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The New Year is about Swarovski crystal balls slowly dropping and the group chat trying to solidify perfect plans the night before NYE. But it also symbolizes a time of reflection. To look back at the past and think… wow, that was one literal DECADE ago!?
So as 2024 approaches, we’re looking back at the most formative moments of culture from 2014 and blowing out the candles on their 10 year anniversary:
1. Kimye became legally bound by marriage. Hindsight may be 20/20 but we will never forget seeing that photo of them and a baby North West posing in the Italian countryside and thinking, “Well, this is what forever looks like!”
2. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie also got married after promising they'd wait for gay marriage to be legalized in America (they did not wait).
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3. Solange infamously attacked Jay-Z in an elevator at a Met Gala afterparty. And what did you expect? Of course some shit will go down when there's a billion dollars on an elevator...
5. U2's album Songs of Innocence proved to be NOT so innocent when Apple automatically uploaded it to every SINGLE Apple device on the planet — and then made it very difficult for users to delete.
6. Gwyneth Paltrow and Coldplay's Chris Martin announced their divorce by iconically introducing "conscious uncoupling" to the culture.
7. What do you get when a viral trend becomes associated with a charitable cause? You get everyone on earth doing the Ice Bucket Challenge— which raised $115 million for ALS.
8. Joffrey was killed in Game of Thrones. The second episode of the fourth season delivered sweet, sweet justice by giving that little FREAK some poisoned wine.
10. At the same Oscars, John Travolta introduced star, icon, queen, OG Elphaba (etc) Idina Menzel as the "wickedly talented, one and only, Adele Dazeem."
11. This was also the same Oscars (a lot going on that year) where Lupita Nyong'o won for Best Supporting Actress in 12 Years a Slave... all while wearing That. Blue. Dress.
12. Pharrell William's "Happy" was the song of the year. But just as/even more important — he also wore those big ass hats in 2014 too.
13. “First things first, I’m the realest (realest)" — was one of the most said sentences of 2014 (probably), thanks to Iggy Azalea and Charli XCX’s global hit, “Fancy.”
14. Taylor Swift released 1989. The generation-defining pop album would go on to win Album of the Year at the Grammy's and more importantly, kick off the original girl squad era.
15. A crucial component of Taylor Swift’s pop star status? Her f*ck a** bob, which… did not come until the following year. But in 2014, Taylor Swift debuted her LOB. And it was a threat and promise of what was to come.
16. Ariana Grande’s second studio album My Everything was birthed, which brought us culture-shifting pop anthems “Break Free” and “One Last Time.”
17. And talk about shifts in culture: Sia popped a wig on little dancing queen Maddie Ziegler for the "Chandelier" music video and everything changed.
18. How I Met Your Mother ended... and fans crowned it one of the most disappointing series finales of all time.
19. And on THAT note, if we're talking bad series finales — True Blood also ended in 2014.
20. The YA fiction phenomenon, The Fault In Our Stars by John Green made its silver screen debut starring Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort. And oh, the girls were s-o-b-b-i-n-g in theaters.
21. Also based on a book, Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl got the movie treatment too — sparking a now decade-long tradition of girls saying "she's sooo me" re: Amy Dunne.
22. Frozen was released at the tail end of 2013, HOWEVER Frozenmania was all 2014 baby! One thing about "Let It Go"? It could NOT be let go!!
23. These movies also came out in 2014: The 10-year project Boyhood, and franchise faves like Mockingjay Part 1, Divergent, and Guardians of the Galaxy. I f*cking wish Letterboxd existed back then.
24. Prince William and Kate Middleton announced their second pregnancy with the future little Princess Charlotte of Wales.
25. Sarah Koenig's Serial became a huge phenomenon — with Adnan Syed's case launching "podcasts" into mainstream culture.
26. Teresa and Joe Giudice from Real Housewives of New Jersey were both sentenced for fraud — the first of MANY (Jen Shah, Erika Jayne etc) criminal cases to be featured on Real Housewives.
27. Bianca Del Rio won Season 6 of Rupaul's Drag Race, while also launching the phrase, "Not today Satan!" into the public sphere.
28. Alex from Target went viral. If you don't remember, a 16-year old was catapulted into “meme fame” after a photo of him working at his local Target blew up on Twitter. One week later, he’s sitting across from Ellen herself. And everyone was kind of like... wait, what is The Ellen Show about?
29. At 18-years old, Kendall Jenner debuted in her very first runway for Marc Jacobs. And that certainly has resulted in me seeing a lot of Kendall Jenner. Which is all I have to say.
30. Meanwhile at just 17-years old, Malala Yousafzai made history as the youngest Nobel Prize laureate, which recognized her fight for the right of every child to receive an education.
31. Robin Williams tragically passed away — leaving us to rewatch Mrs. Doubtfire, Dead Poet’s Society, Aladdin and other classics in memory of everyone’s favourite comedian.
32. Joan Rivers died too, and the red carpet has NOT been the same since.
33. The Winter Olympics were held in Sochi, Russia amidst significant controversy which included an opening ceremony malfunction that left an incomplete set of Olympic rings.
34. Women had been coming forward with Bill Cosby abuse allegations as early as 2005, but an onslaught of accusations from women, including model Janice Dickinson, in 2014 reignited the story, leading to his eventual conviction (which was then overturned in 2021).
35. Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappeared — and while there are many theories as to what happened, the mystery still remains unsolved.
36. Tim Cook introduced the Apple Watch to the world during a press event for the iPhone 6.
37. Jimmy Fallon replaced Jay Leno as host of The Tonight Show.
38. Kim Kardashian "Broke The Internet"... with an image we did NOT get clearance to use for this article. But you know the one! This one! The Paper magazine cover! Major!
39. And last (but never least), Ariana Grande got hit by a Victoria Secret model's angel wing resulting in this meme:
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