uplifting news

Read recent happy news and other uplifting news stories from around the world on Newser.com

Stories 1981 - 2000 | << Prev   Next >>

Teacher, Student Find Out They're Sisters

Both adopted, they lived only 20 miles apart for years

(Newser) - Diane DiProspero Cook always considered Karen Cometa-Zempel to be her favorite teacher from New York's Bryant and Stratton College, where she was a student in 1985. Thirty years later, it makes a lot of sense why. Adopted as an infant, DiProspero Cook recently became interested in her biological family...

Rainbow Tunnel Now Officially Named for Robin Williams

Private donations paid for new signs

(Newser) - A tunnel with rainbow arches that connects the Golden Gate Bridge to greater Marin County has officially become the Robin Williams tunnel, the AP reports. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the new Robin Williams Tunnel signs were installed Monday night. The tunnel was unofficially known as the Waldo Tunnel....

Baby's Heart Fails Just Before Transplant, but He Survives

Donor organ came in the nick of time

(Newser) - Lincoln Seay was born July 14 with his heart on the wrong side of his body and immediately went into surgery. By November, doctors told his parents that Lincoln was suffering from end stage heart failure and would have to wait about 90 days to get the new heart he...

In Rare Occurrence, Active-Duty SEAL Gets Medal of Honor

Edward Byers Jr. helped to save abducted doctor

(Newser) - President Obama shined a spotlight on a "special breed of warrior" as he awarded the nation's highest military honor Monday to a Navy SEAL who participated in a daring 2012 raid that rescued an American hostage in Afghanistan. Senior Chief Special Warfare Operator Edward Byers Jr. is the...

90-Year-Old's Cancer Treatment: an Epic Road Trip

'I'm pleased to know that I can be an inspiration to so many'

(Newser) - Norma had two choices. She could get treatment for uterine cancer, or she could go on the trip of a lifetime across the US. "I'm 90 years old, I'm hitting the road," she told her doctor in July, opting to skip surgery, radiation, and chemo. Diagnosed...

A Barista's Classy Move: 5 Great Things This Week

Including an incredibly generous firefighter

(Newser) - Two people in two very different occupations have one thing in common: the capacity for making an above-and-beyond gesture:
  • Starbucks Worker Goes Extra Mile for Deaf Patron : When Ibby Piracha, who is deaf, went to give his order via text at his usual Starbucks in Virginia, the employee passed him
...

Cat Treks 1,484 Miles to Florida, Comes Home

Wisconsin cat owner Cheri Stocker calls it 'a miracle'

(Newser) - It takes about 22 hours to reach Florida by car for a person traveling from Wisconsin. But if you're a cat, the 1,484-mile journey likely takes closer to two months. At least that's how long it took Nadia, the Russian blue, to trek from her home on...

Dog Hit By 13 Trains Miraculously Still Alive

Loki lost a leg, eye, and his tail

(Newser) - A 14-month-old puppy is recuperating at home—miraculously—after being hit by an astounding 13 trains last Wednesday in Idaho, KBOI reports. According to a GoFundMe page set up by his owners, Loki got out of the family's yard somehow and made his way to some nearby train tracks....

Firefighter Pays $1K Bill for Disabled Teens

'I hope it inspires other people to do something similar'

(Newser) - Firefighter Ryan McCuen spent $1,023 on a Detroit family and received cookies, fruit, and a balloon in return. He doesn't regret it one bit. After responding to a medical call at a home earlier this month, McCuen, 35, learned Christy Stone has five kids, including two teens with...

WWII Hero's Dog Tag Will Finally Return Home

Found on Saipan in 2014, it will likely go to a nephew

(Newser) - Dorothy Hollingsworth was just 7 when her brother Tom left the family farm in Indiana to join the Army a few months before the US entered World War II. She never saw him again. Now, more than 70 years after Pfc. Thomas E. Davis was killed in one of the...

Starbucks Worker Goes the Distance for Deaf Customer

Ibby Piracha says he was left feeling 'blessed'

(Newser) - Ibby Piracha visits the same Starbucks in Leesburg, Va., about three times a week. But one recent visit was a bit different than normal. When Piracha, who is deaf, went to give his order—usually communicated through text message—the Starbucks employee instead passed him a note. "I've...

106-Year-Old Busts a Move With Obamas

Virginia McLaurin made the first couple's day

(Newser) - Even 106-year-olds dance for joy. Need proof? You've got it thanks to a White House video shared on Twitter on Sunday. It shows centenarian Virginia McLaurin busting a move while meeting President and Michelle Obama at the White House for Black History Month, reports Us Weekly . "It's...

Detour Maybe Saved a Life: 5 Great Things This Week

Including an elderly purse-snatching victim who struck back

(Newser) - A missing child who's missing no more and a classy gesture by flight attendants were among the week's uplifting stories:
  • Spontaneous Detour Leads to Missing Child : A toddler who went missing from her home in Lorain, Ohio, one night this week was found alive hours later thanks to
...

Worker Saves Puppy From Certain Death

Missouri maintenance supervisor was in the right place at the right time

(Newser) - There's a very lucky puppy still happily wagging its tail in Springfield, Mo., thanks to a quick-on-his-feet maintenance worker. Per the New York Daily News , security video shows what happened during Brian Ussery's shift Wednesday morning at an apartment building: A man with his dog on a leash...

Man's Spontaneous Detour Leads Him to Missing Child

Lana Lowther, 2, went missing around 8:45pm Wednesday

(Newser) - A toddler who went missing from her home in Lorain, Ohio, on Wednesday was found alive early Thursday thanks to one man's spontaneous detour. Lana Lowther, 2, was reported missing from her house around 8:45pm while wearing only footed pajamas, reports Cleveland.com . Authorities and volunteers, assisted by...

In Sonogram, Twin Appears to Clutch Dying Brother's Hand

With a hole in his heart and an abnormal brain, Mason is not expected to make it

(Newser) - When the McIntire family in Hutchinson, Kan., got the surprising news they were expecting twins, their elation quickly turned to grief as they learned that one twin, the boy, weighed only 9 ounces compared to his sister's two pounds, and that he had a hole in his heart and...

Philanthropist Gives $18.5M to Fix Up Lincoln Memorial

'I’m very honored as an American to be able to contribute in this way'

(Newser) - The Lincoln Memorial will be getting a much-needed facelift in the coming years thanks to an $18.5 million donation from one history-loving philanthropist, CNN reports. "Lincoln deserves to have his memorial in tip-top shape," David Rubenstein tells the AP . The president of the National Park Foundation admits...

Nursing Mom of Triplets Lauds Delta's First-Class Act

Flight attendants gave mom privacy and space to pump

(Newser) - Jenna Mde had to travel from Atlanta to Dallas on Friday, leaving her triplet babies behind. But because she breastfeeds, Mde still needed to pump during her flight—and that's where a Delta crew came through for her with flying colors, Today reports. Two flight attendants brought her into...

Refueling Crew Saves US Pilot Over ISIS Territory

F-16's fuel system had a glitch that would've been bad news if he'd had to eject

(Newser) - An F-16 fighter pilot's aircraft suffered a fuel system malfunction at perhaps the worst possible time—flying over ISIS-held territory—but the crew of a military refueling tanker stuck with him, likely saving his life, the Air Force Times reports. "Knowing the risks to their own safety, they...

14 Years Later, They Found Her Purse

Julie Curry's lost bag turns up in the ceiling of a bank in Oklahoma

(Newser) - In a case of better late than never, a purse that went missing more than a decade ago has been found in the ceiling of a bank in Oklahoma City. Now the bag is headed back to its owner, Julie Curry, who now lives in Cherokee, Kan., KFOR reports. Curry'...

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