In the 1970s, Bhutan's fourth king, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, is said to have declared that 'Gross National Happiness' mattered more than gross domestic product. The idea became public policy: the 2008 constitution directs the state to promote the conditions that enable the pursuit of Gross National Happiness. National surveys measure people's well-being across nine domains, from health and time use to cultural diversity.
That's the estimate from a WHO-led study published in The Lancet in 2024, covering the half-century since the Expanded Programme on Immunization was launched in 1974. It works out to about six lives saved every minute, mostly infants. The measles vaccine alone accounts for around 60% of those lives.
According to the World Gold Council, about 216,000 tonnes of gold have been mined in all of human history. Because gold is so dense (19.3 tonnes per cubic metre), it would fit in a cube about 22 metres on each side, roughly the height of a seven-storey building. Strikingly, about two-thirds of it has been mined since 1950.