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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change milestones archived
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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.)
- Prehistory (250000 - 10000 B.C.E.)
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2020 C.E. March 12
Starbucks is piloting fully compostable cups in five cities
Starbucks is piloting cups that are just like the company's normal cups, but the plastic lining has been replaced with a compostable liner, making the cups recyclable and compostable.
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2020 C.E. March 12
Colorado will replace Columbus Day with Cabrini Day
Cabrini Day - recognizing Frances Xavier Cabrini who created 67 schools, hospitals, and orphanages in the U.S. and South and Central America - will be the first paid state holiday recognizing a woman in the U.S.
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2020 C.E. March 11
Second-ever patient cured of HIV
A man from London has become the second person in the world to be cured of HIV, doctors say. Adam Castillejo is still free of the virus more than 30 months after stopping anti-retroviral therapy.
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2020 C.E. March 11
Norway to make all of its domestic flights electric by 2040
By 2040, the country intends all short-haul flights leaving its airports to be on aircraft powered by electricity.
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2020 C.E. March 10
Emissions from global power sector dropped by record-breaking 2% in 2019
The historic decline in CO2 emissions was largely caused by Europe and the US shifting away from coal, resulting in a global 3% decline in coal-fired power generation - the largest drop in 30 years.
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2020 C.E. March 10
UBS ends financing for all new offshore oil projects in Arctic
In addition to this announcement, the investment bank has achieved its sustainable investment goal three years early, increasing its core sustainable investments by more than 56% to USD $488 billion.
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2020 C.E. March 9
Blue whales seen in Antarctica for the first time since 1980s
Since the international moratorium on whaling in 1982, decades of protection have allowed the critically endangered blue whale to bounce back considerably after losing 97% of the species.
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2020 C.E. March 9
Virginia legislature passes sweeping carbon reduction plan
The Washington Post reports that the Clean Economy Act will create many new employment opportunities in wind and solar industries as the state’s utility companies are now mandated to use only carbon-free electricity by 2050.
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2020 C.E. March 6
Taco Bell launches new 50 item “Veggie Mode” menu
The menu will be available at all Taco Bell locations on March 12, and their kiosks will allow customers to select “Veggie Mode” to see a vegetarian-only menu.
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2020 C.E. March 6
Nova Scotia will officially be home to North America’s first whale sanctuary
Nova Scotia will be the official home base to the first whale sanctuary in North America, with whales expected in the water just off the coast of Port Hilford before the end of 2021.
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2020 C.E. April 28
New York and Kentucky expand mail-in voting access
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear both signed executive orders mandating applications for absentee ballots be sent to all of their states’ voters — upon returning the applications to state officials, voters will receive ballots.
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2020 C.E. April 28
Coursera makes online catalog free for unemployed workers
Federal, state, and local government agencies in the United States and abroad that serve the unemployed can apply provide free access to Coursera’s courses—an offer that typically costs $399 per year—through September 30.
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2020 C.E. April 27
Lebanon becomes first Arab country to legalize cannabis farming for medical use
Cannabis has long been illegally farmed in the fertile Bekaa Valley and government now hopes to turn it into a legal billion-dollar trade
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2020 C.E. April 27
Sweden shutters last coal-fired generating plant two years early
A milder than expected winter led to lower demand for electricity and so the decision was made to close the entire facility now instead of waiting until 2022.
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2020 C.E. April 24
White-tailed eagles have been spotted in England for the first time in 240 years
The incredible creatures, also known as Sea Eagles, went extinct in England in the early 20th century due to illegal killing. But thanks to a pioneering project by Forestry England and the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation, there is new hope for the majestic birds.
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2020 C.E. April 24
New fishing net technology biodegrades quickly under ultraviolet light
Scientists at Cornell University have engineered a new fishing net material that offers comparable strength to today’s solutions but can break down much more quickly when exposed to UV light.
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2020 C.E. April 23
Oxford University begins human trials of COVID-19 vaccine
The first patients have been enrolled in human trials for a coronavirus vaccine at the historic University of Oxford after the U.K.’s Health Secretary said the country would be “throwing everything” behind the project.
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2020 C.E. April 23
Seoul subsidizes 700 electric taxis
South Korea’s capital, Seoul, is purchasing 700 electric taxis. This subsidy is worth 18.2 million won (around $15,000) per EV, far more than the 12.7 million ($10,300) subsidy for buying an EV for personal use.
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2020 C.E. April 22
Ambitious ‘cloud brightening’ experiment launched to restore Great Barrier Reef
Results from the trial were "really, really encouraging", the project's lead scientist Daniel Harrison from Southern Cross University said.
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2020 C.E. April 22
Antibodies could offer gamechanging new treatment for OCD
Mental health conditions such as obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) could be treated in a new way using drugs that target the immune system instead of the central nervous system, suggests exciting new research.