What Became of the Biggest Stories of 2014 After the Spotlight

— -- intro: We've revisited a few of the top stories of the last year -- from the worst-ever Ebola outbreak to the man who sparked protests across the U.S. that continue today.

quicklist: 1title: Kent Brantlytext:The first Ebola patient to be treated in the U.S. has not stopped talking about the disease months after he survived the deadly virus and was released from an Atlanta hospital.

Before Dr. Kent Brantly was flown on a specially designed jet to Georgia, where he was treated at a biocontainment unit at Emory University, he was the first person to be treated with the experimental drug ZMapp.

"I really thought I was going to die ... anyway," said Brantly, of why he was willing to try the drug. "So we might as well try everything at our disposal, even if it has the risk of killing us."

After his recovery, Brantly was reunited with his family and has done numerous speaking engagements. He is now the medical mission adviser for Samaritan's Purse, the same non-profit group he worked for when he was infected. media: 27477906

quicklist: 2title: Sochi Olympic Villagetext:The pomp and pageantry of the Olympics may be over, but the Sochi Olympic village lives on.

While last-minute construction and a few wild dogs led some to wonder if the Olympic village would be functional in time for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games, the event appeared to go off without a major hitch.

Now, even without snow, the Sochi Olympic Village isn't empty. In October, it hosted the first Russian Formula One Grand Prix. There was no ice or snow or even gold medals, but plenty of people lined the track.

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quicklist: 3

title: Darren Wilsontext:

The police officer who sparked months of protests and debate about the role of police tactics ended the year as a civilian, not a police officer.

Darren Wilson resigned from the Ferguson, Missouri, Police Department days after a grand jury decided not to indict him in the death of an unarmed African-American teenager.

Wilson fatal shooting of Michael Brown this summer in Ferguson set off a wave of protests that roiled the St. Louis suburb and other areas, including New York City and Oakland, California.

Wilson has remained mostly out of the public eye both before and after the grand jury decision. He recently told ABC News he was married in August and is expecting a child with his wife.

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quicklist: 4title: Malaysia Airlinestext:

Malaysia Airlines is still recovering after it suffered through two major air disasters in a single year.

The government-run airline's Flight MH 370 vanished in March as it traveled between Kuala Lumpur and Beijing, China, with 239 people on board. Despite months of searching in the Pacific, no sign of the plane has ever been found.

Just four months later, a Malaysia Airlines Flight crashed after it was shot down over Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board.

The two crashes have left their mark on the airline, with the parent company, Khazanah Nasional, cutting 30 percent of the total workforce and spending $1.73 billion to overhaul the company.

The company also announced new leadership, hiring a new CEO earlier in December.

The Associated Report contributed to this report.

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quicklist: 5title: Philae Landertext:

The little spacecraft that could finally made it to the outer limits of the solar system and became the first man-made object to land on a comet in motion.

The Philae lander traveled nearly 400 million miles over a decade before finally making touchdown.

For now, the spacecraft remains in hibernation on the surface of Comet 67P, while its partner, the Rosetta spacecraft, sends back photos of the comet. As of Dec. 8, 2014, the two spacecraft had traveled more than an astonishing 325 million miles from Earth. Each message sent back to Earth from that distance takes 29 minutes.

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