21 Ways The World Became A Better Place To Be In 2015

1. The Church of England got its first female bishop.

2. President Obama called for equal rights and respect for the LGBT community in his State of the Union address. This marked the first time a President actually said the word “transgender” in a presidential address.

3. Laverne Cox, known for her role in “Orange Is the New Black,” became the first transponder person to be made into a wax figure at Madame Tussaud’s.

4. Andreja Pejic is the first openly transgender model to be the face for a major cosmetics brand—Make Up For Ever.

5. Museums and other major public spaces (like Six Flags and Disney World) have begun placing bans on the use of selfie sticks.

6. Britain is named the first country to allow mitochondrial replacement therapy—a procedure that would allow embryos to be created with the DNA of three different people, which would help prevent rare and incurable diseases that are passed down the maternal line.

7. Ariana Miyamoto is the first mixed race woman to win the title of Miss Japan.

8. Cuba officially received wireless Internet when popular artist, Alexis Leiva Machado, set up a public Wi-Fi spot in his Havana studio.

9. The U.S. Navy successfully achieved devising a test drone to refuel in mid-flight for the first time ever.

10. The “Star Wars” franchise was officially screened for the first time ever in China—prior to that, the only way people in China could watch the movies was through illegal downloads or pirated DVDs.

11. South Africa elected its first black leader, Mmusi Maimane, in hopes to garner more support from black voters in order to alleviate power from the African National Congress—a group that has dominated South Africa since the apartheid was abolished in 1994.

12. An Indian mother placed a personal ad for a groom for her son—the first time an Indian family has maintained the very traditional Indian courting process for a very untraditional Indian couple.

13. Ireland is the first country to approve same-sex marriage, with 62% in favor.

14. Then, at the end of June, the US Supreme Court ruled gay marriage is legal nationwide.

15. Satnam Singh Bhamara became the first Indian-born basketball player to be drafted into the NBA. He now plays for the Dallas Mavericks.

16. In June, the Vatican signed a treaty recognizing the state of Palestine after decades of negotiations. This marks first time that the Pope has made any contract with the Palestinians.

17. NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft offered Earthlings the first detailed glimpse of Pluto’s surface.

18. Scientists successfully delivered the first little of puppies conceived through IVF.

19. Jamie Brewer became the first model with Down Syndrome to walk the runway at New York Fashion Week in February.

20. After two years, the West African nation of Sierra Leone is officially Ebola-free.

21. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau personally welcomed the reception of the first group of 25,000 accepted Syrian refugees into Canada.