2015 was a year of good music, celebrity blow outs and historic tragedies and triumphs. Some, like I, saw the end of their senior year of high school and the very beginning of their college careers. Others saw the end of college and the beginning of the rest of their lives. For all, 2015 will hold a special place with plenty memories to look back on. Here are some of the best of 2015.
1. Netflix and Chill
What started as just a joke erupted into one of the biggest social media hashtags of the year.
2. Caitlyn Jenner
Whether you agree with her way of life or not, Caitlyn Jenner has been one of the biggest tabloid news stories of 2015. Her transition from Bruce to Caitlyn was a huge step for her and her family and the media captured practically every moment.
3. The Dress
Is it black and blue or white and gold? The world may never know. Actually, the world does know that it simply has to do with the lighting and saturation of the picture and the light around you when seeing it. It's not a big deal anymore, but remember waking up that fateful day to see it flooding your social media? Me too. I think most will agree that it was one of the seemingly most important issues of March 2015.
4. Uptown Funk
Spending 14 consecutive weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, seven non-consecutive weeks at number one on the UK Singles Chart and topping charts in other countries such as New Zealand, Australia, Canada, France and Ireland, Uptown Funk was one of the most successful hits of early 2015. Uptown Funk also set a new record for the highest number of streams in one week in the US, with 4.8 million streams. Worldwide, the song accumulated an estimated 15.2 million points from sales and streams. The video for Uptown Funk was also nominated for five MTV Video Music Awards, winning Best Male Video and the Brit Award for British Single of the Year. According to Billboard magazine, the song has earned $2.7 million in publishing royalties.
5. What are those?
You may have been asked the question "What are those?" before this year, but the meme blew up this year bigger than anyone ever thought it would. In June, a Vine popped up of someone asking a police officer "What are those?" while panning to the officer's work boots. It took over all forms of social media after the Vine was looped almost 20 million times. From classics like The Wizard of Oz and Disney's Hercules to people making their own videos of them harassing their friends and family, the "What are those?" take over was a huge part of 2015.6. "Miley, what's good?"
The iconic question was thrown by none other than Nicki Minaj. She made the comment while accepting the award for Best Hip Hop music video for Anaconda. She did it out of spite of Miley bragging about her nomination before the awards were given. For weeks after, people were asking Miley nonstop "What's good?"
7. John Cena
You've seen the video a hundred times already, so why are friends still posting it over and over? Because it wasn't just the same old video. John Cena magically appeared in videos all over the internet. Even he said that he thought he was watching a normal video once; until he heard his theme music start.8. Donald Trump
Need I say much more? He pretty much speaks for himself and there aren't many who aren't up to date on his latest antics.9. Hotline Bling
What started out as a regular Drake song turned into one of the biggest memes of the year. People were remaking the music video to have him throw pizza, have other people dancing in his place and many other hilariously creative videos.
10. The Paris Attacks
While Paris went dark, the rest of the world shined bright. It is an image many of us know well. In November, tragedy struck Paris when terrorists invaded different areas of Paris. It was in the news as quickly as 9-11 was back in 2001. The world came together and showed their support by lighting up many different landmarks in the colors of France's flag. It's not something that we will soon forget.
11. Legalization of same-sex marriage
In June of this year, a historic victory was made for the LGBTQ community in the United States. It is stated in the law that states must issue marriage licenses to anyone who wants to get married no matter what their gender or sexual orientation. People celebrated all over the country when the announcement was made that anyone in love could marry. It was one of the most colorful days of all 2015.Now, we'll see if 2016 can top all that has happened.