Driving Change
There has been tremendous progress in the past 75 years against some of the world's nastiest infectious diseases. Two such diseases have been formally eradicated since 1945: smallpox in 1977 and rinderpest, a viral condition
Driving Change
Russia took an early lead in the ‘space race’ with its ‘Sputnik moment’ in 1957, the first successful launch of an earth-orbiting artificial satellite. Four years later, Yuri Gagarin became the first astronaut to journey
Driving Change
There was arguably no clearer affront to the ideals of the UN Declaration of Human Rights than the legally enforced racial segregation embodied in the apartheid regime imposed by South Africa's white rulers in 1948.
Driving Change
After nuclear weapons hastened the end of the Second World War, many countries aspired to get some atom bombs of their own—with ominous implications for the future of the planet. The Treaty for the Non-proliferation
Driving Change
The global economy would have been very different today were it not for China's decision to end its isolation and open for business with the world a couple of years after the death of Chairman
Driving Change
Although piloted in Mexico in the 1950s, the approval of the female oral contraceptive by America’s Food and Drug Administration in May 1960 was the pivotal policy decision enabling the widespread use of what for
Driving Change
London used to be famous for air pollution so bad that people could scarcely see outside in the middle of the day. But the public's tolerance for this unhealthy environment ended with "Great Smog" of
Driving Change
The 1992 Earth Summit in Rio was a breakthrough moment for international governmental efforts to tackle global warming—though as climate change deals continue to do, it fell well short of what was needed. The UN
Driving Change
The environmental catastrophe caused by oil spilled when the Exxon Valdez tanker hit a reef in Alaska's Prince William Sound on March 24th 1989 inspired a pioneering effort in private-sector led environmental policymaking. A newly
Driving Change
Bangladesh became the first country to ban thin plastic bags in 2002 after they were found to have choked the nation’s drainage networks during its frequent floods. The move was emulated by nations including South