If you have been keeping up with recent news, there are a lot of tough issues that the world is suffering from currently. As such, we can all use a boost whenever it comes our way. So we present to you a few wholesome facts from the history of humanity that will probably rekindle your faith in the presence of goodness.
If you feel like it, you can even let the tears flow because these wholesome facts are pretty moving. However, the best thing would probably be to take inspiration from them and find ways to create new wholesome events.
1. Saving The Animals From The Fukushima Exclusion Zone
In 2011, Japan’s Fukushima prefecture suffered devastation at the hands of a consecutive earthquake and tsunami. It caused the world’s worst nuclear disaster since Chornobyl. The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant started leaking radioactive waste, forcing authorities to remove citizens from the area.
No farther than 6 miles away from this disaster site, Naoto Matsumura and his family evacuated as well. However, he returned later on for an extremely kind reason. He is a rice farmer and he could not live without abandoning his farm’s animals. So he conquered his fears and returned to find his animals quite healthy.
Today, he resides in Tomioka, one of the cities that has been partially abandoned. He looks after his own animals and abandoned pets and attempts to rescue half-feral animals. According to researchers, he might become sick after 3 to 4 decades in the area. However, since Matsumura is already past 60, he says that the sickness is the least of his concerns.
2. Marie Curie Was Willing To Give Up Her Nobel Prize Medals To Help France
Marie Curie, and her husband, Pierre, are well-known pioneers of radioactivity. She won two medals for her efforts, in 1903 and 1911. Shortly after the beginning of WWI, Curie wanted to aid her native country’s government by melting her gold medals. Following the bank’s refusal to do so, she turned every penny of her Nobel prize money into war bonds. Finally, she invented how to use X-Rays in modern medicine. She even drove a mobile unit into the battlefield to aid injured soldiers.
3. Peter Pan’s Rights Willed To A Hospital For Children
The name of Peter Pan’s creator, if you didn’t know, is Sir J. M. Barrie. In 1920, he gave away his prized creation’s copyright to London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children. Sir Barrie died in 1937, and after seven decades, in 2007, the copyright had expired. The hospital needed the funds desperately, and then-prime minister of Britain – Jim Callaghan – came to the aid. He, with the help of her wife, managed to uphold the loving children’s story’s copyright for the hospital.
4. Splitting Lottery Prize With Waitress
As tough as the service industry is, sometimes there are wholesome cases like this. Robert Cunningham, a police detective, offered Phyllis Penzo, a veteran waitress, an opportunity to win half a lottery. Cunningham was one of the regulars at Penzo’s workplace, so she did not hesitate. She helped him choose his numbers as well.
On April 1, 1984, Penzo learned from Cunningham that the ticket had won $6Mn. Cunningham, of course, kept his promise of splitting it in half. The two families annually split $285,715 for the 21 years following that. In 1994, this formed the premise of the film It Could Happen To You.
5. Goat Companions Help Nervous Racehorses Calm Down
Derbies are stressful for not just jockeys but for racehorses too. As such, sociable companion goats are kept around them. They play with them, and the horse seemingly sees them as safety blankets. Tons of victorious horse trainers have talked about this practice; apparently, it is a proven winning method.
6. Orca Grandmothers Love Their Grandkids, Just Like Humans
As per research, female Orcas also experience menopause. After this, they help in raising their grandkids. In fact, orcas are the only species apart from humans who show this behavior. Studies also indicate that orca grandmothers guide their families to better hunting spots and meals using their experience.
7. Mr. Rogers’ Cardigans Are Hand-Made By His Mother
For those who know of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, there was an iconic cable-knit cardigan in the opening scene. Immediately after putting it on, he would say, “Let’s make the most of this beautiful day”. This wholesome image was not a TV-only thing. Nancy McFeels Rogers, his mother, actually gifted him those cardigans. One of them is on display at the Smithsonian Museum.
8. Mickey Mouse And Minnie Mouse’s Voices Were Actually Married
Wayne Allwine was the third voice for the Disney rat for almost three decades after starting his career as a clerk for the company. In 1986, Russi Taylor was an already established voice actress who got the opportunity to voice Minnie Mouse. Fast forward five years, and the two were married. They stayed together till 2009, when Allwine passed at 62 years old. In 2019, Taylor also departed forever at 75 years old.
9. Male Puppies Let Female Puppies Beat Them While Playing
Dogs definitely follow the “ladies first” motto. According to new studies, male puppies often let their female counterparts win while mock fighting, even if physically advantageous. Human adults do this all the time while playing with children, known as self-handicapping. For puppies, play is quite important, but male pups will gladly let the females lead. Very chivalrous.
10 Sea Otters Hold Hands When They Sleep
If you needed just one wholesome fact, it would be this. Sea otters hold hands when they sleep. To stop themselves from floating away in turbulent seas while they sleep, they often tangle themselves in seaweed forests to provide anchorage. This is also the reason why they hold hands. This helps to prevent them from drifting away as a group.
11. Germany’s Special Fences For Amphibian Safety
Germany has about 250 special ‘toad fences’. These 10-15 inch fences standing alongside roadways keep migratory amphibians away from the road and getting squashed. The fences are about 800 meters long and also have in-ground buckets every 10 to 15 meters. These can be used by frogs, toads, and the like to jump into and wait. Daily volunteers arrive to take the buckets and cross the road to help them continue their journey.
12. The Netherlands Town Only For Patients Suffering From Dementia
A few miles outside Amsterdam lies Hogeway/Hogeweyk. It is, in principle, a nursing home specifically for the elderly. However, it resembles a tiny village and features a post office, garden, theatre, and town square. It can remind you of The Truman Show because it closely monitors every one of the 152 inhabitants. Caretakers, meanwhile, are in normal street clothes.
The Dutch government is the major funder of this endeavor and it serves to offer patients suffering from severe Alzheimer’s or dementia enjoy better care than nursing homes. The staff consists of 250 part and full-time workers that pretend to manage the groceries and post office. Moreover, the government also heavily subsidizes the care of the patient. The monthly $8000 bill never exceeds $3600 for any patient.
13. When you were born, for a brief moment, you were the youngest person in the world.
This might sound surprising, but once you think about it for a second, it makes sense. Now you can say you were a record holder! Good for you!
14. Cats Let Us Domesticate Them
Humans have made several species their “pets.” Cats, though, are different. Studies say that cats chose to remain beside us for countless years. They even chose to become domesticated and remain in our lives. The only difference between past wild cats and today’s domestic ones is the tabby coat.
15. Horses Grieve Lost Companions
We are not the only ones who mourn lost loved ones. Household pets are common examples of showing grief. Among wild animals, elephants have even been seen holding funerals for fallen members of the herd. As such, case studies depict horses mourning lost companions as well.
The last one may not be a truly wholesome fact because it concerns death, but those lacking faith in humanity, have faith that equines grieve as well.
