all directions. Officials canceled Carnival activities and declared three days of national mourning.

February 23: People run from an explosion at a gas station and storage facility near the Bakara market in Mogadishu, Somalia.

February 23: Russian President Vladimir Putin, seen through a red flag, attends a wreath-laying ceremony in Moscow on Defender of the Fatherland Day.

February 24: A U.S. soldier salutes while jumping out of an aircraft in Germany.

February 25: Singer Madonna falls as she performs "Living for Love" at the Brit Awards in London.

February 25: The body of a Ukrainian serviceman is removed from rubble after a battle over the airport in Donetsk, Ukraine.

February 26: Children stand next to a Banksy mural on the remains of a destroyed house in Beit Hanoun, Gaza. The house was destroyed last year during fighting between Israel and Hamas. See more work from Banksy, the anonymous street artist

March 2: A weasel hitches a lift on the back of a woodpecker near London. The image, credited to amateur photographer Martin Le-May, went viral on Twitter after it was posted by photographer Jason Ward. Le-May told British television channel ITV that he had been walking with his wife in Hornchurch Country Park when they heard "a distressed squawking" noise and spotted the woodpecker. "Just after I switched from my binoculars to my camera, the bird flew across us and slightly in our direction; suddenly it was obvious it had a small mammal on its back and this was a struggle for life," Le-May said. Eventually, Le-May told ITV, the weasel lost its grip and the bird flew away.

March 3: A dog looks out of a car at an army checkpoint near Kurakhove, Ukraine.

March 4: A Ukrainian coal miner waits for a bus after exiting the Zasyadko mine, where he helped search for the bodies of his colleagues in Donetsk, Ukraine. Thirty-three workers were killed after an early morning explosion at the mine.

March 10: Police hit a student protester in Letpadan, Myanmar. According to multiple media reports and international watch groups, students were met with violence as they marched to Yangon, the nation's largest city, to protest an education bill they said limits academic freedom.

March 14: A man dressed as the Incredible Hulk uses the restroom during the London Super Comic Convention.

March 17: Robert Durst, a wealthy New York real-estate heir, is transported to Orleans Parish Prison after his arraignment in New Orleans. Durst faces felony firearm and drug charges in New Orleans, and he has been charged with first-degree murder in Los Angeles. Investigators say they believe Durst was behind the slaying of Susan Berman, his longtime friend. Durst is also the focus of the HBO documentary series "The Jinx," which explores his wife's 1982 disappearance and investigators' suspicions that Berman was killed because she knew what happened to her. Durst has long maintained he didn't kill Berman or have anything to do with his wife's disappearance.

March 17: An iceberg in Antarctica, one of the most remote places on Earth.

March 20: A total solar eclipse forms over Svalbard, Norway. The rare event was visible from parts of Europe.

March 26: A trumpeter falls off his horse as the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment parades in London's Hyde Park. The British Army regiment was undergoing its annual inspection.

March 29: An Ultra-Orthodox Jewish man throws matzo into the air at a bakery in Jerusalem. Matzo, or unleavened bread, is traditionally eaten during the Jewish holiday of Passover.

March 31: A supporter of Nigerian presidential candidate Muhammadu Buhari is hit by another supporter on a motorbike during celebrations in Kano, Nigeria. Buhari defeated incumbent Goodluck Jonathan.

March 31: The eye of Super Typhoon Maysak is photographed from the International Space Station. The storm was churning over the Pacific Ocean, days away from making landfall in the Philippines.

April 3: A housing development meets the edge of undeveloped desert in Cathedral City, California. California Gov. Jerry Brown imposed mandatory water restrictions on residents, businesses and farms in the drought-ravaged state, ordering cities and towns to reduce their usage by 25%.

April 4: Jillian Nguyen, 3, stands with others as they are baptized into the Catholic faith in Philadelphia.

April 4: A bystander's video shows Michael Slager, a police officer in North Charleston, South Carolina, fatally shooting an unarmed man, Walter Scott, as Scott runs away. The graphic footage sparked outrage and reignited a national conversation around race and policing. Slager was charged with murder and fired from his job after the video was released. A grand jury indicted Slager in June, and he was denied bond in September. Slager told investigators Scott did not comply with his demands and tried to grab his stun gun.

April 4: Police in Melbourne try to break up a fight between two sets of protesters. "Rally against racism" protesters were clashing with "Reclaim Australia" protesters. The "Reclaim Australia" protesters were rallying against what they called the "Islamization" of the country.

April 6: An infant boy suffering from acute malnutrition is covered by his mother's scarf as he is treated at a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Lashkar Gah, Afghanistan. Malnutrition, according to the hospital staff, is a chronic problem in the country.

April 7: Honor guards march in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier outside Greece's Parliament in Athens.

April 8: A mass grave is seen near the Abattoir in Gwoza, Nigeria. It hadn't been determined who these people were or how they were killed, but they were presented to the media as victims of Boko Haram, an Islamist militant group waging a campaign of violence in northern Nigeria.

April 10: The mummified body of Peder Winstrup, former bishop of Lund, Sweden, is exhibited to the press after it had been examined by experts in Lund. The research team said the body from the 1600s is one of the best-preserved in Europe, according to Radio Sweden.

April 14: Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton talks with people during a surprise stop in Le Claire, Iowa. The former first lady and U.S. secretary of state has been the front-runner in the Democratic race.