Events From 2025 That Will Most Likely Make It Into History Books

The death of Pope Francis in April 2025 prompted the gathering of Catholic cardinals from around the world to elect his successor. The Papal conclave began on May 7, 2025.

Cardinals deliberated while sequestered at the Vatican and, on May 8, it was announced that Cardinal Robert Prevost had been elected as the new pope. Prevost took the papal name Leo XIV, becoming the first pope from North America in the papacy’s history.

When Israel launched attacks on Iran on June 13, 2025, the country claimed it was to stop Iran from getting closer to building atomic weapons. Several military and nuclear sites were targeted and numerous scientists and generals were killed. With decades of  tension between the two nations, Iran retaliated the same day, sending drones and missiles into Israel.

Israel and Iran continued to exchange missiles and casualties on both sides increased during the days that followed. A tentative ceasefire was reached on June 23 after the United States intervened and bombed three nuclear sites in Iran. After the ceasefire was announced, Israel claimed Iran continued to bomb locations within its borders.

After weeks of hospitalization, Pope Francis appeared to be recovering from respiratory ailments when he suddenly passed away on April 21, 2025. The pontiff was 88 years old when he died on Easter Monday.

Pope Francis’s funeral was held on April 26, 2025, after which he was taken to his final resting place at the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome. 

After nearly two weeks of fighting between Israel and Iran, President Donald Trump said he would give the situation another two weeks before deciding whether or not the US would intervene in the conflict. This assertion was made on June 19 but, on June 21, the US bombed three nuclear facilities in Iran.

Initially, Trump insisted the strikes “completely and totally obliterated” Iran’s nuclear facilities and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth concurred. Later reports indicated the attacks only provided a setback for Iran, “maybe a few months, tops.”

On January 20, 2025, Donald Trump became the second former US president to return to office for non-consecutive terms. Trump immediately began issuing executive orders (undoing much of what Joe Biden had carried out), issued pardons for individuals charged in connection with the attack on the US Capitol in January 2021, and initiated a hiring freeze for the Federal government.

When he became president again, Donald Trump issued an executive order establishing the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. DOGE was designed to be temporary and was tasked with finding ways to cut excess and eliminate redundancies within the government. Businessman Elon Musk was tapped to oversee DOGE; he held the position until late May 2025.

As of May 12, 2025, DOGE reduced nearly all workers in government-funded entities like Voice of America and the US Agency for International Development (USAID). AmeriCorps and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau were also hit especially hard by layoffs within government agencies and departments.

According to the DOGE website, it saved $180 billion by June 3, 2025. Outside observers like Nat Malkus from the American Enterprise Institute remain skeptical about the official number and the long-term implications.

Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore launched into space on June 5, 2024, and arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) the following day. They were supposed to spend eight days at the ISS, but safety issues with the craft that was supposed to bring them back to Earth delayed their return.

After several proposed return dates and subsequent delays, Williams and Wilmore returned to Earth on March 18, 2025.

Between January 7 and 31, 2025, wildfires in Los Angeles County prompted mass evacuations and widespread fire-fighting efforts, ultimately burning nearly 50,000 acres. Roughly 30 people died during the fires and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts estimates some $150 billion in economic losses as a result of the fires.

Exacerbated by drought and strong Santa Ana winds, the fires in Los Angeles were likely human-caused but were heavily influenced by climate change. In the words of Tim Brown from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Western Regional Climate Center, they resulted from “the confluence of climate, people, topography, and fuels.”

With an increase in Immigrant and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids and arrests underway across the United States in 2025, reactions among the American populace varied. In Los Angeles, CA, in early June, rumors that ICE agents were gathering up day laborers prompted protests in parts of the city.

Mayor Karen Bass and Governor Gavin Newsom expressed opposition to the raids, prompting President Donald Trump to take control of the California National Guard and mobilize Marines to enter the city. Trump argued that the troops were there to ensure immigration policies were being followed and to protect ICE officers as needed.

It is a violation of the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 for the president to activate troops in individual states without invoking the Insurrection Act of 1807. In response to Trump’s actions, “No Kings” rallies and protests were held in locations across the US on June 14, 2025.

Nearly six months after he talked about a policy that aimed “to defend American borders” in his inaugural address, President Donald Trump announced that the United States was fully restricting foreign nationals from 12 countries. These included: Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen.

Partial restrictions were placed up on nationals from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.

In the early morning hours of June 14, 2025, two lawmakers in Minnesota were shot by a gunman disguised as a law enforcement officer. State Senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, were injured by the assailant at their residence in Champlin, MN. The gunman then proceeded to the home of State Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark. He shot and killed them both.

The shooter, later identified as Vance Boelter, was tracked over the course of nearly 48 hours until he was captured. In his car, authorities found a “hit list” with dozen of names of other potential targets. Boelter’s actions were categorized as “targeted political violence” by Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.

On February 28, 2025, President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance met with Ukrainian president Volodymr Zelensky in the Oval Office. The meeting was held to discuss aid for Ukraine in its ongoing war with Russia.

The exchange turned contentious when Trump and Vance questioned Ukraine’s position in the war and if Zelensky had ever said “thank you.” The meeting ended early and a subsequent lunch and press conference were canceled. By the end of the day, no deal between the two countries had been reached.

President Donald Trump declared April 2, 2025 to be “Liberation Day” and announced sweeping tariff increases as the US’s “declaration of economic independence.” The tariff hikes were the largest in the country since the Smoot-Hawley Tariffs approved by the Herbert Hoover administration in 1930.

In addition to the 10% tariff on all imported goods, specific countries were hit with “reciprocal tariffs.” China, for example, saw a 54% overall tariff increase while a 20% tariff was imposed on the European Union.

In the weeks and months following “Liberation Day,” the United States entered into talks with several countries including China to negotiate lower tariffs.  

Elected as the Prime Minister of Canada in 2015, Justin Trudeau announced his impending resignation in January 2025. After months of criticism from political rivals as well as members of his own Liberal Party, Trudeau said Canada deserved “a real choice in the next election.”

Trudeau did not pursue the office of Prime Minister during the subsequent elections in March. He left office on March 14, the same day that Mark Carney was sworn in as the new prime minister.

On January 29, 2025, an American Airlines flight bound for Reagan National Airport near Washington, DC, and a Black Hawk helicopter collided in midair. Both aircraft crashed into the Potomac River.

There were 64 people aboard the passenger jet inbound from Wichita, KS, and three members of the military aboard the US Army helicopter.

On March 28, 2025, a massive earthquake struck near Mandalay, Myanmar, the country’s second-largest city. The earthquake occurred during the middle of the day and caused widespread destruction of buildings and homes. Over 3,700 people died and thousands more suffered injuries.

The earthquake was felt throughout the region. Aid from countries like the United States was limited in the aftermath, however, due to funding cuts to groups like the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

India launched an attack on neighboring Pakistan on May 7, 2025. The four-day military conflict was prompted by what India alleged was Pakistan-supported terrorist attack in areas it controlled in Jammu and Kashmir.

Initial missile strikes in Pakistan reportedly hit six locations and killed 26 people. Continued skirmishes between the two countries came to an end on May 10 when India and Pakistan agreed to a ceasefire. It’s unclear how many people died on both sides, but as many as 50 died in Pakistan. 

As one of the numerous executive orders Donald Trump signed when he entered the White House in January 2025, the Gulf of Mexico was “renamed” the Gulf of America. The overall effort to “Restore Names That Honor American Greatness” included this explanation:

In recognition of this flourishing economic resource and its critical importance to our Nation’s economy and its people, I am directing that it officially be renamed the Gulf of America.

February 9, 2025, was subsequently declared “Gulf of America Day.” Google Maps changed its name for the Gulf to Gulf of America, while criticism from Mexico and other international parties accompanied divisive reactions from people living in its vicinity.

In the ongoing conflict between Gaza and Israel (the most recent war began in October 2023), the two sides reached their second ceasefire agreement in January 2025. The ceasefire was in effect between January 19 and March 18 and, upon its expiration, Israel launched airstrikes on Gaza immediately.

As of June 22, 2025, about 50 of the 250 hostages taken by Hamas from Israel in October 2023 are believed still be in Gaza. The overall death toll in Gaza has risen to more than 55,000 as of June, with roughly 127,000 people injured. Israel has largely restricted humanitarian aid from entering Gaza.

Heavy rainfall in parts of Texas in early July 2025 turned prompted warnings of flooding as the Fourth of July Weekend approached. Flood warnings were issued for several parts of the state and when the Guadalupe River’s shore began to rise, water “rose 26 feet within 45 minutes” in the early morning hours of Friday, July 4th.

Kerr County was hit especially hard by the flood waters and Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp, dozens of children and adults were reported missing while hundreds were rescued. Additional flooding throughout the region resulted in as many as 108 people reported dead as of July 8, with several children and adults still missing.