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7 things that made us happy this week

7 things that made us happy this week

We work hard at Upworthy to bring you humanity at its best to counter all of the negative stories that get far too much attention. As part of that commitment, we've started making lists of the positive news stories we come across each week that make us especially happy.

Some of them have been shared on our platform, while some we didn't quite have the time to get to, but still believe they deserve some attention.

1. Cranes are returning to Ireland for the first time in 300 years


The crane is an important figure in Irish folklore but sadly has been missing from the country for three centuries. Over the past two years, a few have reappeared during mating season and ecologists hope they will re-establish their population.


2. School bus driver says kindergartners' relentless questioning made armed hijacker let them go


A school bus driver in South Carolina was honored for thwarting an attempted hijacking. However, he says the true heroes are his kindergarten passengers who peppered the hijacker with relentless questions.


3. Sister memorializes her deceased brother with Masters dissertation



Molly Schiller lost her brother six years ago to a heart condition. She just submitted her Masters dissertation researching the condition that took him from her.


4. Marcus Rashford: British soccer player becomes youngest to top Sunday Times Giving List

via Wikimedia Commons


Manchester United's Marcus Rashford, 23, was honored for successfully lobbying the UK government to continue providing free school meals during the coronavirus lockdown. He has since formed a child poverty task force, linking up with some of the nation's biggest supermarkets and food brands.


5. This is what inclusion looks like


Kudos to Tumble Activity for giving disabled people what they deserve. All spaces should be designed and built with different abilities in mind.


6. A Sikh man becomes the first fan ever inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame

Toronto Raptors superfan Nav Bhatia's name was immortalized over the weekend when he joined the ranks of Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and Wilt Chamberlain in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Bhatia became the first fan ever inducted because for being a wonderful example of how sports can bring people together.


7. Boy gets 3D-printed hands, grips bottle for the first time


Thanks to a 3D printer, 11-year-old Gavin Sumner can grip and hold things for the first time in his life. He looks pretty happy about it.

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​​FIRST​​ students are changing the world through STEM, one challenge at a time

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FIRST students compete in a robotics challenge.

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Societies all over the world face an ever-growing list of complex issues that require informed solutions. Whether it’s addressing infectious diseases, the effects of climate change, supply chain issues or resource scarcity, the world has an immediate need for problem-solvers with science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) skills.

Here in the United States, we’re experiencing a shortage of much-needed STEM workers, and forward-thinking organizations are stepping up to tap into America’s youth to fill the void. As the leading youth-serving nonprofit advancing STEM education, FIRST is an important player in this arena, and its mission is to inspire young people aged 4 to 18 to become technology leaders and innovators capable of addressing the world’s pressing needs.

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Carson Daly and his wife sleep in separate beds. Here's why a 'sleep divorce' isn't so bad.

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Co-sleeping isn't for everyone.

The marital bed is a symbol of the intimacy shared between people who’ve decided to be together 'til death they do part. When couples sleep together it’s an expression of their closeness and how they care for one another when they are most vulnerable.

However, for some couples, the marital bed can be a warzone. Throughout the night couples can endure snoring, sleep apnea, the ongoing battle for sheets or circadian rhythms that never seem to sync. If one person likes to fall asleep with the TV on while the other reads a book, it can be impossible to come to an agreement on a good-night routine.

Last week on TODAY, host Carson Daly reminded viewers that he and his wife Siri, a TODAY Food contributor, had a sleep divorce while she was pregnant with their fourth child.

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Marlon Brando's compassionate insights on representation in Hollywood were far ahead of their time

He shared them in an intimate 1973 interview with Dick Cavett.

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Marlon Brando on "The Dick Cavett Show" in 1973.

Marlon Brando made one of the biggest Hollywood comebacks in 1972 after playing the iconic role of Vito Corleone in Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Godfather.” The venerable actor's career had been on a decline for years after a series of flops and increasingly unruly behavior on set.

Brando was a shoo-in for Best Actor at the 1973 Academy Awards, so the actor decided to use the opportunity to make an important point about Native American representation in Hollywood.

Instead of attending the ceremony, he sent Sacheen Littlefeather, a Yaqui and Apache actress and activist dressed in traditional clothing, to talk about the injustices faced by Native Americans.

She explained that Brando "very regretfully cannot accept this generous award, the reasons for this being...are the treatment of American Indians today by the film industry and on television in movie reruns, and also with recent happenings at Wounded Knee."

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People rally around an honest teen who went out of his way to return a woman's missing purse

He didn't ask for a reward, but he's getting a big one.

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Ring footage shows Adrian Rodriguez returning a lost purse.

At Upworthy, we are always looking to share the best of humanity and there are few things that reveal someone’s good character quite like when they do good when no one is watching. A recent story from Chula Vista, California, celebrates a teenager who went out of his way to return a woman’s lost purse.

According to NBC News San Diego, Eliana Martin was shopping at Ralph’s supermarket when she accidentally left her purse in a shopping cart in the parking lot. After she left the store, she realized she had lost her purse and began frantically canceling her credit cards.

Shortly after Martin left the parking lot, a recent high school graduate, Adrian Rodriquez, 17, found her purse in the cart. Rodriguez searched the purse to look for an identification card to find where she lived so he could return it to her. He then drove over to the address on the identification card, where Melina Marquez, Martin's former roommate, currently lives.

Marquez wasn’t home so Rodriguez left the purse with a relative. Marquez later saw video of the drop-off on the family’s Ring doorbell camera.

“I looked into the Ring camera, and I was like, ‘Oh my God. He’s such a young kid.’ I was like, ‘We need to find him and just give him a little piece of gratitude.’” Marquez told NBC San Diego.

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