2014 - ISIS - THE ISLAMIC CALIPHATE is growing in Iraq and Syria killing thousands and dislocating hundreds of thousands. At the same time America's effort to defeat terrorism has led to unsavory practices of capturing those with suspected ties to Islamic terrorists and placing them in secret prisons throughout the world, where they have been subjected to torture, (i.e. waterboarding) in an effort to gain information. This has been done without due process and has violated the Geneva Convention as revealed by a Senate Investigation led by Susan Feinstein.
Russia invades Crimea supporting Ukrainian separatists of Russian heritage, violating Ukrainian Sovereignty and raising outrage in the West.
At home, a growing number of Black men are dying at the hands of police. Civil disobedience grows in Ferguson, Missouri.
A sign of home and regeneration is New York's Freedom Tower. Opening 14 years after 9/11 on the site of the old World Trade Center along with the 9/11 Memorial and Museum.
Jay Leno hands the reigns of the The Tonight show over to Jimmy Fallon. American comedic icon Robin Williams commits suicide after learning of his Parkinson's disease diagnosis and Joan Rivers dies unexpectedly during surgery.
Virtually the entire continent of North America experiences Arctic temperatures.