2014

January

January 1 – Latvia officially adopts the euro as its currency and becomes the 18th member of the Eurozone.

February

February – The Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa begins, infecting at least 28,616 people and killing at least 11,310 people, the most severe both in terms of numbers of infections and casualties.

February 7–23 – The XXII Olympic Winter Games are held in Sochi, Russia.

February 13 – Belgium becomes the first country in the world to legalise euthanasia for terminally ill patients of any age.

February 22 – The Ukrainian parliament votes to remove President Viktor Yanukovych from office, replacing him with Oleksandr Turchynov, after days of civil unrest left around 100 people dead in Kiev, Ukraine.

March

March 5 – Nicolás Maduro, the President of Venezuela, severs diplomatic and political ties with Panama, accusing Panama of being involved in a conspiracy against the Venezuelan government.

March 8 – Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, a Boeing 777 airliner en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur, disappears over the Gulf of Thailand with 239 people on board. The aircraft is presumed to have crashed into the Indian Ocean.

March 16 – A referendum on the status of the Crimean Peninsula is held.

March 21 – Russia formally annexes Crimea after President Vladimir Putin signed a bill finalizing the annexation process.

March 24 – During an emergency meeting, the United Kingdom, the United States, Italy, Germany, France, Japan, and Canada temporarily suspend Russia from the G8.

March 27 – The United Nations General Assembly passes Resolution 68/262, recognizing Crimea within Ukraine’s international borders and rejecting the validity of the 2014 Crimean referendum.

March 31 – The United Nations International Court of Justice rules that Japan's Antarctic whaling program is not scientific but commercial and forbids grants of further permits.

April

April 7 – The Donetsk People's Republic unilaterally declares its independence from Ukraine.

April 10 – In response to the 2014 Crimean crisis, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) passes a resolution to temporarily strip Russia of its voting rights; its rights to be represented in the Bureau of the Assembly, the PACE Presidential Committee, and the PACE Standing Committee; and its right to participate in election-observation missions.

April 14 – An estimated 276 girls and women are abducted and held hostage from a school in Nigeria.

April 16 – Korean ferry MV Sewol capsizes and sinks after an unmanageable cargo shift, killing 304 people, mostly high school students.

April 27 – The Catholic Church simultaneously canonizes Popes John XXIII and John Paul II.

April 28 – United States President Barack Obama's new economic sanctions against Russia go into effect, targeting companies and individuals close to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

May

May 5

The World Health Organization identifies the spread of poliomyelitis in at least 10 countries as a major worldwide health emergency.

Boko Haram militants kill approximately 300 people in a night attack on Gamboru Ngala.

May 12 – The Luhansk People's Republic unilaterally declares its independence from Ukraine

May 22

The Royal Thai Army overthrows the caretaker government of Niwatthamrong Boonsongpaisan after a failure to resolve the political unrest in Thailand.

The Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic declare the formation of Novorossiya, also referred to as the Union of People's Republics.

June

June 5 – A Sunni militant group called the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (also known as the ISIS or ISIL) begins an offensive through northern Iraq, aiming to capture the Iraqi capital city of Baghdad and overthrow the Shiite government led by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

June 12 – July 13 – The 2014 FIFA World Cup is held in Brazil, and is won by Germany.

June 13 – The military intervention against ISIL begins.

June 29 – The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant declares itself a caliphate.

July

July 8–August 26 – Amid growing tensions between Israel and Hamas following the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers in June and the revenge killing of a Palestinian teenager in July, Israel launches Operation Protective Edge against Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip starting with numerous missile strikes, followed by a ground offensive a week later. In seven weeks of fighting, 2,100 Palestinians and 71 Israelis are killed.

July 17

Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, a Boeing 777, crashes in eastern Ukraine after being shot down by a missile. All 298 people on board are killed.

July 21 – The United Nations Security Council adopts Resolution 2166 in response to the shootdown of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17.

July 24 – Air Algérie Flight 5017 crashes in Mali, killing all 116 people on board.

August

August 7 – Khmer Rouge leaders Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan are found guilty of crimes against humanity and are sentenced to life imprisonment by the Khmer Rouge Tribunal.

August 8 – The United States military begins an air campaign in northern Iraq to stem the influx of ISIL militants.

September

September 22 – The United States and several Arab partners begin their airstrike campaign in Syria.

September 26 – The 2014 World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates, to be held in Cape Town from 13 to 15 October, is suspended after a boycott of Nobel Laureates to protest the third time refusal of a visa to the 14th Dalai Lama by a South African Government "kowtowing to China".

October

October 19 – The Roman Catholic Church beatifies Pope Paul VI.

October 31 – Longtime Burkina Faso President Blaise Compaoré resigns after widespread protests in response to the attempt in abolishing presidential term limits.

November

November 2 – The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) releases the final part of its Fifth Assessment Report, warning that the world faces "severe, pervasive and irreversible" damage from global emissions of CO2.

November 12 – The Rosetta spacecraft's Philae probe successfully lands on Comet 67P, the first time in history that a spacecraft has landed on such an object.

December

December 16 – The Pakistani Taliban carry out a mass shooting at an army school in Peshawar, Pakistan, killing at least 145 people, mostly schoolchildren.

December 17 – U.S. President Barack Obama announces the resumption of normal relations between the U.S. and Cuba.

December 28 – Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501 from Surabaya, Indonesia to Singapore crashes into the Java Sea just southwest of Borneo, killing all 162 people on board.

Births

February 20 – Princess Leonore, Duchess of Gotland

December 10

Princess Gabriella, Countess of Carladès

Jacques, Hereditary Prince of Monaco

January

January 5 – Eusébio, Portuguese footballer (b. 1942)

January 7 – Run Run Shaw, Hong Kong filmmaker and entrepreneur (b. 1907)

January 9

Amiri Baraka, American poet (b. 1934)

Dale T. Mortensen, American Nobel economist (b. 1939)

January 10 – Zbigniew Messner, 9th Prime Minister of the People's Republic of Poland (b. 1929)

January 11

Ariel Sharon, 11th Prime Minister of Israel (b. 1928)

Vugar Gashimov, Azerbaijani chess grandmaster (b. 1986)

January 14 – Mae Young, American professional wrestler (b. 1923)

January 15

John Dobson, American amateur astronomer (b. 1915)

Roger Lloyd-Pack, British actor (b. 1944)

January 16 – Hiroo Onoda, Japanese army officer (b. 1922)

January 20 – Claudio Abbado, Italian conductor (b. 1933)

January 23 – Riz Ortolani, Italian film composer (b. 1926)

January 25 – Gyula Sax, Hungarian chess grandmaster (b. 1951)

January 26 – José Emilio Pacheco, Mexican poet and writer (b. 1939)

January 27 – Pete Seeger, American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist (b. 1919)

January 31

Abdirizak Haji Hussein, Somali diplomat and politician and 4th Prime Minister of Somalia (b. 1924)

Miklós Jancsó, Hungarian film director (b. 1921)

February

February 1

Luis Aragonés, Spanish football player and coach (b. 1938)

Maximilian Schell, Austrian-Swiss actor (b. 1930)

February 2 – Philip Seymour Hoffman, American actor (b. 1967)

February 3 – Louise Brough, American tennis player (b. 1923)

February 10

Stuart Hall, Jamaican-British sociologist (b. 1932)

Shirley Temple, American actress and diplomat (b. 1928)

February 11 – Alice Babs, Swedish singer (b. 1924)

February 12 – Sid Caesar, American actor (b. 1922)

February 13 – Richard Møller Nielsen, Danish football player and coach (b. 1937)

February 14 – Tom Finney, English footballer (b. 1922)

February 18 – Nelson Frazier, Jr., American professional wrestler (b. 1971)

February 19 – Valeri Kubasov, Soviet cosmonaut (b. 1935)

February 23 – Alice Herz-Sommer, Czech-British pianist (b. 1903)

February 24 – Harold Ramis, American film director, writer, and actor (b. 1944)

February 25 – Mário Coluna, Mozambican-born Portuguese footballer (b. 1935)

February 26 – Paco de Lucía, Spanish guitarist (b. 1947)

March

March 1 – Alain Resnais, French film director (b. 1922)

March 9 – Mohammed Fahim, Vice President of Afghanistan (b. c. 1957)

March 12 – Věra Chytilová, Czech film director (b. 1929)

March 13 – Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, 3rd President of Sierra Leone (b. 1932)

March 14 – Tony Benn, British politician and diarist (b. 1925)

March 18 – Lucius Shepard, American writer (b. 1942)

March 19 – Fred Phelps, American pastor (b. 1929)

March 20 – Hilderaldo Bellini, Brazilian footballer (b. 1930)

March 21

Ignatius Zakka I Iwas, 122nd Syriac Orthodox Patriarch (b. 1933)

James Rebhorn, American actor (b. 1948)

March 23 – Adolfo Suárez, 138th Prime Minister of Spain (b. 1932)

March 27 – James R. Schlesinger, American economist and politician (b. 1929)

March 31 – Frankie Knuckles, American disk jockey and record producer (b. 1955)

April

April 1 – Jacques Le Goff, French historian (b. 1924)

April 4 – Kumba Ialá, President of Guinea-Bissau (2000–2003) (b. 1953)

April 6 – Mickey Rooney, American actor (b. 1920)

April 8

The Ultimate Warrior, American professional wrestler (b. 1959)

Karlheinz Deschner, German activist and writer (b. 1924)

April 9 – A. N. R. Robinson, 3rd President of Trinidad and Tobago (b. 1926)

April 10 – Sue Townsend, British novelist and playwright (b. 1946)

April 13 – Ernesto Laclau, Argentine political theorist (b. 1935)

April 16 – Gyude Bryant, Liberian politician (b. 1949)

April 17 – Gabriel García Márquez, Colombian Nobel writer (b. 1927)

April 20 – Rubin Carter, American boxer (b. 1937)

April 24

Hans Hollein, Austrian architect (b. 1934)

Tadeusz Różewicz, Polish poet and playwright (b. 1921)

April 27 – Vujadin Boškov, Serbian football player and coach (b. 1931)

April 29 – Bob Hoskins, British actor (b. 1942)

May

May 2 – Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., American actor (b. 1918)

May 3 – Gary Becker, American Nobel economist (b. 1930)

May 4 – Tatiana Samoilova, Russian actress (b. 1934)

May 6

Jimmy Ellis, American boxer (b. 1940)

Farley Mowat, Canadian author (b. 1921)

May 12

Marco Cé, Italian cardinal (b. 1925)

H. R. Giger, Swiss artist (b. 1940)

May 15 – Jean-Luc Dehaene, 63rd Prime Minister of Belgium (b. 1940)

May 17 – Gerald Edelman, American Nobel biologist (b. 1929)

May 18

Dobrica Ćosić, Serbian writer and politician, President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (b. 1921)

Wubbo Ockels, Dutch astronaut and physicist (b. 1946)

Gordon Willis, American cinematographer (b. 1931)

May 19 – Jack Brabham, Australian race car driver (b. 1926)

May 21 – Jaime Lusinchi, President of Venezuela (b. 1924)

May 25 – Wojciech Jaruzelski, Communist leader of Poland (b. 1923)

May 28

Maya Angelou, American poet and author (b. 1928)

Malcolm Glazer, American businessman (b. 1928)

May 29 – Karlheinz Böhm, Austrian actor (b. 1928)

May 31

Marinho Chagas, Brazilian footballer (b. 1952)

Martha Hyer, American actress (b. 1924)

June

June 1 – Valentin Mankin, Ukrainian sailor, Olympic triple champion and silver medalist (b. 1938)

June 2

Duraisamy Simon Lourdusamy, Indian cardinal (b. 1924)

Alexander Shulgin, American pharmacologist and chemist (b. 1925)

June 7 – Fernandão, Brazilian footballer and manager (b. 1978)

June 9

Bernard Agré, Ivorian cardinal (b. 1926)

Rik Mayall, British comedian, writer and actor (b. 1958)

June 11

Ruby Dee, American actress, poet, and playwright (b. 1922)

Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Spanish conductor and composer (b. 1933)

June 13 – Gyula Grosics, Hungarian footballer and manager (b. 1926)

June 15

Casey Kasem, American radio host and voice actor (b. 1932)

Daniel Keyes, American author (b. 1927)

June 18

Stephanie Kwolek, American chemist (b. 1923)

Horace Silver, American jazz pianist and composer (b. 1928)

June 24

Ramón José Velásquez, Venezuelan historian, journalist and politician (b. 1916)

Eli Wallach, American actor (b. 1915)

June 25 – Ana María Matute, Spanish author (b. 1925)

June 26 – Howard Baker, American politician and diplomat (b. 1925)

June 27

Leslie Manigat, 43rd President of Haiti (b. 1930)

Bobby Womack, American singer-songwriter (b. 1944)

June 30

Paul Mazursky, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1930)

Željko Šturanović, Prime Minister of Montenegro (b. 1960)

July

July 7

Alfredo Di Stéfano, Argentine-Spanish footballer (b. 1926)

Eduard Shevardnadze, 2nd President of Georgia (b. 1928)

July 10 – Zohra Sehgal, Indian actress and dancer (b. 1912)

July 11

Charlie Haden, American jazz bassist (b. 1937)

Tommy Ramone, Hungarian-American drummer and producer (b. 1949)

John Seigenthaler, American journalist (b. 1927)

July 13

Lorin Maazel, French-American conductor and violinist (b. 1930)

Nadine Gordimer, South African Nobel writer (b. 1923)

July 14 – Alice Coachman, American athlete (b. 1923)

July 16 – Johnny Winter, American singer and guitarist (b. 1944)

July 17

Henry Hartsfield, American colonel and astronaut (b. 1933)

Elaine Stritch, American actress and singer (b. 1925)

July 19

David Easton, Canadian-American political scientist (b. 1917)

James Garner, American actor (b. 1928)

July 25 – Carlo Bergonzi, Italian tenor and actor (b. 1924)

July 27 – Francesco Marchisano, Italian cardinal (b. 1929)

July 30 – Julio Grondona, Argentinian football authority (b. 1931)

August

August 1 – Valyantsin Byalkevich, Belarusian footballer and manager (b. 1973)

August 3 – Edward Clancy, Australian cardinal (b. 1923)

August 8

Menahem Golan, Israeli filmmaker (b. 1929)

Peter Sculthorpe, Australian composer (b. 1929)

August 9 – Andriy Bal, Ukrainian football player and coach (b. 1958)

August 11

Vladimir Beara, Yugoslav football player and manager (b. 1928)

Pierre Ryckmans, Belgian diplomat and author (b. 1935)

Robin Williams, American actor and comedian (b. 1951)

August 12 – Lauren Bacall, American actress (b. 1924)

August 13 – Frans Brüggen, Dutch musician (b. 1934)

August 15 – Licia Albanese, Italian-American soprano (b. 1909)

August 19 – Simin Behbahani, Iranian poet (b. 1927)

August 20

B. K. S. Iyengar, Indian yoga teacher and author (b. 1918)

Edmund Szoka, American cardinal (b. 1927)

August 21 – Albert Reynolds, Irish Taoiseach (prime minister) (b. 1932)

August 24 – Richard Attenborough, British actor and film director (b. 1923)

August 28 – Glenn Cornick, British bass guitarist (b. 1947)

August 29 – Björn Waldegård, Swedish rally driver (b. 1943)

September

September 1 – Gottfried John, German actor (b. 1942)

September 4

Donatas Banionis, Lithuanian actor (b. 1924)

Joan Rivers, American comedian, actress, and television host (b. 1933)

September 5 – Wolfhart Pannenberg, German theologian (b. 1928)

September 6 – Kira Zvorykina, Belarusian chess player (b. 1919)

September 7 – Yoshiko Ōtaka, Chinese-Japanese actress, singer, and politician (b. 1920)

September 8 – Magda Olivero, Italian soprano (b. 1910)

September 10 – Richard Kiel, American actor (b. 1939)

September 12

Atef Ebeid, Egyptian politician, 47th Prime Minister of Egypt (b. 1932)

Ian Paisley, British politician and First Minister of Northern Ireland (b. 1926)

Joe Sample, American pianist and composer (b. 1939)

September 15

Yitzhak Hofi, Israeli general (b. 1927)

Nicholas Romanov, Prince of Russia (b. 1922)

September 17 – Andriy Husin, Ukrainian footballer and manager (b. 1972)

September 20

Anatoly Berezovoy, Soviet cosmonaut (b. 1942)

Polly Bergen, American actress (b. 1930)

September 24 – Christopher Hogwood, English conductor, writer, and musicologist (b. 1941)

September 25

Sulejman Tihić, Bosnian politician (b. 1951)

Dorothy Tyler-Odam, British athlete (b. 1920)

September 28 – Dannie Abse, British poet (b. 1923)

September 30 – Martin Lewis Perl, American Nobel physicist (b. 1927)

October

October 2 – György Lázár, Hungarian politician, Chairman of the Council of Ministers (b. 1924)

October 4

Fyodor Cherenkov, Russian footballer and manager (b. 1959)

Jean-Claude Duvalier, 41st President of Haiti (b. 1951)

October 5

Andrea de Cesaris, Italian race car driver (b. 1959)

Yuri Lyubimov, Russian actor and director (b. 1917)

October 6

Igor Mitoraj, Polish sculptor (b. 1944)

Marian Seldes, American actress (b. 1928)

October 7 – Siegfried Lenz, German writer (b. 1926)

October 9 – Jan Hooks, American actress and comedian (b. 1957)

October 14 – Elizabeth Peña, American actress (b. 1959)

October 16 – John Spencer-Churchill, 11th Duke of Marlborough, British peer and educator (b. 1926)

October 17 – Masaru Emoto, Japanese author (b. 1943)

October 20 – Oscar de la Renta, Dominican-American fashion designer (b. 1932)

October 21 – Gough Whitlam, 21st Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1916)

October 23 – Tullio Regge, Italian physicist and academic (b. 1931)

October 24 – Mbulaeni Mulaudzi, South African middle-distance runner (b. 1980)

October 25 – Jack Bruce, British rock bassist (b. 1943)

October 28 – Michael Sata, 5th President of Zambia (b. 1937)

October 29

Rainer Hasler, Liechtensteiner footballer (b. 1958)

Klas Ingesson, Swedish footballer (b. 1968)

October 30 – Thomas Menino, American politician (b. 1942)

November

November 1 – Wayne Static, American guitarist and vocalist (b. 1965)

November 2

Acker Bilk, British jazz clarinetist (b. 1929)

Veljko Kadijević, Yugoslavian general (b. 1925)

November 3 – Gordon Tullock, American economist and academic (b. 1922)

November 10 – Ken Takakura, Japanese actor (b. 1931)

November 12 – Warren Clarke, English actor (b. 1947)

November 13 – Alexander Grothendieck, German-French mathematician (b. 1928)

November 14

Eugene Dynkin, Russian-American mathematician and academic (b. 1924)

Glen A. Larson, American television producer and writer (b. 1937)

November 16 – Serge Moscovici, Romanian-French psychologist (b. 1925)

November 19 – Mike Nichols, German-born American director (b. 1931)

November 20 – Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart, 18th Duchess of Alba, Spanish aristocrat (b. 1926)

November 22 – Fiorenzo Angelini, Italian cardinal (b. 1916)

November 24 – Viktor Tikhonov, Soviet ice hockey player and coach (b. 1930)

November 26 – Sabah, Lebanese singer and actress (b. 1927)

November 27 – P. D. James, English writer and life peer (b. 1920)

November 28 – Chespirito, Mexican actor and comedian (b. 1929)

November 30 – Go Seigen, Chinese-born Japanese Go player (b. 1914)

December

December 2 – Jean Béliveau, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1931)

December 3

Jacques Barrot, French politician (b. 1937)

Ian McLagan, British musician (b. 1945)

December 5 – Queen Fabiola of Belgium (b. 1928)

December 6 – Ralph H. Baer, American video game pioneer (b. 1922)

December 8 – Knut Nystedt, Norwegian composer (b. 1915)

December 9 – Jorge María Mejía, Argentine cardinal (b. 1923)

December 16 – Ernie Terrell, American boxer (b. 1939)

December 18 – Virna Lisi, Italian actress (b. 1936)

December 21

Åke Johansson, Swedish footballer (b. 1928)

Udo Jürgens, Austrian composer and singer (b. 1934)

Billie Whitelaw, English actress (b. 1932)

December 22

Joe Cocker, English singer (b. 1944)

Joseph Sargent, American film director (b. 1925)

December 26 – Leo Tindemans, 43rd Prime Minister of Belgium (b. 1922)

December 27 – Tomaž Šalamun, Slovenian poet (b. 1941)

December 30 – Luise Rainer, German-born American actress (b. 1910)

December 31

Edward Herrmann, American television and film actor (b. 1943)

Valerian Wellesley, 8th Duke of Wellington (b. 1915)

Nobel Prizes

Chemistry – Eric Betzig, Stefan Hell and W. E. Moerner

Economics – Jean Tirole

Literature – Patrick Modiano

Peace – Kailash Satyarthi and Malala Yousafzai

Physics – Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano and Shuji Nakamura

Physiology or Medicine – John O'Keefe, May-Britt Moser and Edvard Moser