2014 facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Millennium:	3rd millennium
Centuries:	20th century – 21st century – 22nd century
Decades:	1980s 1990s 2000s – 2010s – 2020s 2030s 2040s
Years:	2011 2012 2013 – 2014 – 2015 2016 2017

2014 was a year that started on a Wednesday. It was a common year in the Gregorian calendar, which is the calendar most of the world uses.

What Happened in 2014?
Key Events by Month
- January
- February
- March
- April
- May
- June
- July
- August
- September
- October
- November
- December
Nobel Prizes
Major Holidays and Dates
Deaths
In Fiction
- Movies
- Television
Images for kids
See also

What Happened in 2014?

Map showing where the 2014 Ebola outbreak happened.

In 2014, many important things happened around the world.

There were several conflicts and wars. These included fighting in the Middle East, Ukraine, South Sudan, Nigeria, and Afghanistan.

* In Eastern Ukraine, war started after protests led to the president leaving office. Some areas in the east wanted to be independent. Crimea voted to join Russia. * In the Middle East, a group called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) became involved in civil wars in Syria and Iraq. Also, there was fighting between Israel and the Gaza Strip in July and August. * In Nigeria, a group called Boko Haram kidnapped hundreds of girls in April.

A serious illness called Ebola broke out in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. It infected and killed thousands of people, causing a big crisis in the area.
Malaysia Airlines had two terrible plane accidents. Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappeared in March while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. It was not found by the end of 2014. Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down over Ukraine in July, killing everyone on board. Another airline, AirAsia, also had a plane crash at the end of the year. Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501 disappeared near Borneo and crashed, killing all 162 people.
A popular trend in July and August was the "Ice Bucket Challenge." People poured cold water over their heads to raise money for charity. Taking "selfie" pictures also continued to be very popular.
In science, a big achievement was landing a spacecraft on a comet. This happened in November when the Philae probe landed as part of the Rosetta mission.
In Sport, Germany won the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. The 2014 Commonwealth Games were held in Glasgow, Scotland. The 2014 Asian Games took place in Incheon, South Korea. The 2014 Winter Olympics were held in Sochi, Russia, in February.

Key Events by Month

January

Ice on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia during a very cold period in North America.

January 1 - Latvia started using the Euro currency.
January 1 - Greece took over the six-month Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
January 1 - Bill de Blasio became the new Mayor of New York City.
January 6 - Very cold weather hit Canada and the United States. Record low temperatures were seen in places like Minneapolis and Chicago. Sadly, some people died because of the extreme cold.
January 25 - A shooting happened at a mall in Maryland. Four people were killed, including the shooter. Police found and disarmed explosive devices in the shooter's bag.
January 27 - Juan Orlando Hernández was elected as Honduras' new President.
January 29 - Bohuslav Sobotka became the new Prime Minister of the Czech Republic.
January 29 - Scientists in Japan announced a new way to create stem cells by shocking blood cells with acid. This method was called STAP.

February

The opening ceremony for the 2014 Winter Olympics on February 7.

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.

February 1 - Janet Yellen became the head of the United States Federal Reserve, which manages the country's money.
February 4 - The Klallam language became extinct when its last native speaker, Hazel Sampson, passed away at 103 years old.
February 4 - Satya Nadella became the new head of Microsoft.
February 4 - The Scottish Parliament voted to make Same-sex marriage legal in Scotland.
February 7 - The 2014 Winter Olympics officially opened in Sochi, Russia.
February 13 - Belgium became the first country to allow euthanasia (ending a life to stop suffering) without any age limits.
February 15 - Tammam Salam became Prime Minister of Lebanon.
February 22 - Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich left the capital as protests grew. Parliament voted to remove him from office.
February 22 - Mexico's most wanted drug cartel leader, Joaquín Guzmán Loera, was captured near Mexico City.
February 22 - Matteo Renzi, the Mayor of Florence, became Prime Minister of Italy.
February 23 - The 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi ended. Russia won the most gold medals.
February 24 - Actor and director Harold Ramis, famous for Ghostbusters, died in Chicago. He was 69.
February 26 - Pro-Russian unrest led to Crimea being taken over by Russia. There were also uprisings in eastern Ukraine.

March

Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappeared on March 8 with 239 people on board.

Adolfo Suárez died on March 23.

March 2 - 12 Years a Slave won the most awards at the 86th Academy Awards.
March 8 - Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, a large plane, disappeared over the Gulf of Thailand with 239 people. It was flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
March 11 - Michelle Bachelet became the new President of Chile.
March 11 - The Republic of Crimea declared its independence from Ukraine.
March 16 - A vote was held in Crimea about its future.
March 21 - Russia officially took over Crimea after President Vladimir Putin signed a bill.
March 22 - A large mudslide in Oso, Washington, killed 41 people.
March 24 - The Malaysian government announced that Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 had crashed in the Indian Ocean. All 239 people were presumed dead.
March 24 - Russia was suspended from the G8 group of major countries.
March 27 - The United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution saying that Crimea was still part of Ukraine and that the vote there was not valid.
March 29 - Andrej Kiska was elected as the new President of Slovakia.
March 31 - Manuel Valls became the new Prime Minister of France.
March 31 - North Korea and South Korea exchanged fire across their sea border during North Korea's live fire drills.
March 31 - The United Nations International Court of Justice ruled that Japan's Antarctic whaling program was not for science but for business, and stopped further permits.

April

Thousands gathered for the Canonization of Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul II.

April 8 - Windows XP was no longer supported by Microsoft. This meant it would not get new updates.
April 14 - About 276 girls and women were kidnapped from a school in Northern Nigeria by Boko Haram.
April 16 - A South Korean ferry sank off the coast of Jindo County. About 300 people died.
April 18 - A huge avalanche hit Mount Everest, killing 16 people.
April 27 - The Catholic Church made Popes John XXIII and John Paul II saints.

May

Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister of India.

May 2 - Two huge mudslides happened in Afghanistan, burying an estimated 2,500 people.
May 5 - The World Health Organization said that the spread of poliomyelitis (polio) in 10 countries was a major global health emergency.
May 10 - The Eurovision Song Contest was held in Copenhagen, Denmark. Conchita Wurst from Austria won.
May 13 - About 300 miners died in a mine explosion in Soma, Western Turkey.
May 22 - The Royal Thai Army took over the government in Thailand after political problems could not be solved.
May 25 - Petro Poroshenko was elected President of Ukraine.
May 26 - Narendra Modi became Prime Minister of India.
May 28 - Abdel Fattah el-Sisi was elected President of Egypt.

June

King Felipe VI of Spain.

Early June - Hundreds of people died in a flooding disaster in Afghanistan.
June 2 - King Juan Carlos I of Spain announced he would step down as King of Spain. His son, Felipe, would become king.
June 2 - Telangana became India's 29th state.
June 4 - Three police officers were shot and killed in Moncton, Canada.
June 5 - The group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant tried to take control of Baghdad, Iraq.
June 12 - The 2014 FIFA World Cup began in Brazil.
June 18 - Luxembourg decided to make Same-sex marriage legal.
June 19 - King Felipe VI of Spain was officially sworn in.
June 23 - Three Al-Jazeera journalists were sent to prison in Egypt.
June 24 - Albania became a country that could join the EU.

July

Germany defeated Argentina in the final FIFA match.

Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashed in Ukraine after being shot down.

July 1 - Italy took over the six-month Presidency of the European Union.
July 8 - In the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Germany beat Brazil 7-1 in a semi-final match. This game broke several records.
July 13 - The final of the 2014 FIFA World Cup was held in Rio de Janeiro. Germany won by defeating Argentina.
July 17 - Israel began a ground attack in Gaza.
July 17 - Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashed in Ukraine after being shot down by a missile. All 298 people on board died.
July 23 - The 2014 Commonwealth Games began in Glasgow, Scotland.
July 24 - Air Algérie Flight 5017 crashed in Mali, killing all 116 people.
July 24 - Reuven Rivlin became President of Israel.

August

The United States Navy prepared to help in Iraq against ISIS.

August 3 - The 2014 Commonwealth Games ended in Glasgow, Scotland.
August 8 - The United States Military began air strikes in northern Iraq against ISIS fighters.
August 9 - The Shooting of Michael Brown, an 18-year-old African American by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, led to protests and discussions about race in the US.
August 10 - Recep Tayyip Erdogan was elected President of Turkey.
August 11 - Comedian and actor Robin Williams died.
August 19 - American photojournalist James Foley was killed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
August 25 - The New Horizons probe reached Neptune after almost 9 years of travel. This was the last major step before it reached Pluto in 2015.

September

Mount Ontake in Japan, two days after it erupted.

September 3 - Flooding began to affect parts of Northern India and Pakistan.
September 9 - Apple announced three new products: the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, and the Apple Watch.
September 18 - A vote was held in Scotland about whether it should become independent from the United Kingdom. Most people voted no (55.3%).
September 19 to October 4 - The 2014 Asian Games were held in Incheon, South Korea.
September 22 - The United States and its Arab partners began air strikes in Syria.
September 26 - The 2014 Hong Kong protests began, with people wanting more democracy for Hong Kong. These protests lasted until December.
September 27 - Mount Ontake, a volcano in Japan, erupted, killing several climbers.

October

Malala Yousafzai shared the Nobel Peace Prize.

October 10 - Malala Yousafzai and Kailash Satyarthi won the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize. At 17, Malala was the youngest person ever to win a Nobel Prize.
October 16 - Apple announced the iPad Air 2 and the iPad Mini 3.
October 19 - The Roman Catholic Church made Pope Paul VI a saint.
October 20 - Joko Widodo became President of Indonesia.
October 23 - Some parts of the world saw a partial solar eclipse.
October 26 - Dilma Rousseff was elected for a second term as President of Brazil.

November

November 12 - The Rosetta spacecraft's Philae probe landed on a comet called 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. This was the first time a spacecraft had ever landed on a comet.
November 15 to 16 - The G20 Summit, a meeting of leaders from major economies, was held in Brisbane, Australia.
November 16 - Klaus Iohannis was elected President of Romania.
November 23 - Lewis Hamilton won the Formula One World Championship in racing.
November 24 - Sony was hacked by an unknown group. This included information about the movie "The Interview," which led to problems between the United States and North Korea.

December

Police near the scene of the 2014 Sydney hostage crisis.

December 1 - Donald Tusk became President of the European Council.
December 2 - Stephen Hawking, a famous scientist, warned that artificial intelligence could be a threat to humans in the future.
December 15 - 2014 Sydney hostage crisis: A man took several people hostage in a café in Sydney, Australia. The event ended with three deaths, including the gunman.
December 17 - US President Barack Obama announced that the United States would start normal diplomatic relations with Cuba again.
December 28 - "Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501" disappeared and was later found to have crashed, killing all 162 people on board.
December 31 - The first same-sex marriages took place in Scotland.
December 31 - All combat missions for the US and UK in Afghanistan officially ended.

Nobel Prizes

The Nobel Prizes are important awards given each year for big achievements in different fields.

Physiology or Medicine: John O'Keefe, May-Britt Moser, Edvard Moser for their work on how the brain knows where it is.
Physics: Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano, Shuji Nakamura for inventing blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs).
Chemistry: Eric Betzig, Stefan Hell, William E. Moerner for developing super-resolved fluorescence microscopy.
Literature: Patrick Modiano for his novels.
Peace: Malala Yousafzai and Kailash Satyarthi for their work for children's rights and education.
Economics: Jean Tirole for his analysis of market power and regulation.

Major Holidays and Dates

January 6 - Epiphany (Christian celebration)
January 7 - Orthodox Christmas
February 1 – Imbolc
March 4 – Shrove Tuesday
March 5 – Ash Wednesday
March 17 – St. Patrick's Day
March 20 – Spring Equinox
April 13 - Palm Sunday
April 18 - Good Friday
April 20 – Easter Sunday
April 21 - Easter Monday
May 1 – May Day
June 21 – Summer solstice, also known as Midsummer
August 1 – Lammas
September 23 – Fall Equinox
October 4 – Eid al-Adha
October 23 - Diwali (Hinduism)
November 1 – All Saints Day and Samhain
November 30 - First Sunday of Advent
December 21 – Winter solstice
December 25 – Christmas

Deaths

In Fiction

Movies

Moon Child (2003)
The Flash movie EPIC 2014 ends in this year.

Television

In the Supernatural episode "The End," the angel Zachariah sends Dean Winchester to this year. In this future, a virus has spread, Sarah Palin is president, and Sam Winchester is taken over by Lucifer.
In Desperate Housewives, Edie Britt dies and her ashes are scattered.