Rounding off the year with a global collection of positive news stories.
Now Official
The bald eagle, with its history as the symbol of the nation going back over 200 years, made a roaring comeback from near extinction to becoming America's official bird. Generations of Americans have seen the bald eagle on the backs of the quarters they put in vending machines and the rugs fictional Presidents step on in political dramas. But until Monday 23 December, it wasn't the national bird. President Joe Biden signed a bill into law making the bald eagle the national bird, so the once-endangered species can now fly alongside other national symbols including the national tree (the oak tree), the national floral emblem (the rose), and the national mammal (the bison).
Nolan's Odyssey
If we had to entrust a new, full-scale film adaptation of the Odyssey to anyone, Christopher Nolan makes a great deal of sense. It’s been announced by Universal Pictures that the British director’s follow-up to Oppenheimer will be “a mythic action epic shot across the world using brand new Imax film technology”, based on Homer’s foundational Greek myth. Starring Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Charlize Theron and Anne Hathaway (to name but a few), the film will be released on 17 July 2026.
Positive Emotions
This will come as a surprise to anyone with a regular news habit, but Gallup's annual global survey of 146,000 people in 142 countries revealed that negative emotions declined for the first time in a decade, and positive emotions reached their highest level since before the pandemic, with an uptick in people feeling more well-rested, experiencing more enjoyment, and smiling or laughing more. Among all age groups, young people were by far the best off, and Latin American and Southeast Asian countries topped the list of places where people felt better about their lives.
Dog Rings Doorbell
A family received the ultimate Christmas gift when their beloved dog, Athena, returned home on Christmas Eve after being missing for nine days. The 4-year-old German Shepherd and Husky mix had escaped her home on December 15, sparking a wide community search. As the days passed, hope began to waiver for the Cromer family. However, after being missing for more than a week, Athena made her dramatic return. At 2:30 a.m. on Christmas Eve, Brooke Cromer’s phone buzzed with a Ring doorbell notification. She checked the camera and was overjoyed to see Athena standing at the door.
"Christmas Miracle"
All his life, Dixon Handshaw “dreamed about having siblings somewhere.” Adopted as a young boy, Handshaw assumed for most of his life that he was an only child - until he found his original birth certificate this year and learned he has a handful of brothers and sisters. Last weekend, the 75-year-old flew to New York to finally meet them ahead of their family’s annual Christmas party. Handshaw didn't make the decision lightly: Before reaching out, he worried he would be “disrupting” their lives by introducing himself. Those fears evaporated when he called up Gary Romig, whom Handshaw's biological father had adopted after marrying Romig's mother. The pair hit it off over the phone before the rest of the family met Handshaw at the airport. They've already made plans to go camping together in the summer. “This is my Christmas miracle,” Handshaw said. “I thought one or two (siblings) would be great. I got six!”
Global Solar
Global solar installations look set to reach an unprecedented 660GW in 2024, up 50 percent from 2023's previous record. The pace of deployment has become almost unfathomable - in 2010, it took a month to install a gigawatt, by 2016, a week, and in 2024, just 12 hours. Solar has become not just the cheapest form of new electricity in history, but the fastest-growing energy technology ever deployed, and the International Energy Agency said that the pace of deployment is now ahead of the trajectory required for net zero by 2050.
“Imagination encircles the world.” Albert Einstein
On This Day
31 December 1857: Ottawa, located in Ontario at the confluence of the Ottawa, Gatineau, and Rideau rivers and whose area was first described by Samuel de Champlain in 1613, was named the capital of Canada by Queen Victoria this day in 1857.
Today's Articles
Sustainable Alternative: Scientists in Japan have developed an eco-friendly, bio-degradable plastic.
Mood Boosting Video
The Louvre: 800 years of history condensed into 3 minutes.