A calendar of the top pop culture moments of 2014 – in pictures

FEBRUARY: Jimmy Fallon (pictured) takes over from Jay Leno as the host of The Tonight Show and immediately establishes himself as the new king of television talk shows, with a younger, fresher vibe perfect for next-day YouTube viewing of bits, such as celebrity lip-synching duels. Kicking off an eventful year in the tech world, Facebook pays a massive US$19 billion (Dh70bn) for WhatsApp, the popular mobile messaging service favoured by teenagers and young adults – who see Facebook as something better suited to their parents. At New York Fashion Week, the emerging star Lupita Nyong’o makes a front-row splash while watching Calvin Klein. Lloyd Bishop, File / AP photo / NBC

MARCH: In introducing Idina Menzel at the Oscars, John Travolta mangles her name in epic fashion, creating a new star: “The one and only Adele Dazeem.” Ever the Broadway trouper, Menzel doesn’t miss a beat as she sings Frozen’s girl-power anthem Let It Go. Ellen DeGeneres takes that famous Oscar selfie (pictured) with a gaggle of celebs, causing Twitter to crash for 20 minutes and beating the previous champion for retweets, a photo of Barack and Michelle Obama. Time for a new phrase in Hollywood-speak: “Conscious ­Uncoupling”, the term used by Gwyneth Paltrow to describe her enlightened split from Chris Martin. And the US president Barack Obama pitches his health plan to young people via an unusual platform: Zach Galifianakis’s comic web series Between Two Ferns. Some commentators call it undignified. Ellen DeGeneres / AP Photo

APRIL: Yet more epic shifts in late-night: David Letterman (pictured) announces he’ll retire in 2015. His replacement is to be the Comedy Central star Stephen Colbert, adored by a younger demographic. Letterman quips: “I happen to know they wanted another guy with glasses.” And now, we know you were getting antsy for Kimye news, so here it is: Kim Kardashian and soon-to-be hubby Kanye West make the prestigious cover of Vogue, sparking existential angst among some fashionistas. Kardashian tweets that it’s “a dream come true!!!”. John Paul Filo / AP Photo / CBS

MAY: But the real dream comes when Kimye (pictured) tie the knot at a ­Renaissance fortress in Florence, Italy, following lavish pre-wedding festivities in France. Angelina Jolie makes a splash as Maleficent, giving us a new take on the Disney character that’s now more misunderstood ­superheroine than ­villainess. Evan Agostini / Invision/ AP File

JUNE: Let’s turn to sports: It’s World Cup time, and who says America doesn’t love football? People are glued to their TVs, iPads, phones and other devices for the US games, and a hero is born: Tim ­Howard (pictured, in yellow), the American goalie, who even in a 2-1 defeat to ­Belgium makes a record-setting 16 saves. He becomes a social-­media ­darling – on Wikipedia, he briefly becomes the Secretary of Defense, edging out Chuck Hagel. And he inspires an internet meme naming all the “Things Tim Howard Could Save” (the dinosaurs from extinction, for example). Bryn Lennon / Getty Images

JULY: A collective “awwwwww” ricochets around the world as Britain’s mediagenic royal couple, William and Kate, release photos of the equally mediagenic Prince George (pictured), on his first birthday. Turns out his fashion choices – lots of blues and bib overalls – prove as influential as his mother’s. It’s also time for the campy Sharknado 2. A shark in the New York subway? No big deal. Manhattanites have seen rats that big. John Stillwell / AP Photo

AUGUST: Whoever would have thought a lowly bucket of ice would become a pop-culture phenomenon? Celebs and regular folk alike take on the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, generating millions of dollars to fight the disease. Epic screams are heard, but the most entertainingly blood-curdling ones come from Oprah Winfrey. And what would August be without a wedding? Brangelina finally tie the knot at a small ceremony on their French estate. A very sad note to the month: the death of Robin Williams (pictured), whose manic energy graced screens big and small, leaves a gaping hole in the cultural landscape. Dan Steinberg / Invision / AP

SEPTEMBER: Back to weddings – and in this year of celebrity knot-tying, nothing is bigger than the lavish Venice festivities surrounding the nuptials of the bachelor who said he’d never marry again, George Clooney, and the British human-rights lawyer Amal Alamuddin (pictured). Think traffic jams of paparazzi on gondolas. Big tech news: The new iPhone 6 arrives, with its larger screen and inevitable prestige factor. Apple also unveils its smartwatch, bringing the features of an iPhone to one’s arm, and Microsoft spends US$2.5 billion (Dh9.2bn) for the company that created the hit game Minecraft, popular on mobile phones. Also during this month, tart-tongued Joan Rivers, a trailblazer for women in comedy, dies. Luca Bruno, File / AP photo

OCTOBER: More life-cycle events: Kate Middleton appears in public for the first time since announcing that she’s expecting her second royal heir. As for Hollywood royalty, Jennifer Lawrence (pictured), about to make a splash with the latest Hunger Games instalment, speaks out on the hacking scandal that led to stolen nude photos of her – intended for her boyfriend – being published on websites. “It is not a scandal. It is a sex crime,” she says. Murray Close / AP Photo / Lionsgate

NOVEMBER: Remember when Ellen’s selfie sorta broke the internet? Well, Kim Kardashian (yes, her again), aiming to do the same, poses nude for Paper magazine, and the focus on her posterior leads to all sorts of talk about “the year of the booty”. Kudos to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which tweets a photo of a strikingly similar figure from one of its 4000BC statues, noting that they can “Brea the internet” too. Taylor Swift (pictured), meanwhile, takes a stand, asking Spotify to stop streaming her music and setting up an intriguing standoff between the industry’s most popular artist and its top music- streaming service. On a much more serious note, Bill Cosby, once America’s most beloved TV dad, faces a cascade of allegations that he drugged and sexually assaulted women decades ago. The comedian’s planned return to television is shelved and his career suffers perhaps irreparable damage. Al Powers / Powers Imagery / Invision / AP file

DECEMBER: Suddenly it’s the only thing anyone in Hollywood is talking about: the devastating Sony hacking scandal. After several weeks of embarrassing disclosures in hacked emails, the focus turns sharply in mid-December to genuine fear, as hackers threaten violence and mayhem at cinemas showing The Interview, the Seth Rogen-James Franco film depicting the fictitious assassination of the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Theatre chains pull out and Sony finally shelves the movie, before relenting and announcing a limited cinema release. It also then makes it available to watch online. The fallout is still developing and will continue into the new year for sure, but it’s clearly a sober ending to a dramatic year for the entertainment industry. Columbia Pictures / Sony, Ed Araquel / AP Photo

From Pharrell Williams big win at the Grammys to Kim Kardashian’s bum on the cover of a magazine, here is a calendar of the top pop culture moments of 2014.