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. January 10
The global homicide rate fell by 46% worldwide between 1990 and 2015
Between 1990 and 2015, the number of homicides per 100,000 people fell by 46%, with countries in Oceania experiencing a 22% drop over the same period, and 36% in Asia.
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2020 C.E. January 10
Senegal is constructing wind farm that will supply electricity to 2 million people
The Taliba N’Diaye wind farm, West Africa's largest, will be completed by mid this year and will supply 158MW of clean energy and increase the country’s energy supply by 15%.
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2020 C.E. January 9
27,000 deaths avoided in the United States by shutting down coal plants
Researchers from the University of California - San Diego found that tens of thousands of deaths had been avoided between 2005 and 2016 by replacing coal plants.
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2020 C.E. January 9
New LED lamp has helped 90% of its dyslexic users to read ‘effortlessly’
The Lexilife team tested the light’s efficiency on 300 people with dyslexia—and 90% of participants said that they could “effortlessly read a text illuminated by the lamp.”
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2020 C.E. January 8
Mexico City bans plastic bags
The new law went into effect January 1. By 2021, the same law will ban handing out plastic straws, spoons, coffee capsules and other single-use items.
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2020 C.E. January 8
U.S. cancer death rate sees largest-ever single-year drop
From 2016 to 2017, the United States saw its largest-ever single-year drop in overall cancer deaths, a 2.2% plunge spurred in part by a sharp decline in lung cancer deaths, according to a new American Cancer Society report.
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2020 C.E. January 7
U.S. greenhouse gas emissions fell 2% in 2019
U.S. greenhouse gas emissions fell 2.1% last year because of a sharp drop in coal consumption, which fell by a record 18 percent to the lowest level since 1975.
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2020 C.E. January 7
Jakarta to ban single-use plastic bags by June 2020
The regulation imposes a ban on single-use plastic bags in modern department stores, supermarkets, and traditional markets. It will also serve as a legal basis for the usage of eco-friendly bags in stores and markets.
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2019 C.E. January 6
Scientists develop ultra-high capacity lithium-sulphur battery
Scientists at Monash University in Australia have developed a battery with a capacity five times higher than that of lithium-ion batteries that could lead to drastically cheaper electric cars and grid energy storage.
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2019 C.E. January 6
California offers up to $9,500 to purchase electric vehicle
The incentives are up to $9,500 towards the purchase of a new or used plug-in hybrid electric vehicle, fully battery electric vehicle, or fuel cell electric vehicle and will be prioritized for low-income families.
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2020 C.E. March 2
Malawi legalizes cannabis amid hopes of fresh economic growth
The country follows in the footsteps of Zimbabwe, Zambia and Lesotho, neighboring south-east African states that have legalized medicinal cannabis, as well as South Africa, where medicinal and recreational use was decriminalized in 2018.
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2020 C.E. March 2
Ameren to invest $7.6 billion in smart grid technology and renewables
One of the largest utility companies in the U.S. Midwest will spend $7.6 billion on a five-year plan to install smart meters, add solar energy and battery storage, purchase 700 MW of wind power, and more.
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2020 C.E. February 21
USC will offer free tuition to students from families making $80K or less
The plan will be phased in with first-year students entering the university in fall 2020. Additionally, the university's financial need calculations will no longer consider home ownership.
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2020 C.E. February 21
MIT uses machine learning to develop powerful antibiotic
The drug works in a different way to existing antibacterials and is the first of its kind to be found by setting AI loose on vast digital libraries of pharmaceutical compounds.
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2020 C.E. February 20
In a world-first, India’s dozen major ports now run fully on renewable energy
The dozen state-owned major ports in the country have switched to renewable energy to meet their entire power requirements, making India the first nation to have all government-owned ports running on solar and wind energy.
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2020 C.E. February 20
Singapore to phase out all petrol and diesel vehicles by 2040
The wealthy city-state of 5.7 million, which is hiking investment in flood defences, joins Norway, Britain and others in setting a target to cut the use of vehicles with combustion engines.
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2020 C.E. February 19
Scientists invent device that generates electricity ‘out of thin air’
Scientists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst have designed a device that uses a natural protein to create electricity from moisture in the air.
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2020 C.E. February 19
Researchers invent an “EpiPen” for spinal cord injuries that can prevent paralysis
The approach was demonstrated in mice at the University of Michigan, with the nanoparticles enhancing healing by reprogramming the aggressive immune cells—call it an “EpiPen” for trauma to the central nervous system.
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2020 C.E. February 18
Jeff Bezos commits $10 billion to address climate change
The effort will fund scientists, activists and nongovernmental organizations, he said in a post on Instagram. Mr. Bezos, who has been pushed by Amazon employees on climate issues, said he expected to start issuing grants this summer.
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2020 C.E. February 18
Landmark ruling grants women equal rights in Indian army
The judgment, seen as a landmark decision for the Indian military, means that all women will now be eligible for the same promotions, ranks, benefits and pensions as their male counterparts, irrespective of their years of service or whether they had retired.