2024 C.E.

Two people embracing

Psilocybin effectively treats depression in cancer patients, new study finds

New research from Maryland-based Sunstone Therapies found that psilocybin-assisted therapy for cancer patients induced a clinically meaningful improvement in depression symptoms, with 80% of participants demonstrating a sustained response and 50% showing full remission of depression symptoms at week one, which was sustained for eight weeks.

Ocean water

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea comes into force

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) is an international treaty that establishes a legal framework for all marine and maritime activities. It is perhaps the first major international agreement ever to establish laws to respect, protect, preserve, and prevent the dumping of plastics in the marine environment. Its preamble asserts that problems faced by the ocean “are closely interrelated and needed to be considered as a whole.” As of October 2024, 169 sovereign states and the European Union are parties.

Wind turbine from below

U.S. Windpower installs the world’s first wind farm in New Hampshire

The world’s first wind farm stood on the north side of Crotched Mountain in southern New Hampshire, on land owned by the Crotched Mountain Rehabilitation Center, a hospital and school that serves individuals with disabilities and their families. It consisted of 20 30kW turbines – quite small by standards of the 2020s.

William R Johnson

The United Church of Christ becomes the first mainline Protestant denomination in the U.S. to ordain an openly gay clergyperson

The Rev. Dr. William R. Johnson was the first openly gay person ordained in the United States and perhaps the first worldwide in a mainline Protestant denomination. His ordination took place on June 25, 1972 at the Community UCC in San Carlos, California, authorized by the Golden Gate Association of the Northern California/Nevada Conference UCC.

Smiling baby

Global child mortality rate plummets from a historical average of 48% to 27% in 1950

Across many historical societies, an estimated 48% of children died before the age of five. By 1950, this had dropped to 27%. By 2020, it had dropped below 5%. The global Sustainable Development Goals adopted by all U.N. member states in 2015 set out an ambitious goal to achieve less than 2.5%. A decade after the initial 2030 goal, the world finally achieves this monumental milestone for families and communities around the world by investing in a range of public health and poverty alleviation measures.

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