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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- Tomorrow (2025 C.E. - ???)
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- Post-modernity (1945 - 2016 C.E.)
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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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2021 C.E. May 7
Colorado becomes second U.S. state to legalize human composting
The US buries an estimated 5.3 million gallons of embalming fluid each year, which is toxic to the natural environment. Although cremation removes this factor, each cremation emits about as much as a 500-mile car drive.
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2021 C.E. May 7
World’s first laundry detergent made from industrial carbon emissions launched by Unilever
Unilever has partnered with LanzaTech and India Glycols to produce a laundry soap made from industrial carbon emissions—instead of from fossil-fuels.
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2021 C.E. May 7
Germany to return 19th century looted art to Nigeria
The announcement was made by the country’s culture minister, Monika Grütters, who said Germany will start the restitution of a “substantial” part of the artifacts held in its museums to Nigeria, starting next year.
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2021 C.E. May 7
World’s biggest jeweler will only sell lab-grown diamonds
This week, the world’s biggest jeweler Pandora announced it will cease to sell all mined diamonds, and switch exclusively to selling lab-made diamonds, as the BBC reports.
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2021 C.E. May 4
Ugandan startup turns banana waste into eco-friendly products
The company turns banana tree pseudostems into long, leathery fibers that are hung to dry before being processed and turned into environmentally friendly products like carpets, textiles, and biodegradable hair extensions.
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2021 C.E. May 4
First Phase 3 trial data for MDMA therapy sets path for approval in the U.S.
The extremely promising data are the first Phase 3 results to be revealed for any psychedelic-based therapy, paving the way for a landmark US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval in 2023.
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2021 C.E. May 4
Hawaii becomes first U.S. state to declare climate emergency
According to the Climate Mobilization Project, such declarations have been made by over 1,900 jurisdictions worldwide, including 144 within U.S. 24 states.
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2021 C.E. May 3
Multnomah County, Oregon bans natural gas in new county buildings
Multnomah county’s decision is one of the first Oregon fronts in the expanding “gas wars” which began in California in the summer of 2019 when Berkeley became the first city to ban gas in new construction.
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2021 C.E. May 3
Australia announces $100 million initiative to protect our oceans
Much of the funding will go towards ecosystems that involve seagrass and mangroves, which play a key role in drawing carbon out of the atmosphere.
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2021 C.E. May 3
New Mexico legalizes recreational cannabis
Home cannabis cultivators can grow up to six plants per person, or 12 plants per household. Police will no longer be able to use the scent of cannabis as grounds for arrest.
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2021 C.E. June 18
Saudi Arabia imposes moratorium on drug-related executions
The state-backed Human Rights Commission said 27 executions were recorded in 2020. That is down from 184 the year before, according to rights watchdog Amnesty International.
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2021 C.E. June 18
Juneteenth signed into law as a federal holiday in the U.S.
“Juneteeth” is the term that has been used to commemorate June 19, 1865, the day enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, first learned that the Civil War was over and they were free.
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2021 C.E. June 17
Biden administration extends Title IX protections to LGBTQ students
“Students cannot be discriminated against because of their sexual orientation or their gender identity,” Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona told the New York Times about the new rules.
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2021 C.E. June 17
E.U. Parliament overwhelmingly votes to end caged animal farming
Critics of industrial farming practices hailed the "landmark victory," with 558 members of European Parliament (MEPs) voting in favor of the ban, just 37 opposing, and 85 abstaining from the vote.
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2021 C.E. June 17
U.S. Senate confirms Zahid Quraishi as country’s first Muslim American federal judge
The Senate voted last week to confirm Zahid Quraishi, a former United States magistrate judge in New Jersey.
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2021 C.E. June 17
Gabon passes landmark measures to manage and protect sharks and rays
The first new law fully regulates shark and ray catch in Gabon’s fisheries. Special authorization will now be needed to target sharks and rays in fisheries.
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2021 C.E. June 16
Israel makes history as first country in the world to ban the sale of fur
The new legislation will come into effect in six months — a historic decision for animal rights and protection.
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2021 C.E. June 16
Slovenia defines sex without consent as rape
Coercion, the use or threat of force, or the inability to defend oneself will no longer be the only conditions for a crime to be considered rape after the Slovenian parliament passed amendments to the penal code on June 5.
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2021 C.E. June 16
Indonesia commits to all-electric vehicle sales by 2050
In an effort to accelerate the global transition to all-electric transportation, Indonesia has announced that it will end the sale of combustion engine motorcycles by 2040 and combustion engine cars by 2050.
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2021 C.E. June 16
Ghana plants 5 million trees in a single day to combat deforestation and climate change
On June 11, the country celebrated its first Green Ghana Day by planting somewhere near five million trees.