52 Of The Most Powerful Photos Of 2015

On Jan. 11, demonstrators in Paris made their way along Boulevard Voltaire in solidarity with the 17 victims of the terrorist attack on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. The siege ended at two separate locations, a printing company in Dammartin-en-Goële and a Kosher supermarket in Paris, with four hostages and three suspects being killed. An estimated 1 million people converge in central Paris for the Unity March.

Law enforcement officers stand, some with their backs turned, as New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio speaks outside the funeral of NYPD officer Wenjian Liu in Brooklyn, New York, on Jan. 4.

A protester throws a gas canister back at police during clashes in Baltimore, Maryland, on April 28. Baltimore erupted in violence as hundreds of rioters looted stores and burned buildings following the funeral of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old black man who died after suffering a spinal injury in police custody. The riots broke out blocks from where the funeral of Gray took place and spread through much of west Baltimore.

In this June 19 photo, Dylann Storm Roof appears by closed-circuit television at his bond hearing in Charleston, South Carolina. The 21-year-old was charged with nine counts of murder in connection with an attack on a historic black church in South Carolina in hopes to incite a "race war" in the United States.

The Confederate battle flag is permanently removed from the South Carolina State House grounds during a ceremony in Columbia, South Carolina, on July 10.

On June 26, crowds outside of the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., rejoice after the U.S. Supreme Court hands down a ruling regarding same-sex marriage. The high court ruled that same-sex couples have the right to marry in all 50 states.

In July, Annie Leibovitz photographs Caitlyn Jenner for an iconic cover of Vanity Fair.

Walking alongside many of the original marchers, President Obama makes his way across the Edmund Pettus Bridge to mark the 50th Anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery civil rights marches in Selma, Alabama, on March 7. The event commemorated “Bloody Sunday,” a day when civil rights marchers attempting to walk to the Alabama capital of Montgomery to end voting discrimination against African-Americans clashed with police on the bridge.

In this photo taken on Aug. 29, migrants from Pakistan land on shore after completing a journey in a small boat, crossing a three-mile stretch of the Aegean Sea from Turkey.

In this Aug. 27 photo, WDBJ-TV7 meteorologist Leo Hirsbrunner wipes his eyes during the early morning newscast as anchors Kimberly McBroom and Steve Grant deliver the news. The day before, reporter Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward were killed during a live broadcast while on assignment in Moneta, Virginia.

Damaged houses are seen from an Indian Helicopter in Khanigaun, Nepal. A major 7.9 earthquake hit Kathmandu mid-day on April 25, and was followed by multiple aftershocks that triggered avalanches on Mt. Everest that buried mountain climbers in their base camps. Many houses, buildings, and temples in the capital were destroyed during the earthquake, leaving over 7,000 people dead and many more trapped under the debris.

In this photograph taken on April 25, a cloud of snow and debris triggered by an earthquake flies toward Everest Base Camp, moments ahead of flattening part of the camp in the Himalayas.

French gendarmes and investigators work among the debris of the Airbus A320 at the site of Germanwings Flight 9525 crash, near Seyne-les-Alpes, French Alps, on March 26. A young German co-pilot locked himself alone in the cockpit of the plane and set it on course to crash into an Alpine mountain, killing all 150 people onboard, including himself.

Vladimir Bovrichev cries next to the body of his son Artiam, 4, who was killed in a Ukrainian army artillery strike on the outskirts of Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, on Jan. 20.

In this June 6 photo, Obama hugs Vice President Joe Biden during funeral services for Biden’s son, Beau Biden, at St. Anthony of Padua Church in Wilmington, Delaware.

Crews search through fields of wreckage on Route 72, after a tornado came through the town of Fairdale, Illinois, on April 9. According to reports, seven people were injured and one person was killed when tornadoes and thunderstorms passed through.

Emergency workers sift through twisted metal and debris from the wreck of a derailed Amtrak train in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which killed 8 people and injured scores of others on May 13.

President Barack Obama and Pope Francis walk down the Colonnade before meeting in the Oval Office of the White House, during this Pope's first visit to the United States on Sept. 9.

Caroline Rotich of Kenya crosses the finish line to win the 119th Boston Marathon on April 20 in Boston, Massachusetts.

The Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl performs on a throne of guitars with a broken foot at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C., on July 4.

Honoree and comedian Amy Schumer pretends to trip and fall in front of honorees Kim Kardashian West and Kanye West, as they attend the Time 100 Gala celebrating the Time 100 Most Influential People issue on April 21.

In this May 28 photo, onlookers take pictures as workers remove the marquee from the Ed Sullivan Theater where the Late Show With David Letterman used to tape in New York City. This year, Letterman retired after hosting 6,028 episodes of Late Night and Late Show for 33 years.

Comedian Simon Brodkin throws dollar bills at FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter during a press conference at the Extraordinary FIFA Executive Committee Meeting in Zurich, Switzerland, on July 20.

In this Aug. 21 photo, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump greets supporters after his rally at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Alabama.

Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau helps a young Syrian refugee try on a winter coat after she arrived with her family from Beirut in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, on Dec. 11.

After months of promises and weeks of preparation, the first Canadian government planeload of Syrian refugees landed in Toronto on Thursday, aboard a military aircraft met by Trudeau.

Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis talks with David Moore following her office’s refusal to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples at the Rowan County Courthouse in Morehead, Kentucky, on Sept. 1.

On July 29, protesters call attention to the poaching of Cecil the lion, in the parking lot of Dr. Walter Palmer’s River Bluff Dental Clinic in Bloomington, Minnesota. According to reports, the 13-year-old lion was lured out of a national park in Zimbabwe and killed by Palmer, who had paid at least $50,000 for the hunt.

People join hands as they observe a minute’s silence in memory of those killed in an attack by an Islamist gunman at a beach in Sousse, Tunisia, on July 3.

Christian Jacobs, age 4, of Hertford, North Carolina, lies on the grave of his father, Christopher James Jacob, during Memorial Day at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia.

Yellow pieces of paper mark bullet holes in the glass of a military recruiting center in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez of Hixson, Tennessee, attacked two military facilities on July 16, in a shooting rampage that left four Marines and one sailor dead.

On Aug. 24, French President Francois Hollande awards U.S. Airman First Class Spencer Stone with the “Legion d’Honneur” medal as U.S. National Guardsman Alek Skarlatos applauds during a ceremony at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France. The week before, three U.S. citizens and a Briton helped to disarm a machine-gun–toting attacker on a Thalys train.

The full eclipse of the moon ends as the moon leaves the shadow of the Earth on Sept. 28 in Glastonbury, England. The “supermoon” — so called because it is the closest full moon to the Earth this year — is particularly rare as it coincides with a lunar eclipse this year, a combination that has not happened since 1982 and won’t happen again until 2033.

On Sept. 28, scientists revealed the discovering of the first evidence that water may flow on the surface of Mars during the planet’s summer months. The picture shows what appears to be 100-meter-long streaks on the surface of Mars, seeming to have been formed by flowing water.

On July 18, fires burn along Baldy Mesa Road near Interstate 15 in San Bernardino County, California. The 5.5-square-mile fire destroyed 20 vehicles on the freeway before burning three homes and 44 more vehicles in the community of Baldy Mesa.

Houseboats are moored on a shrinking arm of the Oroville Lake reservoir, which on May 25 was at 25% capacity as a severe drought affected California. Local media reported that California officials looked to Australia for advice on how to deal with long-term drought as the state entered its fourth year of severe drought.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel speaks with President Barack Obama at Schloss Elmau hotel near Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, during the G-7 summit on June 8.

President Barack Obama extends his hand to Russian President Vladimir Putin during their meeting at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City on Sept. 28.

In this Nov. 3 photo, a Palestinian woman paints a mural depicting a masked Palestinian holding a knife, in support of Palestinians committing stabbing attacks against Israelis.

On July 30, people disarm an Orthodox Jewish assailant after he stabbed and injured six participants at an annual gay pride parade in Jerusalem.

A family member of Aharon Bennett mourns next to his covered body before his funeral in Jerusalem on Oct. 4. Bennett was killed after a Palestinian man stabbed two Israelis in Jerusalem’s Old City before police shot the assailant dead.

Palestinians fight to free a Palestinian boy held by an Israeli soldier during clashes between Israeli security forces and Palestinian protesters on Aug. 28. The clash followed a march against Palestinian land confiscation to expand the nearby Jewish Hallamish settlement in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh near Ramallah.

In this photo from Sept. 8, a Palestinian boy sleeps on a mattress inside the remains of his family’s house, that witnesses said was destroyed by Israeli shelling during a 50-day war in 2014.

A wounded Syrian girl wanders about a makeshift hospital in the rebel-held area of Douma, following shelling and air raids by Syrian government forces on Aug. 22.

A child’s shoe is seen in front of debris from a Russian airliner which crashed at the Hassana area in Arish city, north Egypt, on Nov. 1. All 224 people onboard the plane were killed in what was ruled a terrorist attack.

On Nov. 13, football fans gather on the field of the Stade de France stadium following the friendly match between France and Germany, after a series of coordinated terrorist attacks across Paris in which 130 victims were killed.

People run after hearing what is believed to be explosions or gun shots near Place de la Republique square in Paris on Nov. 13.

In this Nov. 14 photo, a woman cries near Le Petit Cambodge restaurant, the day after the deadly attacks in Paris that took the lives of at least 130 people and injured at least 350.

On Dec. 2 in San Bernardino, California, police officers conduct a manhunt after a county restaurant inspector and his wife opened fire on a gathering of his co-workers, killing 14 people and wounding 21 in what was described by authorities as an act of terrorism.

On Dec. 9, a father and son pay their respects at a makeshift memorial site, honoring the shooting victims in San Bernardino, California.

A woman has a peace sign combined with the Eiffel Tower painted on her face as she arrives for a minute of silence for the victims of the Nov. 13 terrorist attacks in Paris.