From lost planes to ice bucket challenges, here are some of the biggest events and stories to come from 2014.

The year proved to be quite unique from the very start when in January, Colorado legalized the sale of Marijuana for medical and recreational use. Washington followed suit, and Oregon along with Alaska voted to legalize all sales of Marijuana set to come into effect this year. Twenty-three other states, plus the District of Columbia, also legalized the sale of Marijuana in some form.
Marijuana wasn’t alone in legalization this year, with same-sex marriages also becoming legalized. They became legal in over a dozen states in 2014 including Pennsylvania.

The 2014 Winter Olympics held in Sochi, Russia offered audiences around the world the opportunity to watch and root for their countries as the athletes competed in various winter sports. The United States brought home nine gold medals, seven silver medals and 12 bronze medals bringing home 28 medals total, the second highest amount.

Tragically in March, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 vanished without a trace. The flight lost contact with control and disappeared off of radar. Many search parties went looking for the plane and its 227 passengers and 12 crew members. But, the plane was never located, and the airline suffered another tragedy when a different plane was shot down flying over Ukraine. A third flight taking off from nearby Indonesia also disappeared off of the radar later in the year. That plane was located and seemed to have crashed after experiencing some bad weather.

The summer brought about the World Cup, which was hosted in Brazil. Soccer fans around the world got to see their countries compete with Germany emerging the winner.

Quite a few people showed their support of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis by participating in the ice bucket challenge. Videos of people drenching themselves in ice water to support ALS appeared all over the internet.

On a more urgent note, the terrorist group ISIS emerged on a global scale. The group was responsible for kidnapping hundreds of people, forcing hundreds or more to leave their houses, taking control of multiple cities, beheading five westerners total and carrying out an attack on a coffee shop in Sydney, Australia.

In August, riots broke out between citizens and police after the shooting death of Michael Brown. Brown was an 18 year old African American who was shot and killed by caucasian Police Officer Darren Wilson. People within Brown’s community felt his death was racially motivated and sparked several drastic protests, but a jury decided not to indict Wilson. The public’s scrutiny of police officers was increased and in December following the death of Eric Gardner there were even more protests. Gardner, another African American male, was killed at the hands of a caucasian police officer.

With autumn, came with the panic about Ebola within the United States. Thomas Eric Duncan, a Liberian citizen, came to the U.S. after he had already unknowingly contracted the disease. Two nurses that cared for him were diagnosed shortly thereafter. There was a lot of coverage and fear surrounding the possible spread of the disease, but has fallen out of the headlines as no new diagnosis have been made. Duncan was one of only two people who died from the disease in the U.S.

Like every year before we had to say goodbye to some memorable people including; comedic legends Robin Williams and Joan Rivers, talented actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, human rights activist Maya Angelou and many others.

2014 also had its fair share of popular songs and movies. “All About That Bass,” “Shake It Off” and “Stay With Me” were just three of the songs that dominated our radio stations in 2014. “Guardians of the Galaxy”, “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay-Part 1” and “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” were the top grossing movies.

What would a year be without some new slang words and phrases. “Bae,” “basic,” “turnt” and “can’t even” became part of everyday conversation throughout the year.
2014 had both ups and downs. There were tragic moments and happy moments, but they both made for a very memorable year. We bid you farewell, 2014, and hope that 2015 is even more memorable.