Jack Ma failed his college entrance exam – twice. He was turned down for a number of jobs, including as the secretary to the manager of a Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet. He borrowed $2,000 to start a website, and is now the billionaire chairman of Alibaba, China’s most important Internet company.
When 17 year old Aria Ottmueller, who is legally blind, approached her track coach about participating in the pole vault event she was told "Ha, no. Absolutely not." This being Positive Press, guess who just qualified for the state championship in pole vaulting.
While kayaking in a Northern California river, Mark Devittorio was almost killed by a SUV that went over a cliff into the river. He then rescued the family of five in the SUV.
When Liz Soden was paralyzed in an auto accident, she told her fiancé to leave her. Instead, he proposed marriage, and began designing wheelchairs that would help them live a normal life together.
5 Year old girl hears for first time; born deaf and abandoned in a public square in China, her adoptive father says “"I have to tell you it was a little breathtaking"
What started out as a simple idea by two friends, inspired by a church sermon, is an example of something any of us could do, as it didn’t take a lot of money or special expertise. Two women bring a little joy to needy children on their birthdays.
Who has the most fun opening Christmas gifts? Kids? Maybe not! Watch the video of this grey wolf, living in Southwest Wildlife Sanctuary, opening its Christmas present.
Tired of trying to find a place to charge your cell phone? Soon, you may not have to worry about it, as the energy to charge your appliances will be generated by your own body.
A man who started as night janitor will become CEO of Lueken’s Village foods, as the retiring owner, known for his good works, gives his company to it’s employees:
The truly amazing story of Rodriguez, the Detroit musician and day laborer who became a South African superstar – and never knew it, until he was rediscovered decades later.
The latest group of MacArthur Foundation genius awards have been announced. Recipients receive $500,000 with no strings attached to further their creative work. This year’s recipients include a marine ecologist, a musician and 21 others, ranging in age from 31 to 66.
This is a great video on YouTube from Peter Diamandis speaking at a technology conference about why bad news is so prevalent, but how in reality the time we are now living in is great in a number of specific ways, for which he provides examples. It goes to the heart of what we're about here at Positive News:
A stranger helped Hilde Black escape Nazi Germany. She then did a small good deed: she sponsored a student in rural Kenya so he could get an education. And he did: Chris became a Harvard grad and a lawyer for the United Nations. Not only did he track down his benefactor, he also named a new scholarship program after her, leading to many more children being helped.
A Change in Plans leads to Hundreds of Lives Saved
Nicholas Winton was a 29 year old stockbroker living in England. He was scheduled to take a ski vacation but decided to go to Prague instead, a decision which ended up saving the lives of 668 children.
Talk about win-win. July 14 is the last day of an event during which army veteran Joseph Trainor takes dogs scheduled to be euthanized and trains them to help returning veterans. The dogs get a new chance at life and the vets get some dog love as they transition back to civilian life.
When Debbie McCann’s life was saved 60 years ago she was not even born yet. Her mother, pregnant with Debbie, was saved from a burning building by firefighter John Francis Minich, who died after saving many people like Debbie’s mother from that burning building in Chicago. And Debbie did not forget:
Three years ago no one wanted Bear, a German Shepard sitting in the back of an animal shelter. Now he's the 2012 National Hero Dog for saving his owner's life. An amazing story.
While filing a scene involving a horse on a beach, some real life drama occurred as the horse was spooked and started swimming out to sea; in fact, 2 miles out to sea before a dramatic rescue.
As a teenager, Brian Baker was supposed to be America’s next great tennis star. Then he was taken down by a series of serious injuries; five surgeries in all, and forced to retire. So he went back to school. Then a funny thing happened.
Jack Andraka has developed a test that detects pancreatic cancer which is 28 times faster and 100 times more sensitive than current tests. Jack Andraka is 15 years old.
When this marine returned home from a tour of duty, he got a surprise that no money can buy; his six year old son, who has cerebral palsy, had learned to walk. Watch the video of a boy walking to his father for the first time.
These children with cancer didn’t use to have normal lives because they couldn’t interact with other people, but this woman has given them the gift of childhoods.
At 4 feet 10 inches tall and a whopping 86 pounds, 15 year old Madison Walraff doesn't look too tough, but she ran into a burning barn repeatedly to save 25 horses before the barn collapsed.
A construction worker in Boston rushed in a burning building to save 4 elderly residents who were not even aware that they were about to be engulfed in flames.
As a general rule, all this woman's rescued dog "wants is love, but she does like meat and potatoes and gravy,". In this case the dog didn't follow its normal habits, breaking the rules to alert the owner that her house was on fire.
A group of random people suddenly spring into action to save 3 children trapped in a car that had fallen into an icy Utah river, including a former cop who had to shoot out the windows of the car to free the kids. Great story and video.
This woman took a wrong turn one day while driving home from work near Atlanta and came across a bunch of poor kids playing soccer. As it turned out, they were all refugees from war zones. A few days later she returned with a soccer ball; one thing led to another in this amazing story.
It’s not really part of his job, but Tyrus Lemerande is upgrading the caliber of entertainment offered to troops in Afghan, offering one man Shakespeare plays to appreciative audiences.
What do you do when you’re born with two fingers on each hand and your legs are amputated at the knees when you’re three? Well, if you’re Hee Ah Lee, you become a concert pianist.
Often good deeds are never repaid. But when Victor Giesbrecht stopped to help a stranded motorist, he found his good deed repaid within minutes – and it might have saved his life.
Is it possible to be blind and still play quarterback? "It was exciting, and we were so happy for him," teammate John Dean told the Denver Post of Rhett Gutierrez's chance to play varsity quarterback. "We all were freaking out on the sidelines. ... He's the best role model ever."
Tina Parker saw what she thought was a piece of trash on top of a train traveling 50 miles an hour. But then the thing moved. Turned out to be a 3 month old puppy, rescued with the help of firefighters, and now in a happy home.
While there have been a lot of attacks on the wealthy lately, it’s good to remember that some are using their wealth to make life better. Wendy Schmidt personally funded a $1.4 million prize that has led to a dramatically better way of cleaning up oil spills.
Yes, American medicine is too expensive, but sometime’s it’s also miraculous. Richard Mangino received two hands during a twelve hour transplant operation and said “It’s just like you can fly,” he said. “It’s like a bird that got its wings back.”
For the first time ever, a life is saved by the insertion of a completely artificial trachea. A man who would have been certain to die from cancer can now have a normal life.
Nothing in any war movie will be more dramatic than the real life story of Sergeant Leroy Petry, only the second living soldier to be awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism in Afghanistan. Over the last decade Petry, now 31, has been deployed six times to Afghanistan and twice to Iraq. He had previously earned two bronze stars and a purple heart. Petry had already been shot in both legs when he rescued a fellow soldier, and then tried to toss a grenade back – he lost his hand in the attempt, but that didn't stop him. To read about a real hero.
It’s a rare thing when a beautiful young star manages to keep a sense of perspective. Here’s what one of America’s rising young movie stars says : “Being an actress is such a tiny part of what I want to be….I want to be an actress like Meryl Street and I want to be a mom like mine and drive a minivan.”
Violent Crime is Falling Despite Hard Economic Times
The experts used to think that violent crime increased during difficult economic times. In fact, despite the rise in unemployment, violent crime has actually fallen to record lows.
96 minutes without a pulse! This is one of the most amazing stories we have found, as a man surives, thanks to the good work of strangers, for long past the point at which he would normally have been given up for dead.
41 Year old Robert Casey was on his regular job near the woods by his house when he heard the screams. When he investigated, he found a 15 year old girl being dragged into the woods.
Lawrence Guy was just drafted into the NFL by the Green Bay Packers after playing football at Arizona State, where he maintained a stellar grade point average. Quite an accomplishment for a guy who was the fat kid who got picked on, had a number of learning disabilities and was in special ed classes just a few short years ago. Now he says: “I don’t believe in the word ‘no.’ I don’t believe in the word ‘can’t.’ ”
Two days after watching his drug addict mother die, 16 year old Jaydin Goldenstein turned in one of the great amateur sports performances of the year; in the first game of a doubleheader he pitched a no-hitter. In the second game, he hit four home runs.
An amazing new map of the human brain gives scientists the chance to try to find solutions to all sorts of medical conditions like Alzheimer’s, autism, and depression.
Two men happen to meet by chance on the beach when one offers to take a picture of the other with his family. They get to talking and find out they know many people in common. And then a shocking revlation; of the people they both know is their father. The two men are half-brothers.
Diane Rose of Waco, Texas went completely blind in 1984. For 14 years she tried to figure out what she should do. Finally, she discovered quilting, and her beautiful quilts are quite in demand.
If you watch this video, it's hard not to be charmed by this woman, who has a very homespun charm. She refers to her blindness as an "inconvenience."
This sort of story is the reason we do Positive News.
Is 12 Year Old Jacob Barnett the smartest kid in the world? He’s already challenging the most important theories in astrophysics and theoretical physics.
If you like a good story about the underdog, you must be loving this year’s March Madness college basketball tournament. All the highest seeds have been eliminated, and might VCU becomes the first 11 seed since George Mason in 2006 to make it to the final four.
Strings for Kids started when a music shop owner noticed that a lot of kids wanted to learn to play the violin, but couldn’t afford lessons. Now low income children learn classical music, but also structure and discipline.
A 12 year old California boy started thinking about socks when his feet got cold, which led him to think about homeless people without socks, which led him to gather more than 2,000 pairs of socks for the homeless.
40 different high school valedictorians followed 40 different paths, and ended up a surprising looking group; make and female, many foreign faces, some pretty and many not; all have a bright future.
Would there be a Day of Rage in your house if you took away your kid’s elenctronics? Maybe not. For six month, this family took away Internet, TV, iPods, cell phones and video games. The results might surprise you.
Bobby Vogel is the happiest man in town. Developmentally disabled, he never attended school. Now he spends a lot of time at Auburn High School, as their number one fan.
More than a million people around the world die each year in car crashes, but engineers are developing various ways to dramatically decrease accidents. For instance, a car that brakes automatically when it senses danger.
The son of a gas-station owner, former high school math teacher Pat Craig doesn’t have any formal training in his chosen field, but that certainly hasn’t held him back. He now fearlessly walks among three packs of wolves, 66 black bears, 13 grizzly bears, two prides of lions, 70 tigers, 14 mountain lions, five leopards, eight bobcats, five coati mundi, five lynx, three foxes and a coyote on his animal refuge in Colorado.
At 14 he was stealing cars and getting shot, living with a mother who has been on welfare for 23 years. Now he’s on the honor role and a star athlete, headed for college. The amazing journey of Delonte Edwards.
One of the most amazing stories you’ll ever come across is that of Daniel Kish, a completely blind man who rides bikes, crosses busy streets, and climbs mountains just as a sighted person would. Kish has learned to “see” using echolocation, which means that by the vibrations created by clicking his tongue, Kish can tell exactly where almost everything is.
Mr. Bronson, the neighborhood barber and dandy, lost his house when his wife died. A neighbor who barely knew him took him in, and they’ve lived happily together ever since:
The Good Samaritan is alive and well, as evidenced by these real life stories:
A man on vacation has a sudden heart attack, and is saved by the freakish intervention of a stranger who happens to have a portable defibrillator in his car.
A man leaves his six year child alone in a car while he goes drinking. The car is rolling down a hill into a wall when a stranger jumps into the car to save the child.
Follow the link for these stories and more Good Samaritan stories.
We love stories of resilience, and coming back from great odds, so we’ll kick off this new year with a great story from the Washington Post about a boy born into the worst sort of violent poverty, who not only was neglected himself, but had to care for his infant siblings. This is the sort of story you expect to find in a Dickens novel, except this one is true, very recent, and based in the United States.
Hard to believe, but some people who actually need and deserve the money are getting bonuses, as about one million hourly Wal Mart employees share the profits from the retailer's growing sales.
