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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Era
- Tomorrow (2025 C.E. - ???)
- Today (2017 C.E. - 2024 C.E.)
- Post-modernity (1945 - 2016 C.E.)
- Modernity (1500 - 1945 C.E.)
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2020 C.E. December 7Switzerland is set to be the next country to legalize marriage equality
The Council of States passed a law that would legalize marriage equality with a 22-15 vote, with seven abstentions. The lower house passed the bill this past June. The bill now goes back to the National Council for final approval and it is expected to pass before the end of the year.
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2020 C.E. December 4Anchorage introduces team of mental health first responders
Starting next year in Anchorage, Alaska, a new team of mental health first responders will replace police for emergency calls for someone with a mental health issue. The Mobile Crisis Team is funded by a new local alcohol tax and the team is trained to be dispatched to situations police do not have adequate training to address.
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2020 C.E. December 4San Francisco, Oakland, and Seattle ban natural gas in new buildings
In November, San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors voted to ban natural gas in new buildings. On December 2, Oakland’s city council did the same. Now Seattle Mayor Durkan announced a proposal to ban natural gas in new commercial and large multi-family construction for space and most water heating.
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2020 C.E. December 4Denmark announces end to oil & gas exploration in North Sea
According to the Washington Post, the Danish Parliament voted on December 3 to end offshore gas and oil extraction, which had started in 1972 and made the country the largest producer in the European Union. The Danish government says it is “now putting an end to the fossil fuel era.”
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2020 C.E. December 3Nasdaq to mandate diversity requirements for listed companies
The diversity requirements would mandate that each of the Nasdaq’s 3,249 companies have at least one female director and at least one director who identifies as an underrepresented minority or LGBTQ+.
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2020 C.E. December 3First tribally-associated medical school in the United States launches in the Cherokee Nation
In rural Oklahoma, a brand new medical school sits in the Cherokee Nation, training Nation members to become physicians at Nation clinics. Oklahoma State University College of Osteopathic Medicine at the Cherokee Nation is the first tribally associated medical school in the country.
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2020 C.E. December 3First of-its-kind study suggests psilocybin can help treat migraines
A first-of-its-kind exploratory study, led by researchers from Yale School of Medicine, has found a single dose of the psychedelic psilocybin can reduce migraine frequency by 50 percent for a least two weeks.
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2020 C.E. December 2Elephantiasis cases cut by 150 million worldwide since 2000
Over the last 20 years, however, the number of people infected has dropped by 74%, from 199 million to 51.4 million, and last year three countries—Malawi, Kiribati, and Yemen—eliminated it altogether.
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2020 C.E. December 250 Native American tribes are now implementing climate strategies
Dozens of Native nations and tribal institutions in the United States have designed climate change plans that include formal strategies and initiatives to increase the resiliency of their communities.
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2020 C.E. December 2Homes in Scotland will be the world’s first to use 100% green hydrogen
Scotland’s gas SGN company will outfit some 300 homes in Fife with free hydrogen boilers, heaters, and cooking appliances. The effort is the largest attempt so far to test whether carbon-free hydrogen can help the U.K. meet its carbon goals.
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2021 C.E. January 11The U.K. will soon have a dedicated register of tradeswomen
The not-for-profit project National Register of Tradeswomen aims to ensure that vulnerable householders who feel safer with tradeswomen are able to find them.
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2021 C.E. January 8Boston Red Sox hire first Black woman to coach in MLB history
Bianca Smith will serve as a minor league coach at the club’s player development facility in Fort Myers, Florida.
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2021 C.E. January 8Psychedelic research center launched at New York’s Mount Sinai
Named the Center for Psychedelic Psychotherapy and Trauma Research the institution is first focusing on MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD.
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2021 C.E. January 8Researchers have solved a water desalination problem that had baffled scientists for decades
The research team, in partnership with DuPont Water Solutions, solved an important aspect of this mystery, opening the door to reduce costs of clean water production.
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2021 C.E. January 7Plastic straws and single-use bags vanish from China as ban kicks in
In China, 2020 was bid farewell with a flurry of fireworks and the scratching off of 200 million metric tonnes of plastic straws from the nation’s pollution inventory.
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2021 C.E. January 7DPA is installing electric vehicle charging stations across Zimbabwe
60 kW DC fast chargers will be rolled out in major cities, and then scaled up to the country’s major highways.
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2021 C.E. January 7Raphael Warnock wins election to become Georgia’s first Black senator
As the New York Times eloquently pointed out, the election in Georgia “was also a rare chance for one Senate barrier breaker to pass the torch to another.”
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2021 C.E. January 6Subscriptions to satellite alerts linked to decreased deforestation in Africa
Deforestation dropped 18% in two years in African countries where organizations subscribed to receive warnings from a new satellite service.
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2021 C.E. January 6No Newark police officers fired a weapon while on duty in 2020
Newark police and city officials say their de-escalation training program is working, with not one officer firing his or her weapon while on duty in 2020.
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2021 C.E. January 631 countries, states, and cities now have gas/diesel car bans in place
At the start of 2021, there are 31 national and local governments that have announced bans on the sale of some forms of transportation powered by internal combustion engines.