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Archive of Human Genius
The world’s largest database of good news and social change milestones from throughout human history
A Timeline of 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.
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Topic All #Resist Abortion rights & access Activism & Protests Agriculture Air pollution Animal husbandry & domestication Animal rights & well-being Architecture & design Artificial intelligence Arts, music, literature & entertainment Astronomy & space exploration Athletics & sport Black Lives Matter Blockchain & cryptocurrency Capital punishment Caste abolition Child well-being Circular economy & zero waste Cities Civilization Clean & renewable energy Climate crisis Clothing Colonialism Communication & language Conscious management Consumer rights & well-being Corporate responsibility COVID-19 Crime Culture Dark skies Death & Grief Debt Decolonization Democracy & voting Disabilities & special needs Discovery & exploration Drinking water; sanitation & hygiene Drugs & Entheogens Economic inequality Education Elections Electrification Environment Ethical sourcing Ethics Evolution Finance Flora & fauna Food & diet Free speech & censorship Fresh water conservation Gay rights Gender Genocide Government Green bonds Green space Gun safety Hate speech Healthcare Houselessness Human rights Immigration Independence Indigenous rights & well-being Infrastructure International cooperation Internet rights Journalism Justice system Kindness Kingdoms & empire Law LGBTQ+ rights & well-being Life expectancy & mortality Literature Local resilience Marine conservation Medicine Men's health & well-being Mental health & addiction Migration & settlement Military Mindfulness & self-care Minimum wage Mythology & folklore Nations Natural gas & divestment News & media No coal No fracking Nuclear disarmament Numbers & math Ocean health Oil Oil, natural gas & divestment Parenting Paris Agreement Peace Philanthropy Philosophy Physics Plastic pollution Police reform Pollution Poverty alleviation Prison justice Privacy & security Public health & disease Public safety Racial justice Refugees Religion Reparations Reproductive rights Responsible sourcing & consumption Revolution Rights of nature Same-sex marriage Seniors' rights & well-being Sexual assault & domestic violence Shamanism & rituals Social media Sustainability Sustainable Development Goals Technology & innovation Tourism Trade Transgender rights & well-being Transportation Trees & reforestation Universal basic income Water pollution Wildlife & land conservation Women's rights & well-being Workers' rights & well-being Youth & student movements
Country All Afghanistan Albania Algeria Andorra Angola Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia-Herzegovina Botswana Brazil Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Chad Cherokee Nation Chile China Colombia Congo Cook Islands Costa Rica Cote D'Ivoire Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czech Republic Democratic Republic of Congo Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador England Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia European Union Faroe Islands Federated States of Micronesia Fiji Finland France French Polynesia Gabon Georgia Germany Ghana Greece Greenland Grenada Guadaloupe Guatemala Guyana Haiti Honduras Hong Kong Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kosovo Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania Mauritius Mexico Micronesia Moldova Mongolia Montenegro Montserrat Morocco Mozambique Myanmar Namibia Nauru Navajo Nation Nepal New Caledonia New Zealand / Aotearoa Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Niue North Korea North Macedonia Northern Ireland Norway Oman Pakistan Palau Palestine Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Poland Portugal Qatar Romania Russia Rwanda Samoa San Marino Sao Tome and Principe Saudi Arabia Scotland Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South America South Korea South Sudan Soviet Union Spain Sri Lanka St. Kitts & Nevis St. Lucia St. Vincent and the Grenadines Sudan Suriname Sweden Switzerland Syria Tahiti Taiwan Tanzania Thailand The Bahamas The Gambia The Netherlands The Philippines Timor Leste Togo Tokelau Tonga Trinidad & Tobago Tristan da Cunha Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Tuvalu Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Vatican City Venezuela Vietnam Wales Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe
Actor All Activists Artists & philosophers Athletes Business Cities Citizens Civil society Consumers Courts Early humans Engineers Finance Government Humanity Humankind Indigenous groups International organizations Inventors Kingdoms & empires Media & Journalists Military Nations Non-humans Regions Religious groups Science & academia Scientists & mathematicians Settlers & explorers States & provinces Utilities Workers World leaders
2024 C.E.
December 6 Indonesian president Prabowo Subianto has announced his country will seek to phase out all coal-fired and fossil fuel power plants by 2040, pairing the goal with a target to build over 75 GW of renewable energy capacity over the same period. This brings forward Indonesia’s goal of retiring coal-fired power plants from 2056 to 2040. As the world’s fifth-largest operator of coal-fired power capacity at 52.3 GW, Indonesia’s promise to transition completely away from coal could serve as a pivotal step towards global decarbonization if implemented as planned.
2024 C.E.
December 3 Nandi-Ndaitwah was a member of the underground independence movement in Namibia in the 1970s. She was promoted from foreign minister to vice president in February after President Hage Geingob died while in office. She was widely viewed as a steady hand, a seasoned diplomat not tainted by the corruption scandals that had engulfed some other members of the ruling Swapo party.
2024 C.E.
December 2 In the coming weeks, under-18s using the massively popular social media platform will find themselves unable to access viral filters like ‘Bold Glamour’, which dramatically change their appearance. The beauty filter ban is a response to issues relating to body image and self-esteem among teens. ELLE Australia has previously reported that 60% of young people say social media made them feel “dissatisfied with their body”—a figure that has grown by 12% since 2022.
2024 C.E.
December 2 The Central Asian nation is set to join the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) beginning in 2025. Home to many charismatic and widely traded species, such as the Persian leopard, snow leopard, peregrine falcon and markhor goat, this move is a step toward regulating the legal wildlife trade and preventing the illegal trade in Turkmenistan and the whole of Central Asia.
2024 C.E.
November 29 China has finished a 46-year campaign to encircle the Taklamakan Desert with trees, part of national efforts to end desertification and curb sandstorms. Efforts to enclose the desert with trees began in 1978 with the launch of China's "Three-North Shelterbelt" project, colloquially known as the Great Green Wall. More than 116,000 square miles of trees have been planted, helping capture massive amounts of carbon and bringing China's total forest coverage above 25% by the end of last year, up from around 10% in 1949.
2024 C.E.
November 28 Australia has approved a social media ban for children aged under 16 after an emotive debate that has gripped the nation, setting a benchmark for jurisdictions around the world with one of the toughest regulations targeting Big Tech. The law forces tech giants from Instagram and Facebook owner Meta to TikTok to stop minors logging in or face fines of up to $32 million USD. A trial of methods to enforce it will start in January with the ban to take effect in a year.
2024 C.E.
November 27 A trial from King's College London found offering patients a new injection was more effective than the current care of steroid tablets, and cuts the need for further treatment by 30%. The results, published in the Lancet Respiratory Medicine journal, could be transformative for millions of people with asthma and COPD around the world. Lead investigator Professor Mona Bafadhel said: “This could be a gamechanger for people with asthma and COPD. Treatment for asthma and COPD exacerbations have not changed in 50 years, despite causing 3.8 million deaths worldwide a year combined."
2024 C.E.
November 27 Sky-high power prices are fueling a massive solar buildout in Pakistan. Solar is gaining traction on farms and factories after the government cut electricity subsidies, causing prices to spike. In many places, electric bills cost more than rent, and blackouts are common. Panels purchased in 2024 amount to 17 GW of capacity, enough to raise Pakistan’s total power capacity by a third.
2024 C.E.
November 27 Every year, thousands of American women die of cervical cancer. However, from 1992 to 2015, the number of deaths due to cervical cancer among U.S. women under the age of 25 fell steadily from each three-year period to the next, dropping roughly 75% altogether over that span. The sharp decline in cervical cancer deaths is likely due, at least in part, to the widespread introduction of the HPV vaccine in 2006.
2024 C.E.
November 22 The Rappahannock Tribe in Virginia has become the first tribal nation in the U.S. to adopt a tribal constitution that grants legal rights to a river, specifically protecting the Rappahannock River’s rights to exist, flourish, and maintain clean water. The provisions allows legal cases on behalf of the river itself, with a tribal court system planned for 2025 to enforce these rights. The Rappahannock’s actions are part of a rights-of-nature movement that includes Ecuador’s constitutional recognition of these rights in 2008 and New Zealand granting legal personhood to the Whanganui River in 2017.
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