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.)
- Agriculture (10000 - 3000 B.C.E.)
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2020 C.E. September 21Zero-emission trucks set to make New Zealand a world leader in hydrogen energy
Kiwi company Hiringa and Hyzon Motors—a U.S. manufacturer of hydrogen fuel cells—signed a “heads of agreement” that would allow Hiringa’s hydrogen-powered electric vehicles (HPEVs) to start hauling freight as early as 2022, positioning New Zealand as a world leader in hydrogen vehicle infrastructure.
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2020 C.E. September 21Michigan is compensating essential workers with free college education
Michigan is recognizing the commitment and sacrifices of their state’s 625,000 essential workers by offering them free education at any community college in the state.
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2020 C.E. September 20Nine major countries to collaboratively grow zero-emission commercial vehicle systems
Noting the climate, economic, jobs and health benefits it would bring, Canada, China, Chile, Finland, Germany, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden agreed to work collaboratively to grow zero-emission commercial vehicle manufacturing, infrastructure and deployment at home and globally.
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2020 C.E. September 20Monitoring brainwaves during sleep can pinpoint best antidepressant
Currently, in order to see if an antidepressant works, patients have to take the drug for at least a month. New research, however, suggests that by monitoring a patient's brainwaves as they sleep, the effectiveness of an antidepressant can be gauged in as little as one week.
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2020 C.E. September 20Mexico issues world-first Sustainable Development Goals bond valued at $890 million
The inaugural SDG Bond is centered around goals 2, 3, 4, 8, and 9. Eligible SDG expenditures include training and subsidies for small and medium farmers, educational scholarships, and hospitals and medical equipment.
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2020 C.E. September 17California governor signs law to equalize punishments for gay & straight sex offenders
Introduced by gay State Sen. Scott Wiener (D), the law gives judges the ability to keep LGBTQ teenagers off the state’s public sex offender registry if the teens are of similar ages, the same leeway the state already gives straight teens.
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2020 C.E. September 1726 organizations pledge to conserve, restore, and grow more than 855 million trees
Organizations across the U.S. have joined together in support of nature-based solutions. The World Economic Forum and American Forests have launched the U.S. chapter of 1t.org, an initiative to “conserve, restore, and grow” one trillion trees around the globe.
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2020 C.E. September 17LEGO ditching single-use plastic bags in kits, eyes paper replacements
The Lego Group will move away from single-use plastic bags in its kits, the group announced on Tuesday. "From 2021, Forest Stewardship Council-certified recyclable paper bags will be trialed in boxes," the company said.
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2020 C.E. September 16Google promises to operate using only carbon-free energy by 2030
Google plans to bridge the renewables gap at all its facilities with technological improvements such as overnight solar storage, improved logistics to transport the energy, and new renewable sources like geothermal reservoirs.
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2020 C.E. September 16First-ever floating solar power plant in Belgium begins operation
Floating PV NV installed a floating solar power plant on 5 hectares of lake at a cost of €2 million project. It includes 17,250 solar panels that are expected to produce 7 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of electricity per year, which is approximately how much 2,000 homes in the region use.
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2020 C.E. October 22Samoa pledges to preserve 30% of its ocean
Samoa’s land mass accounts for less than three percent of its territory, and the country is largely dependent upon the ocean for food and income. To preserve this vital resource, the Samoa Government has committed to fully managing its ocean area and protecting 30 percent by 2025 through the Samoa Ocean Strategy.
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2020 C.E. October 22Compton to launch America’s biggest guaranteed income program
Following in Stockton’s footsteps, the city of Compton, California, has launched its own basic income program called the Compton Pledge that will aim to assist 800 people through no-strings-attached direct cash payments over two years.
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2020 C.E. October 22Activists build facial recognition to identify cops who hide their badges
In order to hold police accountable when they try to hide their identities, a growing number of activists are developing facial recognition tools that identify cops, The New York Times reports — a striking inversion of the way cops tend to use facial recognition on protestors and suspects.
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2020 C.E. October 21Myanmar eradicates trachoma
The World Health Organization has validated that the disease has been eliminated from the country: This is extra impressive, because in 2005, trachoma was responsible for 4% of all cases of blindness there. The nation joins Nepal in the WHO South-East Asia Region and 12 countries globally to achieve this feat.
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2020 C.E. October 21Microdosing LSD improves mood and cognition, according to new study
In the placebo-controlled study, published in European Neuropsychopharmacology, scientists from University of Basel and Maastricht University gave volunteers either a small dose of LSD or a placebo, then measured their ability to pay attention and process information, as well as keeping an eye on their mood.
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2020 C.E. October 21Airbus unveils world’s first zero-emission commercial aircrafts
Collectively dubbed ZEROe, the climate-neutral, zero-emission concepts are designed to carry maximum passenger loads between 100 and 200 people for flights that range from short-haul trips to transcontinental journeys. Airbus’ hydrogen-powered commercial aircrafts could enter service as early as 2035.
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2020 C.E. October 21Poland’s once-mighty coal industry is in retreat
Even though Poland produces more coal than any other nation in the European Union, the industry’s inefficiencies and plummeting global prices have reduced its 70 mines in 1990 to about 25 today; in that same period, the number of miners has plummeted from 388,000 to 80,000.
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2020 C.E. October 20Austin Quinn-Davidson to become Anchorage’s first gay and first woman mayor
The city of Anchorage, Alaska will have its first woman mayor and its first gay mayor as Austin Quinn-Davidson is set to become the city’s acting mayor after Mayor Ethan Berkowitz (D) announced his resignation amidst sexual harassment allegations.
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2020 C.E. October 19New York City begins enforcing its plastic bag ban
The statewide ban on the highly polluting items actually went into effect March 1. But enforcement, which was supposed to start a month later, was delayed by the one-two punch of a lawsuit and the coronavirus pandemic, NY1 reported.
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2020 C.E. October 19Singapore to plant 1 million native trees
In an effort to restore Singapore’s once-rich mangrove forest ecosystems, the nation is embarking on a 1 million tree planting spree in hopes that they can save numerous bird, reptile, and tree species from extinction, and provide a ton of valuable ecosystem services.