A stampede during the Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca kills at least 2,200 people and injures more than 900 others, with more than 650 missing

NASA announces that liquid water has been found on Mars

Hurricane Patricia becomes the most intense hurricane ever recorded in the Western Hemisphere with winds of 215 mph

Turkey shoots down a Russian fighter jet on the Turkish–Syrian border, in the first case of a NATO member destroying a Russian aircraft since the 1950s

A global climate change pact is agreed at the COP 21 summit, committing all countries for the first time to reduce carbon emissions 

SpaceX lands an unmanned Falcon 9 rocket, the first reusable rocket to successfully enter orbital space and return

The highest ever recorded individual cricket score, 1,009 not out, is made by Pranav Dhanawade.

Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill sign an Ecumenical Declaration in the first such meeting between leaders of the Catholic and Russian Orthodox Churches since their schism in 1054.

Barack Obama visits Cuba, the first time a sitting US president has visited the island nation since president Calvin Coolidge in 1928

Ex-Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadžić is sentenced to 40 years in prison after being found guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity committed during the Bosnian War

A gunman, claiming allegiance to ISIS, opens fire at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, killing 49 people and injuring 53 others

British Labour MP Jo Cox is murdered in Birstall, West Yorkshire

The United Kingdom votes in a referendum to leave the European Union

Hillary Clinton becomes the Democratic candidate at the 2016 DNC, the first female to be nominated for a major political party

86 people are killed and more than 400 others injured in a truck attack in Nice, France, during Bastille Day celebrations

Swiss Solar Impulse 2 is the first solar-powered aircraft to circumnavigate the Earth

Proxima Centauri B is discovered as the closest exoplanet to Earth

North Korea conducts its fifth and reportedly biggest nuclear test

Businessman and television personality Donald Trump is elected the 45th President of the United States in a surprise victory against his opponent, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

The United Nations Security Council adopts Resolution 2334 condemning "Israeli settlements in Palestinian territories occupied since 1967"

Millions of people worldwide join the Women's March in response to the inauguration of Donald Trump as President of the United States

North Korea prompts international condemnation by test firing a ballistic missile across the Sea of Japan

The Assassination of Kim Jong-nam, the half brother of the current North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, is the first in the process of Kim-Jong-un killing all rival family members

The UN warns that the world is facing the largest humanitarian crisis since World War II, with up to 20 million people at risk of starvation and famine in Yemen, Somalia, South Sudan and Nigeria

WannaCry ransomware attack: Computers around the world are hit by a large-scale ransomware cyberattack which goes on to affect at least 150 countries