3/ “Toilet: A Love Story,” a Bollywood romance about a newlywed couple, educated audiences about India’s sanitation challenge.

‘Toilet, a Love Story’: Bollywood spotlights India’s sanitation crisis in new film

4/ In June, the WHO certified that Bhutan and Maldives had eliminated measles.

Bhutan and Maldives eliminate measles

5 /2017 World Food Prize winner akin_adesina will use his prize money to establish a fund to provide grants to African youth involved in agriculture.

The World Food Prize gives me greater zeal to feed Africa and end hunger in our world. No resting until we succeed!

6/ The New York Times reported that doing good for others helps those who give as well as those who receive.

7/ A new sport caught on in schools to encourage students to read. It’s called #extremereading.

Well done to 6yo Zackary Howells on his #ExtremeReading award!

8/ Here’s my own extreme submission to the challenge. #extremereading

9/ These tweets made me feel better about 2017 and more optimistic about the new year. I hope they make you feel more hopeful, too. What tweets inspired you this year?

Gates isn’t the only billionaire to recognize the importance of optimism. Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg says it’s the optimists among us who are successful.

“One of my favorite sayings is that there are two kinds of people in the world: optimists and pessimists. And the saying goes that optimists tend to be successful and pessimists tend to be right,” says Zuckerberg, addressing nonprofits in November.

“And the idea is that if you think something is going to be terrible and it is going to fail, then you are going to look for the data points that prove you right and you will find them. That is what pessimists do …

“But if you think that something is possible, then you are going to try to find a way to make it work. And even when you make mistakes along the way and even when people doubt you, you are going to keep pushing until you find a way to make it happen,” Zuckerberg says.