No one is likely to rave about 2020. And while 2021 has been another tough, hard year, it also witnessed some pretty neat stuff.
Here are just a few heartwarming and inspirational good news stories from this year.
1. Family Reunites With Kidnapped Son After Decades
A man snatched from his family as a young child was reunited with his biological parents—34 years later.
After growing suspicious about his foster parents’ story that he was adopted from an orphanage, the man—identified by the last name Huang—gave a sample of his DNA to a national missing persons database and a match with his birth parents was discovered.
Huang was on a train within 24 hours, making the 1,000-mile journey to meet his parents.
Images, such as the one above, of the May 26 reunion showed Huang being welcomed home by his family and many from their neighborhood.
2. NASA Rover Made Oxygen On Mars
In a growing list of “firsts” for NASA’s Perseverance rover, in April it successfully converted some of red planet’s carbon dioxide-rich atmosphere into oxygen.
As a potentially significant step towards establishing a manned-base on Mars, NASA said the demonstration “could pave the way for science fiction to become science fact.”
3. Video Captures Baby Seeing Clearly For First Time
A TikTok video went viral in July, showing the adorable moment a young girl is given a new pair of glasses at an opticians.
The clip shows the child staring open-mouthed in wonder, with her eyes widening in delight as she looks around the room clearly for the first time.
4. 13-Year-Old Olympians’ Gold-Silver Medal Embrace
A pair of young teenage skateboard champions celebrated their gold and silver medals at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, with a tender hug in a picture that melted hearts online.
Japan’s Momiji Nishiya, 13, won the Olympic title in the women’s street skateboarding competition and was congratulated and embraced by Brazil’s Rayssa Leal, also 13, who took the Silver medal.