We can all agree – this year wasn’t great. But just because this year was filled with political strife, an onslaught of natural disasters and a global pandemic… ok, wow. It really was pretty bad. We digress. Even though 2020 left a lot to be desired, there were still some bright spots on the weirdest year on record. As it comes to a close, we thought we’d celebrate those little moments of joy.

Penguins lived their best life

With humans at home, penguins had their turn to take in some culture. They patronised a natural history museum, an art museum and even an aquarium. This year really was for the birds – penguins, specifically.

Plants got the concert they deserved

Barcelona's Liceu opera house filled its 2,292 seats with house plants for a private concert by the esteemed UceLi Quartet. After the show, the happy plants we’re donated to local healthcare staff and other essential workers.

3 teenage girls are changing the world

Margaret Akano, Rachel Akano and Joy Njekwe developed an app called Memory Haven to help the hundreds of thousands of people struggling with dementia. The app has 6 incredible features, but our favourite is that it can play music based on your mood using facial recognition software. How cool is that?

Black authors top the New York Times Bestseller list

The murder of George Floyd (and so many others) was an absolutely devastating part of 2020, but the global conversation about police brutality and systemic racism that followed was an important part of the year. Many (us included!) dedicated themselves to anti-racist work to make the world a kinder, more equitable place.

The world met Mabel and Olive

Speaking of reading, our favourite champion eating labradors got a book deal. Andrew Cotter, famed sports commentator for events like Wimbledon and the Olympics used his skills to narrate the antics of his two pups, Mabel and Olive. The results are oddly soothing and supremely delightful.

Puzzles are cool again!

It’s especially exciting if you’ve always liked doing puzzles on a Saturday night with a glass of wine, but your friends thought it was weird and started calling you Nana and then bought you a massive bag of hard candies as a joke on your birthday. Well, guess what? Puzzle sales are up 370% and Werther’s caramels are delicious!!

We discovered a wonderchicken

Well we didn’t, but other people did! This fossilised bird could be the earliest known ancestor of every chicken on the planet. Experts say it’s an important discovery to understand the evolution of all modern birds. Pretty wild, eh?

We made our largest donation ever

It’s no wonderchicken, but it’s still exciting and some pretty freakin’ good news. We were so humbled and truly overjoyed to announce our $5.58 million donations to our 6 incredible impact partners.

See? There were some good parts of 2020 too. Now go ahead, turn on your favourite cover of Auld Lang Syne and let’s get 2021 started… finally.