At the end of every year, we tend to complain about all the things that went wrong in the past 365 days. Inspirational celebrities passing away, the stress of elections, terror attacks, and different worldwide issues have led people to label 2016 as the worst year of their lives. 2016 may have been rough at times, but let’s not forget that there’s always a bright side. In fact, many amazing discoveries and breakthroughs have occurred in the past year that many don’t even know about.

• Remember way back when the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge was a thing? Well not only did we get to see celebrities pour ice cold water all over themselves, but scientists have been able to use the funding to discover a gene that’s behind a disease that affects the nerve cells in the spinal cord and brain. Future in-depth research could lead to a treatment for those who suffer from ALS.

• Zika is no longer a worldwide threat and WHO (World Health Ogranization) finally declares the end of Ebola in West Africa.

• The wild tiger population has finally increased after 100 years. There are currently at least 3,890 tigers roaming compared to the 3,200 tigers in

  

  2010. Also, wild giant pandas came out of being in danger of extinction! Now, 2,060 pandas survive thanks to an increase in China.

• NASA’s $1.1 billion space probe, Juno, finally made it to Jupiter after travelling for 5 years! By sending out this probe, NASA will be able to gather information about how Jupiter was formed, the availability of water, and other conditions that could help us infer how our Earth was created.

• In the Rio Olympics, the first ever “refugee team” was put together for athletes who had to leave their home country and lost family in the process. They re-defined tradition by competing without representing a country. They gave each other inspiration and watching them overcome their obstacles gave people of America a new sense of hope as well.

• The future is near. Virtual reality glasses have been released by Google and Samsung and gives people to experience any “world” they wish.

• Whether you’re a fan or not, it was hard not to celebrate the Chicago Cub’s first win in the World Series since 108 years ago.

• The casts of High School Music, Harry Potter, Friends, The Office, Boy Meets World, and Glee all had joyful reunions this year. Pictures even happened to prove it.

• Women of color make their mark. “California Attorney General Kamala Harris became the first black woman elected to the U.S. Senate from the Golden State; Ilhan Omar became the first Somali-American lawmaker in the U.S. with her election to the Minnesota legislature; Catherine Cortez Masto became the first Latina senator in history when she won her U.S. Senate bid in Nevada; and Pramila Jayapal became the first Indian-American congresswoman with her victory in Washington state.” -NBC News

2016 gave us opportunities to do some pretty amazing things and people around the world made the most of what they had and they somehow made 2016 seem unbelievable. Here’s to an even better 2017 filled with new discoveries, movements, and time for positive change.