Listomania
Dahlia Hage

14 Positive Things That Happened In 2016

I’ve been told to stay indoors for the remainder of 2016 so nothing bad happens to me. So one of the things I do indoors is go online and read about how much everybody hated 2016, along with endless jokes and prediction about what tragedy will happen next. Some crazy bad things have happened. But some crazy good things have happened as well. Here are a few:

Note: You can read our complete year in review here.

1. HIV cure closer after trial clears virus in British man. More here.

2. Article 522 of the Lebanese Law, which permits a rapist to get away with their crime if they marry their victim, has been set up to be abolished. More here.

3. There have been chemotherapy breakthroughs, which lead to an increased survival rate (from 16% to 27%) of patients with pancreatic cancer. More here.

4. It was reported that world hunger is the lowest it has been in 25 years. More here.

5. Lebanon secured a President for after almost two and a half years. More here.

6. More than 60% in East Asia were living in extreme poverty in 1990. In 2016, that number has dropped to 3.5%. More here.

7. Since 2007, the rate of homelessness in the United States has declined by 35%. More here.

8. McDonalds will be removing corn syrup from their hamburger buns and antibiotics from their chicken supply. More here.

9. Green sea turtles, humpback whales, the white tailed deer, manatees, and giant pandas were taken off the endangered species list. More here.

10. There was a huge rise in charitable giving this year. China charitable giving rose to $15 billion, which is 10 times more than a decade ago. America’s charitable giving is reaching record highs as well. More here.

11. Peru and Bolivia signed a $500 million deal to preserve Lake Titicaca. More here.

12. The first Refugee Olympic Team competed in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. More here.

13. Mashvisor was the first Palestinian startup to be accepted into the prestigious Silicon Valley global venture capital seed fund and network. More here.

14. The number of women dying from pregnancy and childbirth has almost halved since 1990. More here.