+
Sign up for
The Upworthiest
Our top stories of the day delivered straight to your inbox.
upworthy
Culture

10 things that made us smile this week

happiness, joy, delight, hope
@ravenscimaven/Twitter, RM Videos/YouTube, CBS/Twitter

From delightful musical TikTok collaborations to surprise engagements, here are 10 delightful finds from this week.

Hello, everyone!

At Upworthy, we're on a mission to make the world a better place, and part of that mission includes bringing more joy into people's lives. Sometimes that means sharing stories of hope and humanity to warm your heart, and sometimes it means sharing silly animal videos you can't help but laugh at.

Each week, we round up 10 things from around the internet that spark joy and delight in the hopes that it brings a little lightness to your day. If you've had a long week and are looking for some reasons to smile, here are 10 of them:

This pooch gives "dog sledding" a whole new meaning.

Are all dogs this smart? If so, I want one.

13-year-old used his Make-a-Wish wish to feed homeless people.

The Make-a-Wish Foundation grants wishes of kids with terminal illnesses, and typical wishes range from getting to meet a hero to getting to go to Disneyland. But when Abraham Olagbegi, who was born with a rare blood disorder, got a chance to get his wish, he chose to feed people who are homeless once a month for a year. "My mom always says it's a blessing to be a blessing so I just wanted to do something for other people to make it last long," he said. What a sweetheart. Read the full story here.

Sikh community prepares 3,000+ meals and transports them by helicopter to stranded Canadians.

British Columbia got hammered by a once-in-a-century weather event that caused unprecedented flooding and mudslides, cutting off Vancouver from the rest of Canada by road and rail. As we've seen countless times before, the Sikh community stepped up to help out, cooking thousands of meals and arranging a helicopter to deliver them. Read the full story here.

Watch this red panda trying to get into a pumpkin.

Why do red pandas always look like little kids dressed up in costume? They're so stinking cute.

The strangers who met after a mistake text are sharing their sixth Thanksgiving together.

Wanda Dench and Jamal Hinton met in 2016 when Wanda thought she was texting her grandson to invite him to Thanksgiving dinner but reached 17-year-old Hinton instead. The two formed a sweet friendship and have been sharing Thanksgiving dinner ever since. Read the wholesome, heartwarming story here.

Adele helped arrange the most adorable surprise engagement ever.

I mean, how can anyone top that? Meet the lucky couple and read the full story here.

Check out this dad showing his tiny baby the art in an art gallery.

That guy's a keeper.

This kid finds out he got a puppy and welp, hand me a tissue, please. 

What pure emotion. Oof. And the way the pup goes up and licks his face? It's too much joy for one video.

Have you ever loved anything the way this pup loves the water?

Dying. There is absolutely no way that doggo is getting out of the water.

This delightful musical collaboration on TikTok is exactly what TikTok should be used for.

As we saw with the wave of sea shanty videos a while back, TikTok can be used to create unique musical collaborations between total strangers. It's the best thing about the app, truly. And this one just takes the cake … er, muffin. So dang sweet.

Hope that brought a smile to your face! Join us at the end of each week for another roundup of joy-filled finds from around the internet.

From Your Site Articles
Related Articles Around the Web
uplifting
Community

Facebook group brings people together IRL to make meaningful friendships

True

Making new friends as an adult is challenging. While people crave meaningful IRL connections, it can be hard to know where to find them. But thanks to one Facebook Group, meeting your new best friends is easier than ever.

Founded in 2018, NYC Brunch Squad brings together hundreds of people who come as strangers and leave as friends through its in-person events.

“Witnessing the transformative impact our community has on the lives of our members is truly remarkable. We provide the essential support and connections needed to thrive amid the city's chaos,” shares Liza Rubin, the group’s founder.

Despite its name, the group doesn’t just do brunch. They also have book clubs, seasonal parties, and picnics, among other activities.

NYC Brunch Squad curates up to 10 monthly events tailored to the specific interests of its members. Liza handles all the details, taking into account different budgets and event sizes – all people have to do is show up.

“We have members who met at our events and became friends and went on to embark on international journeys to celebrate birthdays together. We have had members get married with bridesmaids by their sides who were women they first connected with at our events. We’ve had members decide to live together and become roommates,” Liza says.

Members also bond over their passion for giving back to their community. The group has hosted many impact-driven events, including a “Picnic with Purpose” to create self-care packages for homeless shelters and recently participated in the #SquadSpreadsJoy challenge. Each day, the 100 members participating receive random acts of kindness to complete. They can also share their stories on the group page to earn extra points. The member with the most points at the end wins a free seat at the group's Friendsgiving event.

Keep ReadingShow less
friendship
Education

3,700-year-old Babylonian stone tablet gets translated, changes history

They were doing trigonometry 1500 years before the Greeks.

via UNSW

Dr. Daniel Mansfield and his team at the University of New South Wales in Australia have just made an incredible discovery. While studying a 3,700-year-old tablet from the ancient civilization of Babylon, they found evidence that the Babylonians were doing something astounding: trigonometry!

Most historians have credited the Greeks with creating the study of triangles' sides and angles, but this tablet presents indisputable evidence that the Babylonians were using the technique 1,500 years before the Greeks ever were.

Keep ReadingShow less
education
Family

Mom’s blistering rant on how men are responsible for all unwanted pregnancies is on the nose

“ALL unwanted pregnancies are caused by the irresponsible ejaculations of men. Period. Don't believe me? Let me walk you through it."

Gabrielle Blair/Twitter

Mom has something to say... strongly say.

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, commonly known as Mormons, are a conservative group who aren't known for being vocal about sex.

But best selling author, blogger, and mother of six, Gabrielle Blair, has kicked that stereotype to the curb with a pointed thread on reducing unwanted pregnancies. And her sights are set directly at men.

Keep ReadingShow less
women
Family

Dad takes 7-week paternity leave after his second child is born and is stunned by the results

"These past seven weeks really opened up my eyes on how the household has actually ran, and 110% of that is because of my wife."

@ustheremingtons/TikTok

There's a lot to be gleaned from this.

Participating in paternity leave offers fathers so much more than an opportunity to bond with their new kids. It also allows them to help around the house and take on domestic responsibilities that many new mothers have to face alone…while also tending to a newborn.

All in all, it enables couples to handle the daunting new chapter as a team, making it less stressful on both parties. Or at least equally stressful on both parties. Democracy!

TikTok creator and dad Caleb Remington, from the popular account @ustheremingtons, confesses that for baby number one, he wasn’t able to take a “single day of paternity leave.”

This time around, for baby number two, Remington had the privilege of taking seven weeks off (to be clear—his employer offered four weeks, and he used an additional three weeks of PTO).

The time off changed Remington’s entire outlook on parenting, and his insights are something all parents could probably use.

Keep ReadingShow less
parenting
Science

She tattooed half her face and you'd never know it. Her skills are just that good.

This incredible medical tattoo technology is giving renewed hope to burn victims.

All images via the CBS/YouTube

Basma Hameed runs a tattoo shop, of sorts...


Meet Samira Omar.

The 17-year-old was the victim of a horrific bullying incident.

Keep ReadingShow less
Education

8 changes that were made to a classic Richard Scarry book to keep up with the times. Progress!

All the misogyny and racism you may not have noticed are now gone.

Images via Alan Taylor/Flickr, used with permission.

Updating the kitchen.


Remember those beloved Richard Scarry books?

Books from when you were a kid?

Keep ReadingShow less
Education

Voice recordings of people who were enslaved offer incredible first-person accounts of U.S. history

"The results of these digitally enhanced recordings are arresting, almost unbelievable. The idea of hearing the voices of actual slaves from the plantations of the Old South is as powerful—as startling, really—as if you could hear Abraham Lincoln or Robert E. Lee speak." - Ted Koppel

Library of Congress

When we think about the era of American slavery, many of us tend to think of it as the far distant past. While slavery doesn't exist as a formal institution today, there are people living who knew formerly enslaved black Americans first-hand. In the wide arc of history, the legal enslavement of people on U.S. soil is a recent occurrence—so recent, in fact, that we have voice recordings of interviews with people who lived it.

Keep ReadingShow less
history
Trending Stories