These are in no particular order of importance.
1. The Revolution in Ukraine and then the Russian response in the Crimean Peninsula. That set in motion the current sanctions we see today crippling the Russian economy.
2. Malaysian Airlines was struck by two awful events. The missing flight from Kuala Lampor that we still haven’t found. And then later another Malaysian airlines flight was shot down by Russian supporters in Crimea see first story of 2014. Finally, just this week an Air Asia flight was lost in the Java sea.
3. Michael Brown, Eric Garner and many other deaths highlighted the tension between the police and the people. This really brought what has been called the militarization of the police into the main stream conscious.
4. Ebola came to America and America survived. Other countries have been ravaged by the disease in West Africa for them the fight continues.
5. ISIS. After fighting two wars in the Middle East, the U.S. began bombing ISIS after it had made gains in Iraq and Syria. ISIS is in large part a result from a power vacuum created by the long and horrifying Syrian Civil War.
6. Immigration and the power of the presidential pen. There has been no movement on a uniform immigration policy. As a result, President Obama has acted with executive power to provide help to some immigrants in the United States illegally.
7. 2014 was marked with the passing of Robin Williams, Maya Angelou, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, These larger than life characters truly lived up to the meaning of that phrase. Here’s one of my favorite scenes with Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Robin Williams. It’s so good.
8. Top 10 songs by searches for lyrics in 2014, Say Something, Anaconda, Fancy, Happy, Blank Space, Royals, Dark Horse, Bang Bang, Counting Stars, Wrecking Ball.
9. Sports and Sports. 2014 saw another World Cup and with it the incredible last minute victories and defeats. Here’s a video of Ian Darke’s calls for all of the U.S. goals. I love seeing John Brook’s celebration after the goal; he simply lies on the ground overwhelmed with the weight of the moment. While his celebration is awesome so are these.
10. 2014 was also marked with the rise of hackers. Hacking has always existed but with the Fapping and then the later attack of Sony; we have seen hacking shift public policy and achieve mainstream attention.
Here’s the year in pictures. I always love to look back through pictures because those capture the stories so much better than any list could.