Now that we are closing in on the last hours of 2014, let’s look back on some of the highlights of 2014:

January:

In January, Cooperstown announced the Class of 2014: Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux, and Frank Thomas.  Alex Rodriguez was suspended for one year of baseball for use of performance enhancing drugs.

February

In February, the world descended on Sochi, Russia for the Winter Olympics.  Team Canada had a successful Olympic , winning 25 medals overall – 10 Gold, 10 Silver, and 5 Bronze!  It was Go Canada Go as we celebrated our athletes doing their best on such a grand stage.

March

In March, Malaysia Airlines flight #MH370 went missing while travelling between Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Beijing, China.  The plane, and all 239 passengers and crew, went missing less than one hour after take-off.  At the time of writing, no debris or other signs have been found.

April

In April, David Letterman announced his plans to retire in 2015.  In Quebec, the Liberal Party wins a majority Government in the general election for the National Assembly of Quebec.

May

Barbara Walters retires after a 52 year career.

June

In June, Ontario goes to the polls in a general election, with the Liberal Party forming a majority government, an improvement over the minority government that they held prior to the election.  In Moncton, a gunman kills three RCMP officers, while injuring another two.

July

After a one month tournament, Germany wins the World Cup by beating out Argentina in the finals by a score of 1-0 in extra time.

August

August sees the 100th Anniversary of the First World War.  Many countries commemorate the event and the millions of people who died in what was the deadliest war in history.

In a $11.4 billion agreement, Burger King agrees to purchase Tim Hortons.

September

September sees Scotland voting to remain part of the United Kingdom.

October

Michael Zehaf-Bibeau shoots and kills Corporal Nathan Cirillo at the War Memorial in Ottawa before storming Parliament Hill before being killed by Kevin Vickers, the House of Commons’ Sergeant at Arms.

In baseball, the San Francisco Giants win the World Series in a seven game series against the Kansas City Royals.

November

The U.S. Senate defeats legislation that would have allowed the building of the Keystone XL pipeline.

The Calgary Stampeders beat Hamilton Tiger Cats 20-16 to win the 102nd Grey Cup.

December

Countries around the Indian Ocean commemorate the 10th Anniversary of the deadly Boxing Day Tsunami.

Year Long

This year has seen an upheaval in Ukraine as pro-Russian insurgents take over the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia would annex.  This has lead to many countries imposing sanctions against Russian.  A Referendum was held in Crimea, with an overwhelming vote in favour of joining Russia.  However, this vote has been condemned by the United Nations, the European Union, the United States, the Ukraine, and other countries.

Fighting still continues in the region, and has already seen collateral damage with the destruction of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, killing all 283 passengers and 15 crew during the battle in Shakhtarsk Raion.

In Africa, a major outbreak of the Ebola virus is still ongoing.  According to the World Health Organization, the outbreak has infected 20,153 suspected cases and has lead to 7,883 deaths.  The World Health Organization has also indicated that the statistics underestimate the magnitude if the epidemic.  The three main countries at the heart of the epidemic are Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea.  Nigeria has seen eight deaths and 20 cases, but the outbreak was declared over in Nigeria on October 19th.

To help contain the spread of Ebola, many countries have declared restrictions on travelling to infected countries in an attempt to contain the spread of the virus.

As you can see, 2014 contained a lot of events, and this article just highlights some of those events.  With the issues going on all over the world, 2015 looks like another year with many events occurring.