These can seem unsettling times. Populism is on the rise; liberal democracy is under pressure. Protectionism is threatening to stifle free trade. China and the US are locked in what seems ever more like a new cold war. Leaders are struggling to agree on how to cut carbon emissions. Extreme weather events are increasing. Yet amid the uncertainty, stories of extraordinary people have been the bright spot.
Countless citizens across the world have shown the power of the human body, mind and spirit to achieve remarkable things in 2019. The Financial Times chose Satya Nadella as its person of the year for reviving Microsoft while instilling a new purpose and sense of humility. Many others deserve to be honoured.
In April, a team of scientists developed the first picture of a black hole, an astronomical phenomenon from which no light can escape. Katie Bouman, a young computer scientist, became the symbol of the achievement for using her knowhow to craft an algorithm that could stitch together the images from a network of telescopes. Outer space witnessed other new human firsts. Fifty years after the moon landing, astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir took part in the first all-female spacewalk while China’s Chang’e 4 mission completed the first successful “soft” landing on the far side of the moon.