2015 has been a turbulent year for the United States and much of the rest of world, and while there may have been events which had occurred that have made us stand back in harrowing dismay, there have also been monumental changes for our betterment, giving us a chance to be optimistic about what America’s future still has the potential to hold. Here are only a few of the events which have shaped America’s 2015 into a year to not be forgotten.

1. March 2- It is reported that Hillary Clinton used her personal email for official business while Secretary of State, violating federal regulations.

2. March 26- Religious Freedom Restoration Act is signed into law by Indiana Governor Mike Pence, allowing business owners to cite their religion as a reason to not serve specific customers based on sexual orientation.

3. April 19- Freddie Gray, a young black man arrested by the Baltimore police, dies of spinal injuries while in police custody, sparking riots only days later and after his funeral. A mistrial is declared on Dec. 16 for the first officer that is put on trial for Gray’s death.

4. June 6- Convicted killers, David Sweat and Richard Matt, escape from a maximum security prison in New York, prompting a three-week manhunt which ended with Richard Matt being killed in a shootout with police and David Sweat being apprehended by law enforcement.

5. June 16- Rachel Dolezal, head of the NAACP in Spokane, Washington, resigns due to the acknowledgement that she has been misrepresenting herself as an African-American woman for years.

6. June 17- Dylann Roof kills nine people in Charleston, South Carolina at the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church.

7. June 26- In a 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court makes same-sex marriage legal in all 50 states.

8. July 14- the first every flyby of Pluto is completed by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft.

9. August 5- The Animas River in Colorado turns orange after the EPA accidentally leaks nearly three million gallons of contaminated water from an abandoned mine.

10. August 12- Jimmy Carter makes an announcement saying that he has cancer. On December 6 Carter announces that he is “cancer-free.”

11. September 22- Pope Francis begins his visit to the United States.

12. November 27- Robert Lewis Dear opens fire at a Planned Parenthood in Colorado.

13. December 2- Fourteen are killed in San Bernardino, California after the couple Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik storm Farook’s workplace- both shooters are later killed.

14. December 17- Bernie Sanders makes history after receiving two million contributions thus far in an election season, more than any other presidential candidate in U.S. history.