KYM Review: Events of 2015

Editor’s Note: This article is part of Know Your Meme’s annual Top Ten Review series looking back at some of the most memorable and popular memes, events and people that defined the Internet culture in 2015 as we know it.

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o no one's surprise, the Internet in 2015 served as the battleground of many socio-political causes and hot-button issues, in part fueled by the acceleration of gender and cultural identity wars in the social justice blogosphere and the intensification of the Republican presidential candidates' race to the White House in 2016, not to mention the endless chain of mass shootings, civil unrest and other senseless acts of terrorism that shocked the world with persistence; In the United States, dozens of innocent citizens fell victim to the hands of heavily armed psychopaths in numerous bouts of mass shootings while one too many episode of police brutalities continued to make the headlines in the news and trending topics in the social media, which in turn resulted in the rapid escalation of tensions in the realm of identity politics spanning over gender inequality, body shaming and cultural appropration, as well as heated protests over the current state of political correctness in major cities, suburbs and campus grounds across the country. Meanwhile in Europe, a number of deadly and sinister terrorist attacks undertaken by ISIS rocked the continent, most notably in Paris, where the year began with armed assaults against freedom of speech at the expense of innocent lives and ended with one of the worst terrorist attacks that the world has witnessed since the 9/11 attacks in 2001.

And now, let's take a moment to reflect upon the top ten most notable events that defined the Internets in 2015.

Charlie Hebdo Terrorist Attack

Charlie Hebdo Terrorist Attack was a mass shooting that took place inside and near the headquarters building of the French weekly satirical news magazine in Paris in early January 2015, which resulted in the deaths of at least 12 people, including many staff journalists and cartoonists, as well as police officers, and left many more wounded. Following the attack, the unknown group of armed assailants fled the scene and the suspects were eventually tracked down and killed by the GIGN following an hostage situation two days after the tragedy.

Jared Fogle Child Porn Investigation

The Jared Fogle Child Porn Investigation was a United States federal investigation that began as an inquiry into the existence of child pornography at the residence of Jared Fogle, the celebrity spokesman for the Subway sandwich chain. The months-long investigation, during which many jokes and parodies ridiculing "Subway Jared" were spawned online, uncovered that Jared had sex with underage girls on several occasions in exchange for money, ultimately resulting in a sentence of 15 years and eight months in prison.

Charleston Church Shooting

Charleston Church Shooting was a mass murder by a lone gunman that resulted in the deaths of nine churchgoers at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in downtown Charleston, South Carolina on the evening of June 17th, 2015. Due to the racially charged nature of the shooting, as all nine victims were black and the suspect identified as a young white male, the act was widely condemned as an act of hate crime in the news and social media. Meanwhile on Twitter and elsewhere online, many pointed out what they perceived as a racial bias in the official and news media description of mass murder suspects, as well as inappropriateness of the Confederate flag flying at the South Carolina State House in Columbia.

Planned Parenthood Body Part Controversy

The Planned Parenthood Sells Parts controversy refers to a viral video campaign by a pro-life organization called the Center for Medical Progress wherein actors, pretending to be medical professionals, secretly filmed a discussion with a Planned Parenthood employee where the employee appears to be suggesting that Planned Parenthood sells fetal body parts it extracts in partial-birth abortions. Months later on November 29th, 52-year-old Kentucky resident Robert Lewis Dear went on a mass shooting spree at a Planned Parenthood clinic office in Colorado, killing three people, including a police officer, and wounding many others. During the police investigation, Dear was quoted as saying "No more baby parts" while expressing his anti-Planned Parenthood sentiments, a reference that was likely pointed to the viral video.

Ahmed Mohamed's Arrest

On September 14th, 2015, a 14 year-old boy named Ahmed Mohamed was arrested in Irving, Texas, after bringing a home-made electronic clock to school. Police and school administrators described the device as a “hoax bomb,” but later declined filing charges against the student after determining that the device was not designed for any other purpose outside of being a clock. The arrest gathered much attention on social media, ranking high on trending lists and receiving many reactions from notable individuals including US President Barack Obama.

Volkswagen Emission Scandal

Also known as #DieselGate, the Volkswagen Emission Scandal refers to the uncovering of German automaker's intentional programming of turbocharged direct injection diesel engines to provide fraudulent nitrogen oxide emissions results during laboratory testing. An estimated 11 million cars produced between 2009 and 2015 are estimated to have included programs known as “defeat devices” to manipulate data in order to meet government auto emissions requirements around the world.

United States Supremem Court Gay Marriage Ruling

*_Obergefell v. Hodges_ was a landmark case reviewed by the United States Supreme Court in which the court determined that same-sex marriage is a fundamental right guaranteed by the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Upon its ruling on June 26th, the decision effectively legalized same-sex marriage across the country, though one naysayer":http://kymdb.com/memes/events/kim-davis-marriage-license-controversy at the county clerk of Rowan County, Kentucky stirred up a controversy after refusing to issue marriage licenses to gay couples.

European Migrant Crisis

The European Migrant Crisis is the ongoing exodus and resettlement of emigrants from the Middle East, Africa and Central Asia, the majority of whom are Syrian refugees and asylum-seekers displaced by the ongoing civil war in Syria, in European countries. The dramatic growth of migration from Europe’s neighboring regions was observed as early as in 2013, but the trend rapidly escalated to the level of a European humanitarian and political crisis during the summer of 2015.

h2. 2016 Republican Presidential Primaries

The 2016 Republican Presidential Primary is the preliminary round in the Republican party’s candidate selection process for the upcoming 2016 general election for the presidency of the United States. The series of state caucuses and primaries will begin in February 2016 and end the following June.

Paris Terrorist Attacks

2015 Paris Terrorist Attacks were a series of coordinated mass shootings and suicide bombings that took place at multiple locations across the Paris Metropolitan Area in France on the evening of November 13th, 2015. As a result of the attacks, at least 129 people have been confirmed as victims of casualties and 415 others who sustained injuries of varying degrees were admitted to hospitals in the area. Immediately after the attacks, which were the deadliest in France since World War II, the French government declared a state of emergency. On November 14th, the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the acts of terrorism in retaliation against the ongoing airstrikes in the group’s strongholds in Iraq and Syria.