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Today's Good News

Updated: Nov 30, 2023

Ensuring the week gets off to a bright start with a global collection of upbeat news nuggets.


Statue of Henry VIII at Trinity College Cambridge
The statue of Henry VIII on Trinity College, Cambridge, is now looking more regal, with a gilded sceptre to match its gilded orb | Trinity College Cambridge
Gilded Chair Leg

A statue of Henry VIII holding a chair leg as part of a century-old student prank has been given a gilded sceptre as part of celebrations to mark the 75th birthday of King Charles, who studied at the college from 1967 to 1970. The statue, which dates to the 1660s, is above the Great Gate of Cambridge University's Trinity College. The original sceptre is believed to have broken in the early 20th Century leaving a stump looking like a chair leg, so student pranksters replaced it with an actual chair leg.


Art Buff?

Got a bit of time to test your art knowledge with this 'guess the painting' game? If so, can you identify these 12 masterpieces from a portion of the artwork? Good luck...


Sperm whales
Sperm whales | Wikipedia
Caribbean Sanctuary

A roughly 300 square mile patch of ocean in the territorial waters of Dominica is the only place known on Earth where sperm whales (the largest toothed whale) can be seen regularly throughout the year when they arrive to breed, and it’s here that Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit of the Caribbean island nation has established the world’s first sperm whale reserve. “The 200 or so sperm whales that call our sea home are prized citizens of Dominica,” Mr. Skerrit said. “Their ancestors likely inhabited Dominica before humans arrived. We want to ensure these majestic and highly intelligent animals are safe from harm and continue keeping our waters and our climate healthy.”


Grassroot Support

More than half of Americans reside in states where marijuana will be legal after Ohio voters approved a measure to allow recreational marijuana use. Ohio became the 24th state to allow adult cannabis use for non-medical purposes. Medicinal use is legal in 38 states. Seven in 10 Americans think marijuana use should be legal, according to a new Gallup poll. The majority support crosses political party lines, Gallup found with 87 percent of self-identified Democrats, 70 percent of Independents and 55 percent of Republicans backing legal marijuana.


Britain's Wild Boars

While its domesticated relatives are widespread, the wild boar was absent from the British countryside from the 13th century - that is, until a combination of farm escapes and deliberate releases re-established it in the wild starting in the 1970s. These omnivorous ecosystem engineers, who use their big snouts to plough up the soil, can now be found in many parts of the country, from the Forest of Dean (south west England) to the Highlands of Scotland.


The Best Mornings

Writer Simon Sarris shared his secret to a good morning on X: "The secret to waking up is to wake up way earlier than you have to. When you have 1-2 hours where you can just sit there calmly, drinking coffee, and not be rushed, you feel ten times better. Later on, you can work on being productive in the morning too, if you please."


BMW's last internal combustion engine, Munich
Credit: BMW
End of The Line

Last week, the final internal combustion engine built in Munich by BMW officially left the assembly line. It was a V8. Good news for workers, too. There were previously 1,200 employees who worked in engine development in Munich and, according to a report from BR.de, all of them have been relocated to different positions within BMW.

 

"Life is like a trumpet. If you don't put anything into it, you don't get anything out." WC Handy

 
On This Day

20 November 1820: The American whaling ship Essex was rammed by a sperm whale and later sank, inspiring the climactic scene in Herman Melville's Moby Dick (1851).

 







 
Mood Booster

UPS delivery guy versus icy driveway.



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