- 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. [1209]
- March 16
- A referendum on the status of Crimea is held. [1209]
- March 21
- Russia formally annexes Crimea after President Vladimir Putin signed a bill finalizing the annexation process. [1209]
- March 24
- During an emergency meeting, the United Kingdom, the United States, Italy, Germany, France, Japan, and Canada temporarily suspend Russia from the G8. [1209]
- 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. [1209]
- 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. [1209]
- April 10
- In response to the annexation of Crimea, 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. [1209]
- April 14
- An estimated 276 girls and women are abducted and held hostage from a school in Nigeria. [1209]
- April 15
- Odyssey Marine Explorations recovers over $1 million in gold ingots and US coins from the wreck site of the SS Central America off South Carolina. [1159.14]
- April 16
- Korean ferry MV Sewol capsizes and sinks after an unmanageable cargo shift, killing 304 people, mostly high school students. [1209]
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- April 27
- A ceremony, attended by over one million people, is held in in Saint Peter's Square in Vatican City for the granting of sainthood to two popes for the first time in the history of the Roman Catholic Church: Pope John XXIII (1958-1963) and John Paul II (1978-2005). [1209] [1831.28]
- 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. [1209]
- May 5
- The World Health Organization identifies the spread of poliomyelitis in at least 10 countries as a major worldwide health emergency. [1209]
- Boko Haram militants kill approximately 300 people in a night attack on Gamboru Ngala. [1209]
- May 20
- Terrorists in Nigeria detonate bombs at Jos, killing 118 people. [1209]
- May 22
- The Royal Thai Army overthrows the caretaker government of Niwatthamrong Boonsongpaisan after a failure to resolve the political unrest in Thailand. [1209]
- June 5
- A Sunni militant group called the Islamic State in 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. [1209]
- June 17
- In New York City, New York, USA, Sotheby's auctions a unique British Guiana 1856 1-cent black on magenta postage stamp for US$9.48 million, to Stuart Weitzman. [1156.8] [1221.1] [1268.7] [1793.15]
- June 19
- King Juan Carlos I of Spain abdicates in favor of his son, who ascends the Spanish throne as King Felipe VI. [1209]
- July 8
- (to August 26) Israel launches Operation Protective Edge on the Palestinian Gaza Strip starting with numerous missile strikes, followed by a ground invasion a week later. (In 7 weeks of fighting, 2,100 Palestinians and 71 Israelis are killed.) [1209] [1238.44]
- July
- A man prospecting for gold in Butte County, California, discovers a gold nugget weighing more than 70 ounces, worth between US$350,000 to US$450,000. [1832.28]
- July 17
- After a five-hour humanitarian ceasefire, Israel confirms the beginning of a ground offensive in Gaza. [1209]
- Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, a Boeing 777, en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, crashes in eastern Ukraine after being shot down by undetermined source. All 298 people on board are killed. [1209] [1518.41]
- July 24
- Air Algérie Flight 5017 crashes in Mali, killing all 116 people on board. [1209]
- August 5
- (to August 9) In Rosemont, Illinois, USA the American Numismatic Association holds the 2014 World's Fair of Money. Some auction highlights:
- USA 1861 Liberty Head Paquet reverse double eagle: US$1,645,000;
- USA 1792 half disme, Specimen-67 PCGS, 2nd best known: US$1,292,500;
- USA 1797 Draped Bust half dollar, MS-65+ PCGS: US$1,292,500;
- USA 1804 dollar: US$1,888,000.
[1835.70]
- 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. [1209]
- August 8
- The United States military begins an air campaign in northern Iraq to stem the influx of ISIS militants. [1209]
- September 22
- The United States and several Arab partners begin their airstrike campaign in Syria. [1209]
- 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. [1209]
- October 19
- The Roman Catholic Church beatifies Pope Paul VI. [1209]
- October 31
- Burkina Faso President Blaise Compaoré resigns after widespread protests in response to the attempt in abolishing presidential term limits. [1209]
- 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. [1209]
- 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. [1209]
- December 17
- U.S. President Barack Obama announces the resumption of normal relations between the U.S. and Cuba. [1209]
- 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. [1209]
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