Five good news stories you might have missed in 2024

Like every year, 2024 has had its ups and downs.

But hidden among all the headlines, both good and bad, are a few uplifting news stories that you might have missed in 2024.

BBC Bitesize takes a look at five of them, to hopefully help you end the year on a high.

Solving a mystery of the Ancient Egyptian pyramids

The details of how Egypt’s famous pyramids were constructed is a puzzle that has occupied archaeologists minds for years. Built from an estimated 2.3 million stone blocks, each weighing between 2 and 15 tons (1814 kg and 13608 kg), and approximately 456 feet (139 m) high, the Great Pyramid of Giza alone is an impressive feat of engineering.

But how were such heavy, cumbersome blocks transported to the pyramid building sites?

The answer may lie in the River Nile, specifically in one of its branches which has long since dried up and been covered by desert and farmland. Researchers from the University of North Carolina Wilmington believe this ancient stretch of water could have been used to transport the blocks.

Using a combination of radar satellite imagery, sediment coring, surveys and historical maps, they have discovered evidence of the river branch and ancient structures close to the area in which most of the pyramids were built, between 4,700 and 3,700 years ago. Now named the Ahramat branch, after the Arabic word for pyramid, it is thought to have been approximately 64 km (39 miles) long.

San Marino ended their winless streak, twice!

Before September 2024, the San Marino men’s football team had never won a competitive match. Sitting in last place in Fifa’s world rankings, San Marino held the record for the longest winless run in footballing history with 140 games. But with two historic wins towards the end of 2024, they have secured a promotion into the third tier of the Nations League.

Their first win came on 5 September, when they beat fellow European microstate Liechtenstein 1-0 at home. Liechtenstein had been San Marino’s opponents last time they won a match, back in 2004 - a friendly which also finished 1-0. This time, the winning goal was scored by 19-year-old Nicko Sensoli, who plays in the Italian fourth tier and wasn’t even born last time San Marino won.

When it came to the reverse fixture on 18 November, with San Marino playing away, it initially looked like Liechtenstein would reassert themselves, as they opened the scoring. But San Marino fought back to score three and secure their first ever away victory.

One goal was a penalty scored by Nicola Nanni, who is now the country’s joint second top scorer with three goals.

Building a bridge to safety for otters

How did the otter cross the road? Using a shelf, of course. Or at least, that’s the plan for otters living near the A272 in West Sussex.

It was announced in August that West Sussex County Council intends to construct a shelf underneath a bridge in order to help otters reach their breeding grounds safely. Sometimes, otters will travel along roads rather than swim and this has lead to casualties, thought to be a significant factor in reducing the growth of the local otter population.

It is hoped that by installing the shelf, along with efforts to clean up the rivers and improve the habitat, the numbers of otters in West Sussex will continue to rise.

Lily Gladstone makes award history

In 2024, Lily Gladstone became the first Native American woman in the 96-year-history of the Academy Awards to be nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role.

She starred in the Western crime drama Killers of the Flower Moon, directed by Martin Scorsese and based on true events. Lasting three and a half hours, it tells the story of the Osage people who were murdered in Oklahoma by white settlers in the early 1920s.

Ultimately, Gladstone did not take home the Oscar for her work but she did make history earlier in the award season by winning the Golden Globe for Best Female Actor in a Drama, the first Native American to do so. After winning she said: "It's circumstantial that I was the first one to win that in the category, but it doesn't belong to me.

“I'm standing on so many shoulders and I'm representing such a huge supportive community that's made it possible for me to do this."

Born in the state of Montana, Gladstone grew up on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation and began her Golden Globe acceptance speech by speaking in the Blackfoot language.

While Gladstone is the first Native American to be nominated for best actress, she isn’t the first indigenous performer - Keisha Castle-Hughes (Australia/New Zealand - Māori) and Yalitza Aparicio (Mexican - Mixtic and Triqui) have previously been nominated.

Discovery of the world’s oldest skin

Museums and collections around the world are full of bone fossils, but how often do you see fossilised skin? Typically, flesh rots away or is eaten by scavengers, so it’s a much rarer find for palaeontologists.

But in January 2024, it was reported that palaeontologists had discovered remnants of fossil skin in a cave in Richards Spur, Oklahoma. They’re thought to be around 288-million-years old, which is 130 million years older than the previously known oldest example and before dinosaurs roamed the Earth.

Belonging to a reptile-type creature, the skin had a pebbly and scaly texture similar to that of a crocodile, and was made of keratin, the same material as human hair and fingernails. It was able to survive for so long because the cave was relatively dry, had low oxygen levels and contained oil, which protected them from decay.

The skeletons of a lizard-like creature called Captorhinus aguti were also found in the cave, so it could be that that the skin belongs to these animals, but researchers cannot be certain.

This article was published in December 2024