Golden Toad The golden toad was a small, brilliantly orange amphibian found only in a tiny patch of high-altitude cloud forest above Monteverde, Costa Rica. Discovered by scientists in 1966, it was abundant for two decades before its population collapsed almost overnight, and:

Acknowledgment of Country In Australia, an Acknowledgment of Country recognizes Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as traditional custodians of the land, now routine at government meetings, schools, and public events. It differs from a Welcome to Country, which can only:

Bush Institute Since leaving office in 2009, George W. Bush has kept a notably lower public profile than most former presidents, working mainly through the George W. Bush Institute. Its central focus continues PEPFAR, his administration’s global AIDS program, into a new phase:

Ernest Green In 1957, Ernest Green was one of nine Black students who integrated Little Rock Central High School under federal troop protection after Arkansas’s governor tried to block them. In May 1958, he became the school’s first Black graduate—

The Crack Epidemic Crack cocaine spread through American cities in the 1980s, cheaper and more potent per dose than powder cocaine, fueling addiction and violence in disinvested urban neighborhoods. Congress responded with the 1986 Anti-Drug Abuse Act, setting a sentencing ratio of—

Amnesty International Amnesty International was founded in 1961 by British lawyer Peter Benenson, sparked by his outrage over two Portuguese students jailed for raising a toast to freedom. Its founding tactic became its core identity: mobilizing ordinary people to write letters on behalf of—

The 13th Amendment Ratified in December 1865, the 13th Amendment abolished slavery throughout the United States, closing the gap left by the Emancipation Proclamation, which had only freed enslaved people in Confederate states still in rebellion. But the amendment contains an exception clause:

The Baka and Odzala-Kokoua The Baka are indigenous hunter-gatherers of the Congo Basin rainforest, long dependent on land now enclosed by Odzala-Kokoua National Park in the Republic of Congo. Since African Parks began managing the park in 2010, rights groups have accused its eco-guards of—

(RED) In 2006, Bono and Bobby Shriver launched (RED), a licensing initiative that lets corporations sell branded products—Apple, Gap, Starbucks, and others—and route a percentage of profits to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. It reframed philanthropy as a shopping decision:

127 Hours In April 2003, canyoneer Aron Ralston was hiking alone in Utah’s remote Blue John Canyon when a boulder shifted and pinned his right forearm against the canyon wall. He remained trapped for five days, rationing water and filming farewell messages to loved ones, before deciding—