The world’s largest database of good news and social change milestones from throughout human history
We are building the world’s largest database of social change milestones, from the first fire to today’s good news. Change is not only possible, it has happened consistently throughout human history. Filter by era, country, topic, actor, source, and more.
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Era
- Tomorrow (2025 C.E. - ???)
- Today (2017 C.E. - 2024 C.E.)
- Post-modernity (1945 - 2016 C.E.)
- Modernity (1500 - 1945 C.E.)
- Post-classical (500 - 1500 C.E.)
- Civilization (3000 B.C.E. - 500 C.E.)
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2024 C.E. January 12Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon fell by nearly 50% in 2023 compared to 2022
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva pledged to end deforestation by 2030 when he took office a year ago. Preliminary data from national space agency Inpe showed 5,153 sq km of the Amazon were cleared in 2023, down from 10,278 sq km in 2022. Rainforest destruction had surged to a 12-year high under his predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro.
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2024 C.E. January 11Maryland to cover unprecedented number of gender-affirming procedures in “groundbreaking” win
A new law in Maryland requires Medicaid to cover “medically necessary” gender-affirming care for residents — including care well beyond hormones or surgery. The law went into effect on January 1. It requires coverage for “gender-affirming treatment in a nondiscriminatory manner.” Gender-affirming care is considered safe and essential to the well-being of trans people by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association, and other major U.S. and world health organizations.
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2024 C.E. January 10Consumption poverty in the U.S. has fallen 27% since 1980
Between 1980 and 2022, consumption poverty fell from 33.8% to 6.0% even though the official poverty rate indicated a drop by only 1.5 percentage points over that same period. According to researchers from the University of Notre Dame, consumption, which measures what families are able to purchase in terms of food, housing, transportation, and other goods and services, offers a better indicator of economic well-being than income, which can fluctuate for reasons unrelated to well-being.
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2024 C.E. January 10Novel nasal COVID-19 vaccine offers longer, better immunity than jabs
Researchers at Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore have developed an intranasal COVID-19 vaccine that enhances the immune system’s response to the virus, providing longer-lasting, greater protection than vaccine injections, even against new and emerging variants. The novel vaccine candidate could mean fewer boosters in future.
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2024 C.E. January 10Microsoft places massive 12GW solar module order, bolstering U.S. solar supply chain
Building on a previously announced 2.5GW module supply agreement signed in January 2023, Qcells will supply Microsoft with 12GW of solar modules over an 8-year period. Equivalent to powering more than 1.8 million homes annually, the solar modules will be produced in the United States at a fully integrated solar supply chain factory in Cartersville, Georgia.
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2024 C.E. January 9Forest restoration planned for Colombia’s Farallones de Cali National Park
The $3.7-million project could take several decades because of the severity of the environmental damage done by illegal mining, which has deforested the park and polluted its rivers with mercury. The 485,226-acre national park is an important biological corridor along Colombia’s Pacific coast.
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2024 C.E. January 9New protein test can detect 18 early stage cancers, scientists say
The team from U.S. biotech firm Novelna wrote: “At stage I (the earliest cancer stage) and at the specificity of 99%, our panels were able to identify 93% of cancers among males and 84% of cancers among females." It believes its cheaper, less invasive multi-cancer screening test could be a ‘gamechanger.’
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2024 C.E. January 9Poland to halt logging in 10 of its most ancient forest
Paulina Hennig-Kloska, who was appointed climate and environment minister in December 2023, said that the half-year moratorium in forests across the country was the first step to limiting logging. The government promised in its coalition agreement to protect 20% of the country’s forests.
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2024 C.E. January 9Chinese scientists invent a cost-effective, low-emission method of converting coal into protein for livestock feed
Biotech researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) say the new method could feed livestock much more efficiently than natural plants, while using a1/1000th as much land as farming.
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2024 C.E. January 9Gabriel Attal becomes France’s first gay prime minister
Education Minister Gabriel Attal has just been appointed prime minister of France, the first out gay man and LGBTQ+ person to be named to the position. At age 34, he will also be the country’s youngest prime minister in its Fifth Republic.
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2024 C.E. January 12Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon fell by nearly 50% in 2023 compared to 2022
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva pledged to end deforestation by 2030 when he took office a year ago. Preliminary data from national space agency Inpe showed 5,153 sq km of the Amazon were cleared in 2023, down from 10,278 sq km in 2022. Rainforest destruction had surged to a 12-year high under his predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro.
-
2024 C.E. January 11Maryland to cover unprecedented number of gender-affirming procedures in “groundbreaking” win
A new law in Maryland requires Medicaid to cover “medically necessary” gender-affirming care for residents — including care well beyond hormones or surgery. The law went into effect on January 1. It requires coverage for “gender-affirming treatment in a nondiscriminatory manner.” Gender-affirming care is considered safe and essential to the well-being of trans people by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association, and other major U.S. and world health organizations.
-
2024 C.E. January 10Consumption poverty in the U.S. has fallen 27% since 1980
Between 1980 and 2022, consumption poverty fell from 33.8% to 6.0% even though the official poverty rate indicated a drop by only 1.5 percentage points over that same period. According to researchers from the University of Notre Dame, consumption, which measures what families are able to purchase in terms of food, housing, transportation, and other goods and services, offers a better indicator of economic well-being than income, which can fluctuate for reasons unrelated to well-being.
-
2024 C.E. January 10Novel nasal COVID-19 vaccine offers longer, better immunity than jabs
Researchers at Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore have developed an intranasal COVID-19 vaccine that enhances the immune system’s response to the virus, providing longer-lasting, greater protection than vaccine injections, even against new and emerging variants. The novel vaccine candidate could mean fewer boosters in future.
-
2024 C.E. January 10Microsoft places massive 12GW solar module order, bolstering U.S. solar supply chain
Building on a previously announced 2.5GW module supply agreement signed in January 2023, Qcells will supply Microsoft with 12GW of solar modules over an 8-year period. Equivalent to powering more than 1.8 million homes annually, the solar modules will be produced in the United States at a fully integrated solar supply chain factory in Cartersville, Georgia.
-
2024 C.E. January 9Forest restoration planned for Colombia’s Farallones de Cali National Park
The $3.7-million project could take several decades because of the severity of the environmental damage done by illegal mining, which has deforested the park and polluted its rivers with mercury. The 485,226-acre national park is an important biological corridor along Colombia’s Pacific coast.
-
2024 C.E. January 9New protein test can detect 18 early stage cancers, scientists say
The team from U.S. biotech firm Novelna wrote: “At stage I (the earliest cancer stage) and at the specificity of 99%, our panels were able to identify 93% of cancers among males and 84% of cancers among females." It believes its cheaper, less invasive multi-cancer screening test could be a ‘gamechanger.’
-
2024 C.E. January 9Poland to halt logging in 10 of its most ancient forest
Paulina Hennig-Kloska, who was appointed climate and environment minister in December 2023, said that the half-year moratorium in forests across the country was the first step to limiting logging. The government promised in its coalition agreement to protect 20% of the country’s forests.
-
2024 C.E. January 9Chinese scientists invent a cost-effective, low-emission method of converting coal into protein for livestock feed
Biotech researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) say the new method could feed livestock much more efficiently than natural plants, while using a1/1000th as much land as farming.
-
2024 C.E. January 9Gabriel Attal becomes France’s first gay prime minister
Education Minister Gabriel Attal has just been appointed prime minister of France, the first out gay man and LGBTQ+ person to be named to the position. At age 34, he will also be the country’s youngest prime minister in its Fifth Republic.