Clockwise from top-left: stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for theWestern African Ebola virus epidemic ; citizens examining the ruins after theChibok schoolgirls kidnapping , carried out byBoko Haram ; bundles of water inside of aBoeing C-17 Globemaster III in thewar against the Islamic State ; Thai soldiers at the Chang Phueak Gate during theThai coup d'état ; Pro-independence campaigners in theScottish independence referendum ; the2014 Winter Olympics are held inSochi , Russia;Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 disappears and presumably crashes in theIndian Ocean ;Crimea isannexed by Russia
Calendar year
2014 by topic By international organization
2014 (MMXIV ) was acommon year starting on Wednesday of theGregorian calendar , the 2014th year of theCommon Era (CE) andAnno Domini 3rd millennium and the21st century , and the 5th year of the2010s decade.
Calendar year
The year 2014 was marked by the surge of theWest African Ebola epidemic , which began in2013 , becoming themost widespread outbreak of theEbola virus in human history, resulting in 28,646 confirmed infections and 11,323 confirmed deaths according to theWorld Health Organization , who declared it aPublic Health Emergency in August. The virus caused majorsocioeconomic disruption in the region, primarily inGuinea ,Liberia andSierra Leone . Other notable health concerns in 2014 included a significant increase inpolio cases inPakistan .
The rise ofISIS became a majorgeopolitical crisis in 2014 after the group declared a globalcaliphate and launched devastatingoffensives inIraq andSyria . TheCamp Speicher massacre in which the Islamic State murdered 1,566 Shia Iraqi Air Force cadets and theFall of Mosul , Iraq's second-largest city, prompted aU.S led military intervention , which would later become a global effort. The Islamic State committed numerous atrocities, including massbeheadings ,mass executions of civilians , and thegenocide and persecution of religious minorities like theYazidis ,Christians andShia Muslims . ISIS would attract thousands offoreign fighters from across the world to join theirmilitary , drawn by their ideology and promises of establishing a global Islamic state. ISIS led to a massive displacement of people in Iraq and Syria, creating a major humanitarian crisis for millions of peoples.[ 1] 2014 Gaza War , whichIsrael began 26 days afterthree Israeli teenagers were murdered in the West Bank byHamas -affiliatedPalestinian militants, the large-scale military operation, codenamed "Operation Protective Edge " saw intense fighting, with Israeli airstrikes and ground incursions intoGaza , killing 2,310 and wounding 10,626 Palestinians. The conflict would end on August 26, 2014, after a ceasefire agreement brokered by Egypt went into effect.
TheEuromaidan protests, a series of demonstrations inUkraine , were triggered by PresidentViktor Yanukovych 's sudden decision to pursue closer economic ties withRussia and his refusal to sign theEuropean Union–Ukraine Association Agreement , which culminated in theRevolution of Dignity in February. Following this, a disputedreferendum led to Russiaoccupying andannexing crimea from Ukraine, subsequentpro-Russian unrest led to Russian backedseperatist forces in eastern Ukraine seizing control of key areas, leading to theWar in Donbas in April. Thewar escalated afterMalaysia Airlines Flight MH17 was shot down by Russian-backed forces while flying inEastern Ukraine .
Political crises continued across the globe, withThailand experiencing amilitary coup in May as theRoyal Thai Army overthrew thecaretaker government . Three main airplane disasters happened, the mysterious disappearance ofMalaysia Airlines Flight 370 , the shooting down ofMalaysia Airlines Flight 17 over eastern Ukraine, and the crash ofIndonesia AirAsia Flight 8501 , collectively claiming over 700 lives. Civil unrest emerged inFerguson, Missouri in the United States due to thekilling of Michael Brown and inHong Kong , during the2014 Hong Kong protests . Despite all these challenges, scientific achievement provided hope asIndia became the first Asian nation to reachMars with itsMangalyaan mission , and theRosetta spacecraft'sPhilae probe completed humanity's firstlanding on a comet.
2014 was designated as:
March 1 –2014 Kunming attack : Eight knife-wielding terrorists stabbed and slashed passengers at theKunming railway station in Kunming, Yunnan, China, killing 31 people and injuring 143 others.[ 15] March 5 –Nicolás Maduro , thePresident of Venezuela , severs diplomatic and political ties withPanama , accusing Panama of being involved in a conspiracy against theVenezuelan government .[ 16] March 8 –Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 , aBoeing 777 airliner en route to Beijing fromKuala Lumpur , disappears over theGulf of Thailand with 239 people on board. The aircraft is presumed to have crashed into theIndian Ocean .[ 17] March 16 March 21 – Russia formallyannexes Crimea afterPresident Vladimir Putin signs a bill formalizing the process.[ 19] March 24 – During an emergency meeting, the United Kingdom, the United States, Italy, Germany, France, Japan, and Canada temporarily suspend Russia from theG8 ,[ 20] Crimea within Ukraine's international borders and rejecting the validity of the2014 Crimean referendum .[ 21] March 31 – TheUnited Nations International Court of Justice rules that Japan'sAntarctic whaling program is not scientific but commercial and forbids grants of further permits.[ 22] July 8 – Brazil, hosts of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, arebeaten 7–1 by Germany in the semi-finals.July 8 –August 26 – Amid growing tensions between Israel andHamas following thekidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers in June and therevenge killing of a Palestinian teenager in July, Israel launchesOperation Protective Edge againstHamas -controlledGaza Strip starting with numerous missile strikes,[ 43] [ 44] July 13 –Germany defeatsArgentina 1-0 to win the2014 FIFA World Cup .July 17 –Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 , aBoeing 777 , crashes in eastern Ukraine after being shot down by a missile. All 298 people on board are killed.[ 45] July 18 –Typhoon Rammasun makes landfall inHainan, China as a category 5 super typhoon, killing 88 and causing $7.14 billion in damages.July 20 –Monty Python Live (Mostly) Monty Python , active since 1969.[ 46] July 21 – TheUnited Nations Security Council adoptsResolution 2166 in response to the shootdown of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17.[ 47] July 23 –August 3 – The2014 Commonwealth Games takes place inGlasgow , Scotland.July 24 –Air Algérie Flight 5017 , aMcDonnell Douglas MD-83 , crashes inMali , killing all 116 people on board.[ 48] July 28 – 100-year anniversary ofWorld War I 's commencement (Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia).September 15 –Syrian civil war : ISIS militants launchedan offensive to capture the town ofKobanî , which lasted for six months.September 18 – In the2014 Scottish independence referendum , Scotland votes against independence from the United Kingdom.[ 54] [ 55] September 21 – TheBattle of Sanaa leads to the start of theYemeni Civil War , as Houthi forces capture the capital city Sanaa, followed by a rapid Houthi takeover of the government.September 22 –American-led intervention in Syria : The United States and several Arab partners begin their airstrike campaign inSyria .[ 56] [ 57] September 24 – The Mars Orbiter Mission, popularly known asMangalyaan , which was launched on 5 November 2013 by theIndian Space Research Organisation , reachedMartian orbit, makingIndia the first Asian country to successfully reach Mars.September 26 September 27 –Mount Ontake , inJapan ,erupts , killing several climbers on the slopes of thevolcano .September 28 –Hong Kong protests :Benny Tai Yiu-ting announces that Occupy Central is launched as Hong Kong's government headquarters is being occupied by thousands of protesters. Hong Kong police resort to tear gas to disperse protesters but thousands remain.October 3 –Stefan Löfven replacesFredrik Reinfeldt asPrime Minister of Sweden .October 19 – TheRoman Catholic Church beatifiesPope Paul VI .[ 60] October 20 –Joko Widodo is inaugurated as the 7thPresident of Indonesia .[ 61] October 24 –Alan Eustace , an Americancomputer scientist , sets a world record highest and longest free fall jump from 135,908 feet (41.425 km) overRoswell, New Mexico , United States, breaking thesound barrier without any machine assistance during a recordspace dive out of a massivehelium-filled balloon . His descent to Earth lasts 4 minutes 27 seconds and stretches nearly 26 miles (42 km) with peak speeds exceeding 822 miles per hour (1,323 km/h), setting new world records for the highest free-fall jump and total free-fall distance 123,414 feet (37,617 m).[ 62] [ 63] [ 64] [ 65] October 31 – LongtimeBurkina Faso PresidentBlaise Compaoré resigns afterwidespread protests in response to his attempts to abolish presidential term limits.[ 66] December 3 – The Japanese space agency,JAXA , launches uncrewed spaceprobeHayabusa2 Tanegashima Space Center on a six-year round-trip mission toRyugu to collect rock samples.December 15 – Two hostages and terroristMan Haron Monis are killed in theLindt Cafe siege inSydney ,Australia .[ 69] December 16 –2014 Peshawar school massacre : ThePakistani Taliban carry out a mass shooting at anarmy school inPeshawar , Pakistan, killing at least 145 people, mostly schoolchildren.[ 70] December 17 – U.S. PresidentBarack Obama announces theresumption of normal diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Cuba .[ 71] December 28 –Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501 fromSurabaya , Indonesia, toSingapore crashes into theJava Sea just southwest ofBorneo , killing all 162 people on board.[ 72] December 31 – Astampede occurred on New Years' Eve in Shanghai, China, resulting in the deaths of 36 people and leaving 49 injured.Nobel medal ^ Crowcroft, Orlando (June 17, 2015)."Isis: Worst refugee crisis in a generation as millions flee Islamic State in Iraq and Syria" .International Business Times UK . 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