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.)
- 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. July 2
Germany bans single-use plastic straws, food containers
Germany is banning the sale of single-use plastic straws, cotton buds and food containers, bringing it in line with a European Union directive intended to reduce the amount of plastic garbage that pollutes the environment.
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2020 C.E. July 2
Municipal elections in France yield a string of victories for environmentalists
The unprecedented showing for Europe Écologie Les Verts, a once minor political party, means Green mayors will take charge in Marseille, Lyon, Bordeaux and Strasbourg. The party also came out on top in mid-sized cities such as Tours, Besancon, Annecy and Poitiers, while retaining control of Grenoble.
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2020 C.E. July 2
City of Sydney now runs on 100% renewable energy
Central Sydney, Australia is now entirely powered by renewable energy. By using locally sourced clean energy from wind and solar farms, the region will now see CO2 emissions reduced by around 20,000 tonnes each year. The move will save an estimated A$500,000 per year over the next decade.
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2020 C.E. July 1
Santiago, Chile to purchase more than 700 electric buses in 2020
Chile just order 150 electric buses from BYD to transport people around its capital city of Santiago. Santiago intends to have its public transportation system fully electric by 2040.
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2020 C.E. July 1
Amazon India scraps single-use plastic in packaging across centers
The Indian unit of Amazon has eliminated all single-use plastic in its packaging across fulfillment centers in the country, in line with its target to weed out the packaging material by June.
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2020 C.E. July 1
Oklahoma voters approve Medicaid expansion
At least 200,000 Oklahoman adults will be newly eligible for Medicaid, but program enrollment may climb even higher as the state's unemployment rate has surged to nearly 13 percent.
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2020 C.E. June 30
Mississippi to remove state flag, the last in the United States to display the Confederate battle emblem
The removal of the flag marks the latest Confederate symbol to topple following George Floyd's death as activists have called for a reexamination of the racism in American society.
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2020 C.E. June 30
Spain permanently closes half of its coal-fired power stations
Seven of the 15 coal plants still working in Spain will cease operations today, after their owners – the electricity companies – decided that it does not make financial sense to adapt them to European regulations. Four more will shut down soon.
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2020 C.E. June 29
Los Angeles, Atlanta among cities joining coalition to test universal basic income
The mayors of Los Angeles, Oakland, Atlanta, Georgia, Tacoma, Newark, Saint Paul, Jackson, Compton, Shreveport, and Stockton have joined Mayors For A Guaranteed Income, a coalition advocating for UBI policies, or the idea of giving out recurring cash payments to all individuals without any strings attached.
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2020 C.E. June 29
Two-thirds of Americans think the government should do more on climate change
A majority of Americans continue to say they see the effects of climate change in their own communities and believe that the federal government falls short in its efforts to reduce the impacts of climate change, according to a new poll from the Pew Research Center.
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2020 C.E. July 31
New Zealand passes historic bill to ensure pay equity between men and women
New Zealand’s parliament has unanimously passed the Equal Pay Amendment Bill that ensures that women in historically underpaid female-dominated industries receive the same remuneration as men in different but equal-value work.
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2020 C.E. July 31
After 250 years, Big Sur land returned to Esselen tribe
As part of a $4.5 million land deal, 1,200 acres of undeveloped private property near Big Sur are being transferred to the Esselen Tribe of Monterey County, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving tribal heritage.
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2020 C.E. July 31
Costa Rica is the first tropical country to have stopped and reverse deforestation
In the 1940s, 75% of Costa Rica was cloaked in lush rainforests. It is thought that between up to a half of that forest cover in Costa Rica had been destroyed by loggers by 1987. Today almost 60% of the land is once again forest.
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2020 C.E. July 30
U.K.’s biggest pension fund begins fossil fuels divestment
The U.K.’s biggest pension fund, the government-backed National Employment Savings Trust (Nest) scheme with nine million members, is to begin divesting from fossil fuels in what climate campaigners have hailed as a landmark move for the industry.
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2020 C.E. July 30
Flu shots significantly cut risk of heart attack or stroke for people over 50, shows news study
One of the largest studies of its kind looked at data from more than seven million patients and found that a seasonal flu shot cut the risk of heart attacks by up to 85 percent, and halved the number of strokes.
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2020 C.E. July 30
California condors return to Sequoia National Park for first time in 50 years
By 1985, only nine condors remained in the wild. This sighting signals that federal efforts to bring the California condor back from near-extinction are working.
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2020 C.E. July 29
Endangered tiger populations in India and Thailand are rebounding
In a triumphant moment for the endangered species, new photos released today on World Tiger Day 2020, revealed sightings of numerous new tigers in a region of western Thailand for the first time in four years.
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2020 C.E. July 29
The world’s biggest rooftop urban farm is now bearing fruit
The 14,000 square meter space in Paris's 15th arrondissement, known as Nature Urbaine, is now up and running and has planted roughly a third of the available space.
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2020 C.E. July 29
Congress approves billions for U.S. national parks
The Great American Outdoors Act allocates $9.5bn over the next five years for previously neglected park repairs. And it sets up $900m a year to acquire land for conservation and continue maintenance.
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2020 C.E. July 28
Driving electric cars is now cheaper than gas-powered cars in Ghana
It costs just $0.77 to drive an all-electric Hyundai Ionic over 100 kilometers in Ghana. Doing the same 100 km in a Toyota Corolla would cost you 9 times more at $7.18 for the trip.