53 Of BuzzFeed's Biggest, Best, Highest Impact, And Most Fun Stories Of 2015

BuzzFeed covered a lot of ground in 2015, from Ben Carson to Brother Orange and San Francisco to Somalia. Here's a chronological cross-section.

1. Republican Presidential candidate Ben Carson plagiarized portions of his book America the Beautiful. One major source: SocialismSucks.net.

Ben Carson Facebook

2. "Take BuzzFeed’s Get Fit Challenge, Then Take Over The World"

3. Nutella cinnamon rolls.

Facebook: video.php

4. President Obama said "Thanks, Obama" for a BuzzFeed video — and defended his legacy in an interview with BuzzFeed News.

Facebook: video.php

5. "24 Marvelous Ways To Explain Brazilian Phrases To A Gringo"

kylo ren @rodrigoplss

in brazilian portuguese you don’t say i love you you say “te pago um salgado” which means endless love and i think that’s beautiful

02:03 AM - 10 Feb 2015

BuzzFeed Brasil has also been doing groundbreaking work on

the victims of heterophobia.

6. A BuzzFeed News investigation: "Fostering Profits: Abuse And Neglect At America’s Biggest For-Profit Foster Care Company"

This story and the sequel — "In An Unmarked Grave, A Baby's Untold Story" — prompted a U.S. Senate investigation.

7. "The 18 Most Historically Important Moments From The Great Llama Chase Of 2015"

8. "What Colors Are This Dress?" (??????!!!!!!!??????)

swiked.tumblr.com

A Tumblr user posted this mysterious photo (white and gold, obviously) and then messaged our Cates Holderness to ask BuzzFeed to help her figure out the colors. We obliged — and The Dress turned into perhaps the first instant simultaneous global meme. And we got to the bottom of the story with reporting and ~science ~.

(Those two were on the same day!)

9. "A Door In Germany Broke Down And The Most Memetacular Thing Happened"

Frankenstone3D / Via imgur.com

It makes perfect sense in German.

10. "Here Is Everything You Need To Know About Going Platinum Blonde"

Lauren Zaser for BuzzFeed Life / Via Alice Mongkongllite for BuzzFeed Design

11. "I Followed My Stolen iPhone Across The World, Became A Celebrity In China, And Found A Friend For Life"

Qingqing Chen / BuzzFeed

And then Brother Orange came to the U.S., to see Matt and Britney.

12. "Selena Is Pretty Much A Disney Princess"

Walt Disney Studios / Will Varner / BuzzFeed

Did you catch the Selena festival?

13. "Texas Sends Poor Teens To Adult Jail For Skipping School"

Photograph by Dylan Hollingsworth for BuzzFeed News

Two months after the BuzzFeed News investigation, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed a law ending the practice of jailing kids for missing school.

14. "This Is What Plus-Size Clothes Look Like On Plus-Size Women"

Also: "We Tried On Victoria’s Secret Bathing Suits And This Is What Happened."

15. "How An American Tourist Lost His Passport In Istanbul And Was Sucked Into Syria’s War"

Our correspondents covered the conflict on the ground in Syria and Iraq and across the border in Turkey, and exposed civilian casualties, antiquities smuggling, and the U.S. efforts to use a "mobbed up" Bulgarian arms dealer to supply rebels.

16. Inside the Clinton campaign: "The Robby Mook Playbook"

17. "Making Victoria’s Secret Pay For Keeping Staff On Call "

Will Varner / BuzzFeed News

18. "Who Set Jessica Chambers On Fire? The Internet Is Trying To Find Out"

Photo courtesy of Lisa Daugherty

19. Whine About It!

Facebook: video.php

Don't miss the behind-the-scenes Whine About It documentary.

20. After the Charleston massacre: “They Saw An Anointed One”

21. "Supreme Court Rules In Favor Of Nationwide Marriage Equality"

Jonathan Ernst / Reuters

...and we warned of the coming disasters. (All BuzzFeed's marriage equality coverage here.)

22. "Hurricane Katrina, 10 Years Later"

Kyle Niemi / US Coast Guard via Getty Images

23. BuzzFeed Comics

by Adam Ellis

24. "Government Refusing Funding To Kids Company Charity Unless Boss Is Removed"

Handout / Getty Images

The BuzzFeed News investigation of the British charity Kids Company was the first of three major investigations by BuzzFeed UK in 2015: Our reporters also exposed the "deeply suspicious" financial practices of a top Tory donor, and revealed chaos at the country's National Crime Agency.

25. "The Unbreakable Rebecca Black"

Joyce Lee for BuzzFeed News

26. A BuzzFeed News investigation in Afghanistan: "Ghost Students, Ghost Teachers, Ghost Schools"

BuzzFeed News

27. "A Week In The Mysterious Sleeping Villages Of Kazakhstan"

28. "The New American Slavery: Invited To The U.S., Foreign Workers Find A Nightmare"

Jessica Garrison / BuzzFeed News

The second part of this investigation: "All You Americans Are Fired."

29. "Rose McGowan Is Starting A Revolution"

30. "17 Heartbreaking Cartoons From Artists All Over The World Mourning The Drowned Syrian Boy"

facebook.com

31. "They Pretend To Be Us While Pretending We Don’t Exist"

32. "An Aid Worker Was Raped In South Sudan And The U.N. Did Almost Nothing About It"

AFP / Getty Images

33. "Twenty Minutes With Tim Cook"

Jon Premosch For Buzzfeed News

34. "The War of the Hoverboards"

Shane Chen

Safe to say, BuzzFeed pretty much owned the story of 2015's favorite and most hated new ride — and the strange new memeufacturing complex behind it.

35. "The Dark, Scammy History Of JustFab And Fabletics "

Graham Roumieu for BuzzFeed News

36. "Priyanka Chopra’s Accent Is Helping Me Solve My Biggest Identity Crisis"

Via Star World

Also from BuzzFeed India editor Rega Jha: "The Cleavage Of Consent Between Bollywood’s Leading Ladies And Their Voyeurs" and "Why Parineeti Chopra’s 'Built That Way' Is A Step Back For Bollywood In 2015."

37. "Here’s How Uber Beat The Las Vegas Taxi Industry"

Chris Yunker / Flickr / Via Flickr: chris-yunker

38. "Famous Berkeley Astronomer Violated Sexual Harassment Policies Over Many Years"

Getty Images / Via gettyimages.com

The astronomer resigned after the BuzzFeed News report.

39. "WeWork Used These Documents To Convince Investors It’s Worth Billions"

From WeWork's pitch deck (page 16)

40. Another Round, Episode 28: "Madam Secretary, What's Good?"

w.soundcloud.com

Subscribe to Another Round!

41. On Snapchat Discover, Muslim identity.

42. "Here’s What No One Tells You About Having Both Depression And Anxiety"

Jenny Chang / BuzzFeed

43. The Black Colleges Issue

youtube.com

44. "There’s No Evidence In Clinton White House Documents For Clintons’ Story On Anti-Gay Law "

assets.documentcloud.org

45. The Paris Attacks

Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

Attentats de Paris: voici la liste des 130 victimes. Attention aux (nombreuses) rumeurs et fausses infos.

46. "Paris Attacks Stoke Fears Of Refugees — And That's What ISIS Wants"

47. "'This Is What They Did For Fun': The Story Of A Modern-Day Lynching"

Rogelio V. Solis / AP Photo

48. The Summer, Fall, and Winter of Trump

vine.co

Trump threw a fit about this definitive BuzzFeed News profile in 2014, and this year we've reported on his flip-flops — most notably on immigration — on the talk radio forces sticking with him, the racists who love him, the damage he's doing to the Republican attempt to woo Latinos, the ugly scene at his rallies, and the backlash against his anti-Muslim campaign.

Please also enjoy this Vine.

49. Mental Health Week

Maritsa Patrinos / BuzzFeed

50. "How To Host Thanksgiving For The First Time Ever (For Under $100) "

Lauren Zaser / BuzzFeed Life / Cast iron serveware by Staub / Blue wire plate by Fishs Eddy

51. "Meet The Two People Risking Everything To End This Crime Against Women"

Thomas Mukoya / Reuters

52. "In 2015, The Dark Forces Of The Internet Became A Counterculture"

Photo illustration by BuzzFeed News; Photos: Getty images (2), Daily Stormer

53. "28 Pictures That Prove 2015 Wasn’t A Completely Terrible Year"

Via journalclubinfo.com