2015 Event Pope Francis becomes the first pope in history to speak to the U.S. Congress; the pontiff exhorted the lawmakers to work together to address climate change, immigration reform and other issues that have stalled due to strong political division 2015 Event The Shanghai Composite Index, representing China's stock market, drops 8.5% over fears that the government will withdraw support that has kept stock prices high in the midst of economic slowdown; regulators deny that such a change will be made 2015 Event Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei emphasizes that the country's recent nuclear agreement with the West does not change its opposition to the U.S. and to American policies in the Middle East 2015 Event A Dutch court ruling binds the government to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25% within 5 years in comparison to 1990 levels; plaintiffs argued that citizens must be protected from climate change, which threatens the low-lying nation 2015 Event Pope Francis issues an encyclical, 'Laudato Si' (Praise Be), urging action to protect Earth from pollution and climate change; the document was issued with the intention of influencing the U.N. Climate Summit later this year 2015 Event The Japanese parliament votes to lower the nation's voting age to 18 from 20; the change will make about 2.4 million people eligible to vote 2015 Event U.S. President Barack Obama vetoes the Keystone XL project, which would extend the existing Keystone pipeline and connect Canadian oil directly to U.S. Gulf Coast refineries; environmentalists claim the pipeline extension will add to climate change 2015 Event Scientists report that climate change may be influenced by the carbon dioxide released by undersea volcanoes, which have been assumed until now to have a negligible effect; further studies are needed to assess the degree of impact 2014 Event Almost 200 nations at the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Peru join an emissions reduction accord requiring each nation to post its plan online in 2015; the public can then pressure noncompliant nations to keep and strengthen their commitments 2014 Event Negotiations have stalled at the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Peru due to disagreement over how to distribute responsibilities for battling climate change across developed and developing nations 2014 Event Ford Motor Company begins using aluminum instead of steel in the body of its most popular truck, the F-150; the change has cost the company time and money in conversion of production lines but will make the vehicle more fuel efficient 2014 Event The U.N. issues a report concluding that immediate global actions are needed to prevent runaway impacts of climate change; the report claims failure to act now will result in extensive future damage which will be prohibitively expensive to control 2014 Event Demonstrators block Wall Street as they demand action on climate change in advance of a U.N. climate change forum tomorrow 2014 Event NASA Mars probe MAVEN is on track to enter the planet's orbit after a 10-month journey; the probe will collect data for a year on the upper Martian atmosphere to potentially answer questions about climate change on the planet 2014 Event The Federal Reserve will continue its current program of slow withdrawal of economic stimulus measures, as U.S. unemployment and underemployment numbers have not improved quickly enough to warrant a change in policy 2014 Event Walt Disney Co. is replacing attractions at some of its parks with rides and features from its hit movie 'Frozen'; in one such change, the Maelstrom ride in the Norway section of Epcot will be replaced by a 'Frozen' attraction to open in 2016 2014 Event Japan updates its constitution to allow self-defense forces to assist in defending allied nations that come under attack. The change does not extend to assisting in other external military conflicts. 2014 Event The U.S. Patent and Trademark office has canceled trademarks of the Washington Redskins, ruling that the name and trademarks are 'offensive to Native Americans'; the team has been under pressure for years to change its name 2014 Event President Barack Obama proposes a plan to cut carbon emissions from power plants up to 25% over 15 years in order to address climate change; the legislation would give states the freedom to determine how to implement the emission reductions 2014 Event eBay announces that its databases were accessed by hackers in February and March of this year; despite no reports to date of illicit activity arising from the cyberattack, the company is requiring all users to change their passwords 2014 Event A flaw in OpenSSL, the encryption method for many websites, has been identified, potentially compromising user security data across the Internet; web users are urged to change login names and passwords immediately 2014 Event Exxon Mobil takes the initiative among energy companies to disclose its plans for dealing with climate change in response to a 2013 shareholder resolution; the company's move may set a standard for other energy companies to follow 2014 Event United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appoints former Mayor of New York Michael Bloomberg as a U.N. special envoy for cities and climate change 2013 Event If verified, a Buddhist shrine discovered in Nepal that dates to 550 BC could change the date of the Buddha's birthday 2013 Event Microsoft takes negative feedback into account, and announces plans to change many features of its Xbox One 2013 Event In the U.K., the top 50 payday loan companies were sited for "widespread irresponsible lending"; the Office of Fair Trading gives them 12 weeks to change their practices 2012 Event A study describing the Big Bang, published in 'Physical Review', suggests it is actually a phase change ruled by event symmetry, a theory which best supports how spacetime could originate from original matter 2012 Event Ending an extensive study on the wooly mammoth, scientists conclude that they were wiped out by multiple things, including climate change, human hunters, and shifting habitats 2012 Event Customers of online shoe retailer Zappos must change their passwords after Zappos reports hackers accessed up to 24 million customer accounts 2011 Event In Tokyo, anti-nuclear activists rally, demanding change in Japan's nuclear industry 2011 Event In Afghanistan, the Taliban drop their ban on education for females due to a 'cultural change' 2010 Event Christina Figueres of Costa Rica is appointed by U.N. Secretary - General Ban Ki Moon to lead efforts to combat global warming and climate change 2010 Event Bolivian president Evo Morales Ayma and United National Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon discuss climate change 2010 Event Yvo de Boer, top climate change official at the United Nations and Executive Secretary of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, resigns 2009 Event U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Danish hosts urged countries to agree on a new U. N. pact aimed at averting climate change and global warming 2009 Event The United Nations opens its Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen 2005 Death Wolfgang Bauer, writer, playwright, works translated into 24 languages, include, 'Magic Afternoon', 'Change', dies of heart failure in Graz, Styria 1997 Event 39th Grammy Awards: Change the World Babyface, Beck and LeAnn Rimes wins 1992 Event New Jersey Devils organization announces that it will change its colors to black, red, and white for the 1992-93 season 1992 Event Connecticut Governor Lowell Weicker and WFAN DJ Don Imus change places for 1 day 1990 Death Basil Henson, actor (Change Partners), dies of stroke at 71 1990 Event "Change in the Heir" closes at Edison Theater New York City after 16 performances 1990 Event "Change in the Heir" opens at Edison Theater New York City for 16 performances 1985 Event WJW-AM/TV in Cleveland Ohio change call letters to WRMR 1983 Death Leora Dana, actress (Amityville II, Change of Habit), dies at 60 1970 Birthday Beck, born in Los Angeles, California, born Bek David Campbell, guitarist, singer, multi-instrumentalist, popular recordings include 'Odelay', 'Sea Change' 1970 Event Ray Davies of Kinks travels round trip NY-London to change 1 word in "Lola," (Coca-Cola to Cherry Cola) because of BBC coml reference ban 1970 Event John and Yoko release hoax they are having dual sex change operations 1967 Event NHL California Seals change name to Oakland Seals 1965 Event Preparing a move to Anaheim, Angels change their name from LA to California 1964 Event Houston Colt .45s change name to Astros 1957 Birthday Sikander Bakht, cricketer, Pakistani change bowler late 70's 1956 Birthday Matthias Jabs, rock guitarist, Scorpions-Wind of Change 1954 Birthday Justin Ross, born in Brooklyn, New York, actor, Sinatra, Chorus Line, Fan, Quick Change 1954 Birthday Frances Bucholz, rocker, Scorpions-Wind of Change 1953 Event A's change name of Shibe Park to Connie Mack Stadium 1942 Event Philadelphia "Phillies" change nickname (temporarily) to "Phils" 1941 Birthday Wolfgang Bauer, born in Graz, Styria, writer, playwright, works translated into 24 languages, include, 'Magic Afternoon', 'Change' 1926 Birthday Pamela M Cunnington, English architect/author, Change of Use 1925 Birthday Warren G. Bennis, born in New York City, New York, scholar, author, Leadership Studies pioneer, studied group behavior at MIT, prompting interest in the then-nonexistent field of leadership, published 'Revisionist Theory of Leadership', 1961, stating that humanistic, democratic-style leaders can best manage change in the leadership environment 1922 Event New York City law requires all "pool" rooms to change name to "billiards" 1921 Event Jim Conzelman takes over as coach of Rock Island Independents from Frank Coughlin-only mid-game coaching change in NFL history 1878 Event DC is given a new government by Congress, 3 commissioners appointed by president (change in 1974) 1775 Event United Colonies change name to United States
