Two-thousand fourteen, the year of the horse, brought various triumphs, tragedies, victories, and heartbreaks. Before fully moving onto the year ahead, the amount of events that made 2014 so unforgettable should be revisited at least once prior to finding their place in your memory.

The year began with high hopes and expectations soon to follow, and promisingly did not disappoint. On February 2, 2014, American actor, Philip Seymour Hoffman died at the age of 46 from “acute mixed drug intoxication including heroin, cocaine, benzodiazepines, and amphetamine.” Later in the day, Super Bowl XLVIII took place in MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, where the Denver Broncos would lose devastatingly 43-8 to the Seattle Seahawks. From February 7-23, the Winter Olympics were held in Sochi, Russia, where a total of 98 events took place. The United States took home a total of 28 medals consisting of nine gold, seven silver, and twelve bronze medals. The United States’ results weren’t as massive as the record 37 medals brought home during the 2010 games, but the medals earned this year were still quite impressive. Following the outbreak of the Ukranian crisis in which the Ukranian president, Victor Yanukovych, fled the capital, protests broke out and pro-Russian forces armed the Crimean peninsula, causing tension between the two nations. For the Kadets, Air Academy High School’s very own Justin Petrash took home the 4A 285 pound wrestling state championship.

As the year progressed, news of a kidnapping of 276 school girls from Nigeria broke out on April 14. The reaction to the kidnapping was outstanding worldwide, as protests broke out and #BringBackOurGirls began to trend globally. The girls have yet to be recovered since the initial kidnapping. For NCAA basketball, the University of Connecticut had an incredibly successful season as both their mens’ and womens’ teams brought home the NCAA tournament championships. By May 7, fighting in the Ukraine escalated and eventually Putin removed over 40,000 Russian troops from the Crimean border to help release tensions. For the Kadets, the Boys’ Swim and Dive team won their third consecutive 4A State title, and the Girls’ Lacrosse team won the 4A State title as well.

In the midst of the year, the 20th FIFA World Cup took place in Brazil. The tournament final consisted of Argentina versus Germany, in which Germany won the match 1-0, thus becoming world champions and winning their fourth World Cup title. On August 9 in Ferguson, Missouri, eighteen-year-old, African American Michael Brown was fatally shot by Caucasian officer Darren Wilson. The shooting sparked civil unrest in Ferguson as a result of ongoing racial tensions within the community with a heavy, majority black population and a majority white city government and police. On August 11, American actor and comedian, Robin Williams, was found dead in his home at the age of 63. The death was determined to be asphyxiation, as a result of Williams’ suicide by the use of a belt. Doctors found the presence of “diffuse Lewy body dementia” in an examination of his brain tissue, which was misdiagnosed as Parkinson’s disease and was a critical factor in Williams’ suicide. On August 19, American journalist James Wright “Jim” Foley was beheaded by ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant). Foley was working as a freelance war correspondent during the Syrian Civil War, where he was abducted November 22, 2014, in northwestern Syria.

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Germany wins the 20th FIFA World Cup in Brasil https://www.google.com/search?q=sochi+olympics&biw=1280&bih=904&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=MqKuVPinAdOBygTA5ILoCA&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAg#tbm=isch&q=world+cup+2014+germany&imgdii=_&imgrc=PTkG6C6mdNtgrM%253A%3BfINd5-5ZxLwKgM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fdarkroom-cdn.s3.amazonaws.com%252F2014%252F07%252FREU-SOCCER-WORLDM64-GER-ARA.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fdarkroom.baltimoresun.com%252F2014%252F07%252F2014-fifa-world-cup-germany-argentina-final%252F%3B1200%3B796

Following the death of Foley, ISIS beheaded a second American (and Israeli) journalist, Steven Joel Sotloff, on September 2. 31-year-old Sotloff was kidnapped in August 2013 and held captive by ISIS. The group released a video of Sotloff’s beheading, which prompted American President Barack Obama to address the action the United States would take, stating the initiative to “degrade and destroy” ISIS. September 18 was a crucial day for the United Kingdom as the Scottish independence referendum took place. The independence referendum asked Scottish citizens, voters aged sixteen or older, “Should Scotland be an independent country?” The voters could choose between “Yes” or “No.” 2,001,926, or 55.3%, of voters voted “No” and 1,617,989, or 44.7%, of voters were in favor, voting “Yes”. The results of the vote determined that Scotland would maintain the union. On September 8, TMZ released a video of Baltimore Ravens running back, Ray Rice, assaulting his wife by knocking her out unconscious. Rice’s contract with the Ravens was terminated on September 8 and he became a free agent on December 1. Four days later, Minnesota Vikings running back, Adrian Peterson, was indicted by a Montgomery County, Texas, grand jury for charges of reckless or negligent injury to his son on May 18, 2014. Peterson was initially deactivated for one game by the Vikings, until November 18, when the program announced that he would be suspended for at least the remainder of the season with no pay. For Air Academy Football, the varsity team won two games in a row, which was a major triumph for the program that had previously lost every game in the 2013 season. Also, the Jetstream Journal’s very own cross-country runner, Katie Rainsberger, won the 4A Girls Cross-country State Title. Rainsberger had finished second place her freshman and sophomore year, but successfully came out on top her junior year.

The Major League Baseball season concluded with the San Francisco Giants winning the seventh game of the World Series 3-2 over the Kansas City Royals. The win was the Giants’ third World Series title in five years and a massive accomplishment for the program. Liberian native, Thomas Eric Duncan, died from Ebola on October 8. After contracting the disease in West Africa and returning to Dallas, Texas, Duncan became the fist Ebola patient in the United States. He passed away at age 45. Following Duncan, two other cases of Ebola occurred in the United States, both nurses who provided treatment for Duncan. No other cases of Ebola in the United States have occurred since. In October 2014, paralympic runner, Oscar Pistorius, received a five-year sentence for the murder of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp. Air Academy High School’s Band won the 4A State title for the fifth year in a row. The program expected nothing less, with their hard work and dedication consisting of two practices a day and multiple hour rehearsals.

On November 3, in New York City, one of the two World Trade Center buildings opened. The new building is 1,776 feet high and opened with one tenant. The sole tenant in the building during the grand opening was magazine publisher, Conde Nast, occupying one-third of the building. Air Academy’s Boys Soccer team impressively won the 4A State Championship and went 20-0 the entire season. After placing second last year in the tournament, the boys came back with unfinished business and driven mentalities to achieve the desired number one result. November 24, the Missouri Grand Jury came to the conclusion not to indict officer Darren Wilson for the death of Michael Brown. Ten days later, the Staten Island courts decided not to indict officer Daniel Pantaleo for the death of Eric Garner. The decisions for both cases resulted in an outbreak of civil rights protests across the nation.

December of 2014 did not fail to end the year on a boring note, as controversy with the American film, The Interview, became serious issue for American and North Korean governments. Columbia Pictures originally delayed the release of the film from October 10 to December 25, 2014, to edit the film so it’d be more appropriate and less offensive to North Korea. During the delayed period of time, Sony Pictures Entertainment was hacked by the Guardians of Peace (GOP), which are believed to be tied to North Korea. The Guardians of Peace then threatened the cinemas that would play the movie, which resulted in Sony and movie theaters across the country to cancel the release entirely. Sony ended up selling the film for rental and purchase online on December 24. The film so far has earned $15 million, making it Sony’s best selling online movie.

While 2014 proved to be an eventful year, with incidents sure to go down in history, here’s to welcoming 2015 and all of the ups and down the year has in store for us!