Wally Funk tried for decades to become an astronaut, at a time before NASA allowed women into orbit. This year she finally flew to space at age 82. The Atlantic shares her remarkable story. Two women broke barriers in football in 2021. Sports Illustrated has what you should know about Sarah Thomas, the first woman to officiate a Super Bowl. And NPR introduces Maia Chaka, the first Black woman to officiate an NFL game. It started with a few kids biking to school together for safety. It turned into a mass movement that touched hearts around the world, NPR reports. Two fierce rivals were neck-and-neck for Olympic gold. Sports Illustrated shows what happened next: Instead of going on to a tie-breaking round, they made the surprising decision to share victory. Zaila Avant-garde captured the nation’s attention as the first African American winner of the Scripps National Spelling Bee. But Variety found there was much more to her. In a year with its share of dark times, goofy moments on social media helped give us all a lift. Wall Street Journal columnist Jason Gay lists some favorites. Apple News Spotlight editors put together a special collection of the best good-news stories of the year.

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.