2014, A Summary Compiled by me, and Wikipedia. January–ongoing – The Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa begins, infecting over 19,000 people and killing at least 7,000 people, the most severe both in terms of numbers of infections and casualties. February 7–23 – The XXII Olympic Winter Games are held in Sochi, Russia. February 13 – Belgium becomes the first country in the world to legalise euthanasia for terminally ill patients of any age. February 22 – The Ukrainian parliament votes to remove President Viktor Yanukovych from office, replacing him with Oleksandr Turchynov, after days of civil unrest left around 100 people dead in Kiev. February 26–ongoing – The pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine leads to the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation and an insurgency in the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts. March 8 – Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, a Boeing 777 airliner en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur, disappears over the Gulf of Thailand with 239 people on board. The aircraft is presumed to have crashed into the Indian Ocean. March 16-21 – A referendum on the status of Crimea is held. Russia formally annexes Crimea after President Vladimir Putin signed a bill finalizing the annexation process. March 27 – The United Nations General Assembly passes Resolution 68/262, recognizing Crimea within Ukraine’s international borders and rejecting the validity of the 2014 Crimean referendum. March 31 – The United Nations International Court of Justice rules that Japans Antarctic whaling program is not scientific but commercial and forbids grants of further permits. April 14 – An estimated 276 girls and women are abducted and held hostage from a school in Nigeria. #BringBackOurGirls April 16 – Korean ferry MV Sewol capsizes and sinks after an unmanageable cargo shift, killing more than 290 people, mostly high school students. May 5 - The World Health Organization identifies the spread of polio in at least 10 countries as a major worldwide health emergency. Boko Haram militants kill approximately 300 people in a night attack on Gamboru Ngala. May 13 - Soma mine disaster in the Turkish city of Manisa, killing 301 men after an underground explosion. May 20 – Terrorists in Nigeria detonate bombs at Jos, killing 118 people. May 22 – The Royal Thai Army overthrows the caretaker government after a failure to resolve the political unrest in Thailand. June 4 - Thousands attend a candlelight vigil in remembrance of the 25th Anniversary of Tienanmen Square Massacre June 5 – ongoing – A Sunni militant group called the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (also known as the ISIS or ISIL) begins an offensive through northern Iraq, aiming to capture the Iraqi capital city of Baghdad and overthrow the Shiite government. June 12 – July 13 – The 2014 FIFA World Cup is held in Brazil, and is won by Germany. July 8–August 26 – Amid growing tensions between Israel and Hamas following the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers in June and the revenge killing of a Palestinian teenager in July, Israel launches Operation Protective Edge on the Palestinian Gaza Strip starting with numerous missile strikes, followed by a ground invasion a week later. In 7 weeks of fighting, 2,100 Palestinians and only 71 Israelis are killed. July 17 - Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashes in Ukraine, after being shot down by a missile, killing 298 people. July 24 – Air Algérie Flight 5017 crashes in Mali, killing all 116 people on board. August 8 – The United States military begins an air campaign in northern Iraq to stem the influx of ISIS militants. August 9 - The shooting of black teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri by a police officer ignites racial tensions in the USA, leading to civil unrest, looting and riots. September 12 - Former paralympian Oscar Pistorius is found guilty of culpable homicide and firearm charges, sentenced to five years in prison for girlfriend Reva Steenkamps killing. September 18 - Scotland votes against becoming a republic, to remain part of the United Kingdom September 22 – The United States and several Arab partners begin their airstrike campaign in Syria. September 27 - Demonstrators in Hong Kong launch the, Umbrella Revolution, demanding democratic reform. October 10 - Malala Yousefzai and Kailash Satyarthi jointly win Nobel Peace Prizes for advocating girls education and campaigning against child trafficking and labour, respectively. October 22 - Gunman attacks Canadas parliament, being shot by Sargeant at Arms, Kevin Vickers November 2 – The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) releases the final part of its Fifth Assessment Report, warning that the world faces severe, pervasive and irreversible damage from global emissions of CO2. The world powers yawn in disinterest. November 3 - One World Trade Center opens, after costing $3.9 billion USD to construct. November 12 – The Rosetta spacecrafts Philae probe successfully lands on Comet 67P, the first time in history that a spacecraft has landed on such an object. November 20 - Mass kidnapping and protests in Mexico City after the disappearance of 43 students in Guerrero, demanding the resignation of President Enrique Pena Nieto. December 15-16 - Man Haron Monis holds 17 people hostage in Sydneys Martin Place, culminating in his death, and the death of two hostages. December 17 - Pakistan school attack: At least 141 people killed, including 132 children, in Taliban siege in Peshawar. U.S. President Barack Obama announces the resumption of normal relations between the U.S. and Cuba. December 18 - Boko Haram insurgents kidnap another 185 women and children, killing 32 people in a raid in north eastern Nigeria. December 25 - People in Australia, myself included, went about celebrating our peaceful lives, blissfully unaware of the events mentioned above. If you actually got this far in reading this enormous post, kudos to you. What a year it has been. Let us all hope that the coming 2015 is a year of learning, patience and peace.
Posted on: Fri, 26 Dec 2014 07:48:46 +0000
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