10 Moments That Shocked Us In 2015

On Friday, November 13th, a series of mass shootings and suicide bombings struck Paris, France. The attacks were coordinated by ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) as a retaliation for French airstrikes in Syria and Iraq. There were 130 deaths and 368 injuries.

On June 26th, the Supreme Court ruled that same-sex marriages are protected under the Constitution. This eliminated all state bans on gay marriage and made it legal for same-sex couples to be married in all 50 states.

Following a great deal of speculation, Bruce Jenner, the Olympic athlete and step-father of the Kardashians, publicly announced that he was going through a series of treatments to become a woman in April. Jenner appeared on the cover of Vanity Fair as a woman with the new name 'Caitlyn.' Jenner's gender and name change became official on September 25th.

Donald Trump has been threatening to run for president for years now, but he made good on his word. On June 16th, Trump made an official announcement that he would be running for candidacy for the Republican party. Despite his controversial statements, Trump has earned an enormous amount of support from Americans.

In March, it was discovered that the former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had used a personal email account to exchange sensitive information while in office. The State Department deemed at least 55 of these emails of containing classified information. However, the FBI is still investigating and there have been no charges made against Clinton.

In February, Brian Williams made an on-air apology for lying about a story he told. In the story, he claimed to have been riding in a helicopter with U.S. troops when the helicopter was shot down. This was in 2003. Turns out, that wasn't true. He was in a helicopter at the time that another helicopter was shot down, but he did not witness nor was he part of the event. Williams was suspended for six months without pay.

The Subway spokesman was sentenced to 15 years in prison after he was accused of collecting child pornography and soliciting minors for sex. This brought an end to his marriage and, most likely, his relationship with his two children.

In early June, two inmates at a maximum-security prison in New York escaped and went missing for several weeks. Both were dangerous felons who had been convicted of murder. Richard Matt was shot and killed by police two days before David Sweat was captured. Joyce Mitchell, a prison employee, was convicted for providing the tools they used to escape.

Rachel Dolezal was a civil rights activist, president of the NAACP Spokane chapter, and an African studies instructor. She also presented herself to be an African-American with darkish skin and natural hair...but that was a big fat lie. Rachel is very much Caucasian. Her parents, who are both Caucasian, made a public statement that Rachel had been lying about her identity. Dolezal later confirmed that she is not genetically black.

On September 14th, the ladies of 'The View' discussed the Miss America pageant. One of the contestants, Kelley Johnson from Colorado, used the talent portion of the pageant to give a monologue about being a nurse while wearing her scrubs and stethoscope. The hosts made fun of Johnson, saying that being a nurse is not a real talent and wondering why she had a "doctor's" stethoscope. Outraged nurses, doctors, and other health care professionals everywhere expressed their disbelief and frustration with these statements. Sponsors pulled their support for 'The View.' Of course, no one on 'The View' apologized. Instead, they claimed everyone just took their statements out of context. Right.