Inspiring

August 29, 2025

13-Year-Old Honored in TIME’s First-Ever ‘Girl of the Year’ for Invention Helping Unhoused People

For the first time, TIME Magazine has shone a spotlight on great girls making an impact in the world by debuting its Girls of the Year list. Created in partnership with LEGO, the list highlights 10 exceptional girls, from athletes to artists to innovators. And one such innovator is 13-year-old Rebecca Young. The Scottish teen was placed on the list for her incredible solar-heated blanket, which was created to help the unhoused when temperatures dip.

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August 16, 2025

Italian Police Show up To Cook a Warm Meal for an Elderly Woman Experiencing Loneliness

While loneliness affects people of all ages, older adults are especially vulnerable due to factors including social isolation, loss of loved ones, and reduced mobility. In late 2022, an 87-year-old woman from Florence felt so alone and hungry that she called the police as a last resort. Fortunately, the two officers who arrived had compassion for her situation and took the time to cook her a warm meal.

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August 11, 2025

How a Man Born Into Slavery Became an Art History Legend

By the time the Union army arrived in Dallas County, Ala., in 1865, Bill Traylor had already been enslaved for about 12 years, ever since he was born on a cotton plantation around 1853. After his emancipation, Traylor spent the majority of his life as a tenant farmer near Montgomery, until he picked up drawing in 1939.

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August 6, 2025

Man Who Kept Track of All 3,599 Books He Read in His Life Gets Posthumous Site for 100-Page List

By the time he died at the age of 92 in July 2025, Dan Pelzer had read at least 3,599 books throughout his lifetime. That number may seem precise to the point of being hyperbolic—and yet it’s entirely accurate. In 1962, long before the advent of Goodreads, Pelzer began keeping track of his reading on his language class worksheets while stationed in Nepal with the Peace Corps.

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My Modern Met

Celebrating creativity and promoting a positive culture by spotlighting the best sides of humanity—from the lighthearted and fun to the thought-provoking and enlightening.