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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- 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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2020 C.E. October 8Cancer breath test detects 80% of cases in early trial
The team from Australia's Flinders University has developed a breath test that can detect exhaled breath profiles associated with head and neck cancers, with the tool demonstrating a high degree of accuracy in early trials.
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2020 C.E. October 8JPMorgan Chase, world’s biggest funder of fossil fuels, commits to “Paris-aligned” financing
JPMorgan Chase has reportedly committed to push its clients to align with the goals of the Paris Agreement and work towards global net-zero emissions by 2050.
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2020 C.E. October 8Ambitious reforestation project will plant 3 million trees in Uganda
The project is the fruit of a strategic partnership between the Jane Goodall Institute and reforestation non-profit One Tree Planted and will focus on restoring habitat for endangered chimpanzees by adding 3 million trees to the Albertine Rift Forests.
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2020 C.E. October 7Louisville, Kentucky mayor signs ban on harmful gay ‘conversion therapy’
The Louisville Metro Council passed the ordinance in mid-September. The ordinance passed committee unanimously the week prior and passed Metro Council 24 to 1. The lone “no” vote was Councilman Stuart Benson, who said he didn’t think the matter was in the council’s lane.
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2020 C.E. October 7Seattle protects Uber and Lyft drivers with new gig economy wages
The city of Seattle has passed a new wage scale for Uber and Lyft drivers, including a $16.39 minimum wage, to ensure their wages match those of other minimum wage workers in the city.
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2020 C.E. October 7Consumer Reports confirms electric car owners spend half as much on maintenance
Chris Harto, CR’s senior transportation policy analyst, says: “Electric vehicle owners don’t need a coupon to get half-off typical maintenance and repair costs from their dealer, it comes standard! These savings are going a long way to offset the upfront costs for consumers.”
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2020 C.E. October 6University of Cambridge drops its $4.5 billion endowments from fossil fuels
The university will divest from conventional energy by the end of the year, build “significant investments” in renewable energy by 2025, divest from remaining fossil fuels by 2035, and become net-zero across its portfolio by 2038.
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2020 C.E. October 5Coal dropped from 27% of U.S. electricity to 18% in two years
Electricity from coal power plants has declined from 26.9% of US electricity generation in the first 7 months of 2018 to 17.7% in the first 7 months of 2020. That’s down from 33% in 2015, 39% in 2014, 45% in 2010, and 50% in 2005.
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2020 C.E. October 5Number of young black authors doubles to nearly 20% in U.K.
A new study out of University College London found that only 7.1 percent of YA authors in the UK were people of color in 2017. That figure jumped to 13.25 percent in 2018 and has risen even further to a more promising 19.6 percent as of 2019.
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2020 C.E. October 5Mayors from 12 major cities commit to divesting from fossil fuels
The declaration was initially signed by the mayors of Berlin, Bristol, Cape Town, Durban, London, Los Angeles, Milan, New Orleans, New York City, Oslo, Pittsburgh, and Vancouver. Together the cities represent more than 36 million residents.
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2020 C.E. November 7Joe Biden wins election for President of the United States
Kamala Harris will become the first woman and first person of color to serve as Vice President.
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2020 C.E. November 6Florida votes to increase outdated minimum wage to $15
Voters in Florida tossed their outdated $8.56 per hour minimum wage in this election as the state became the eighth in the country to adopt a $15 minimum wage. Like many other states, Florida will introduce the raise slowly, upping it to $10 next year and raising it by $1 each year until it reaches $15 in 2026.
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2020 C.E. November 6Prop 17 restores voting rights for 50,000 paroled citizens in California
50,000 more Californians were welcomed back into the democratic process this election as the state celebrates the passing of Prop 17. The proposition, which passed with support from 59 percent of voters, will allow paroled citizens convicted of felonies to vote.
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2020 C.E. November 6Sunderland’s riverfront to house U.K.’s first carbon-neutral community
Designed to “reinvent the heart of Sunderland,” the masterplan design will include 1,000 new energy-efficient homes in four mixed-use residential neighborhoods for a population of 2,500.
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2020 C.E. November 5Oregon becomes the first state in the U.S. to legalize access to magic mushrooms
Measure 109 apart it distinct from decriminalization efforts in that it offers a legal pathway to psilocybin therapy. It will establish a state-regulated program for using and obtaining them. In essence, accessing psilocybin as an adult in Oregon would be about as easy as signing up for counseling.
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2020 C.E. November 5Tesla to build massive 300-megawatt battery in Australia
The battery will be built near Geelong, southwest of Melbourne, and will offer 450 megawatt-hours of energy storage. It's three times bigger than the original 100-MW Tesla system built in South Australia, which was the biggest in the world when it was built just three years ago.
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2020 C.E. November 5New AI from MIT can detect COVID-19 by listening to coughs
After the team from MIT trained its model on tens of thousands of cough and dialog samples, the technology recognized 98.5 percent of coughs from people with confirmed COVID-19 cases. It identified 100 percent of people who were ostensibly asymptomatic, too.
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2020 C.E. November 4Nissan to go 100% electric and hybrid in China by 2025
Nissan is taking active steps to meet China’s recently-announced plans to follow a similar “eco-friendly” vehicle model throughout mainland China as soon as 2035. As part of its response, Nissan will announce 9 all-new or updated electrified cars between now and the 2025 model year, according to Nikkei Asia.
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2020 C.E. November 4Delaware Democrat Sarah McBride to become nation’s first-ever transgender state senator
McBride, a former spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign, overwhelmingly beat Republican candidate Steve Washington in Delaware's 1st District, a heavily Democratic district that includes the city of Wilmington.
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2020 C.E. November 4Arizona, New Jersey, South Dakota vote to legalize recreational marijuana
Voters have approved ballot measures to legalize recreational marijuana in Arizona and New Jersey, and both recreational and medical use in in South Dakota. Results have not yet been determined for Montana's ballot questions on recreational marijuana and Mississippi's medical marijuana measure.