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Read MoreIf risk is like a lump of smoldering coal that may spark a fire at any moment, insurance is civilization's fire extinguisher. The main concept of insurance—that of spreading risk among many—is as old as human existence.
Whether it was hunting giant elk in a group to spread the risk of being the one gored to death or shipping cargo in several different caravans to avoid losing the whole shipment to a marauding tribe, people have always been wary of risk. Countries and their citizens need to spread risk among large numbers of people and move it to entities that can handle it. This is how insurance emerged.
The concept of insurance dates back to around 1750 B.C. with the Code of Hammurabi, which Babylonians carved into a stone monument and several clay tablets. The code describes a form of bottomry, whereby a ship’s cargo could be pledged in exchange for a loan. Repayment of the loan was contingent on a successful voyage, and the debtor did not have to repay the loan if the ship was lost at sea.
In the Middle Ages, most craftsmen were trained through the guild system. Apprentices spent their childhoods working for masters for little or no pay. Once they became masters themselves, they paid dues to the guild and trained their own apprentices.
The wealthier guilds had large coffers that acted as a type of insurance fund. If a master's practice burned down—a common occurrence in the largely wooden cities of medieval Europe—the guild would rebuild it using money from its own funds. If a master was robbed, the guild would cover their obligations until money started to flow in again. If a master was suddenly disabled or killed, the guild would support them or their surviving family.
This safety net encouraged more people to leave farming to take up trades. As a result, the amount of goods available for trade increased, as did the range of goods and services. The basic style of insurance used by guilds is still around today in the form of group coverage.
In the late 1600s, shipping was just beginning between the New World and the Old, as colonies were being established and exotic goods were ferried back. The practice of underwriting emerged in the same London coffeehouses that operated as the unofficial stock exchange for the British Empire. A coffeehouse owned by Edward Lloyd, later of Lloyd's of London, was the primary meeting place for merchants, ship owners, and others seeking insurance.
A basic system for funding voyages to the New World was established. In the first stage, merchants and companies would seek funding from the venture capitalists of the day. They, in turn, would help find people who wanted to be colonists, usually those from the more desperate areas of London, and would purchase provisions for the voyage.
In exchange, the venture capitalists were guaranteed some of the returns from the goods the colonists would produce or find in the Americas. It was widely believed you couldn't take two left turns in America without finding a deposit of gold or other precious metals. When it turned out this wasn't exactly true, venture capitalists still funded voyages for a share of the new bumper crop: tobacco.
After a voyage was secured by venture capitalists, the merchants and ship owners went to Lloyd's to hand over a copy of the ship's cargo manifest so the investors and underwriters who gathered there could read it.
Those who were interested in taking on the risk signed at the bottom of the manifest beneath the figure indicating the share of the cargo for which they were taking responsibility (hence, underwriting). In this way, a single voyage would have multiple underwriters, who tried to spread their own risk by taking shares in several different voyages.
By 1654, Blaise Pascal, the Frenchman who gave us the first calculator, and his countryman Pierre de Fermat, discovered a way to express probabilities and better understand levels of risk. That breakthrough began to formalize the practice of underwriting and made insurance more affordable.
In 1666, the Great Fire of London destroyed around 13,200 homes. London was still recovering from the plague that had begun to ravage it a year earlier and an estimated 100,000 survivors were left homeless. The following year, property developer Nicholas Barbon began selling fire insurance as a personal business, which was then established as a joint-stock company, the Fire Office, in 1680.
Life insurance began to emerge in the 16th and 17th centuries in England, France, and Holland. The first known life insurance policy in England was issued in 1583. But, lacking the tools to properly assess the risk involved, many of the groups that offered insurance ultimately failed.
That started to change in 1693, when astronomer and mathematician Edmund Halley, best known today as the namesake of Halley's Comet, studied birth and death records in the city of Breslau for the purposes of calculating the price of life annuities. This gave rise to the use of mortality tables in the insurance industry.
Insurance companies thrived in Europe, especially after the Industrial Revolution. Across the Atlantic, in America, the story was very different. Colonists' lives were fraught with dangers that no insurance company would touch. For example, starvation and related diseases killed almost three out of every four colonists in the Jamestown settlement between 1609 and 1610, a bleak period that came to be known as "The Starving Time."
Ultimately, it took more than 100 years for insurance to establish itself in America. When it finally did, starting around the 1750s, it brought the maturity in both practice and policies that developed during the same period of time in Europe.
Insurance has had a long history and its starting point can trace back to different times depending on the type of insurance. It has its origins in the Babylonian empire, Medieval guilds, the Great Fire of London, and maritime insurance.
Some of the oldest forms of insurance are considered to be the bottomry contracts of merchants in Babylon around 3,000 to 4,000 BCE. These contracts stipulated that the loans that merchants took out for shipments would not need to be paid if the shipment was lost at sea.
The oldest insurance company in the world is considered to be Hamburger Feuerkasse, which was founded in 1676. Its first policies provided fire insurance within the the city walls of Hamburg and reimbursed owners the market value of their buildings up to 15,000 marks, with a 25% deductible.
The history of insurance is long and detailed, and it has involved significantly over time. Though it can be expensive, insurance has prevented people and businesses from suffering financial loss and it has financially protected people throughout time.
Shinji Suzuki met Takuo Toda in 1999, atop Mt. Yonami in the southern city of Jinseki-Kogen, Japan. Toda, the chairman of the Japan Origami Airplane Association, was there to launch a large paper plane from a tower he had built on the mountaintop for just that purpose.
Toda persuaded the local city council to build the 85-foot-tall tower—with 360-degree views of Mount Daisen, Mount Dogo, and the Hiba Mountains—as a monument to paper airplane hobbyists. The first floor of the tower includes a showcase of precisely folded paper plane models, while the top floor opens into a veritable launch pad. When Suzuki first met Toda, he was launching the almost-seven-foot-long
paper plane—modeled after the space shuttle Discovery—off that very flight deck. “He told me that he would like to launch this paper plane from the space station,” Suzuki, now an emeritus professor in aviation at the University of Tokyo, says. “Everybody laughed at him.”Toda’s lofty dream inspired Suzuki to take action, and in 2008, the pair announced a project to launch paper airplanes from the International Space Station (ISS). Critics suggested these planes would burn up on their descent back to Earth, Suzuki says. However, he predicted that with a protective coating and a controlled trajectory, they might actually be able to avoid burning up on reentry into Earth’s atmosphere. Another challenge? Figuring out where exactly the planes would land.
While Suzuki plotted the planes’ journey to the ISS, Toda would chart another path, racking up Guinness World Records for his paper airplane designs. For decades, he’s aimed to break the 30-second record for time aloft of a paper plane. He’s come close multiple times.
At a Japan Airlines hangar near Tokyo’s Haneda Airport in 2009, Toda sent a paper plane soaring for a whopping 26.1 seconds. And he holds the current time aloft record, which he set in 2010 with a rectangular design that lingered in the air for an astonishing 29.2 seconds. There are other records to be broken, too. As of April 2023, a trio of aerospace engineers currently hold the title for longest-distance throw of a paper airplane. Their dart-shaped plane traveled 289 feet and 9 inches, beating the previous record by almost 40 feet.
Our obsession with testing the boundaries of folded flight is relatively recent, but our desire to explore and explain the complex world of aerodynamics goes back much further.
Chinese engineers are thought to have invented what could be considered the earliest paper planes around 2,000 years ago. But these ancient gliders, usually crafted from bamboo and paper or linen, resembled kites more than the dart-shaped fliers that have earned numerous Guinness World Records in latest years.
Leonardo da Vinci would take a step closer to the modern paper airplane in the late 14th and early 15th centuries by building paper models of his aircraft designs to assess how they might sustain flight. But da Vinci’s knowledge of aerodynamics was fairly limited. He was more inspired by animal flight and, as a result, his design for craft like the ornithopter—a hang-glider-size set of bat wings that used mechanical systems powered by human movement—never left the ground.
Paper airplanes helped early engineers and scientists learn about the mechanics of flight. The British engineer and aviator Sir George Cayley reportedly crafted the first folded paper plane to approach modern specifications in the early 1800s as part of his personal experimentation with aerodynamics. “He was one of the early people to link together the idea that the lift from the wings picking up the aircraft for stable flight must be greater than or equal to the weight of the aircraft,” says Jonathan Ridley, PhD, the head of engineering and a scholar of early aviation at Solent University in the U.K.
More than a century later, before their famous 1903 flight in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, the Wright Brothers built paper models of wings to better understand how their glider would sustain flight, explains Ridley. They then tested these models in a rudimentary, refrigerator-size wind tunnel—only the second to be built in the U.S.
Paper planes are still illuminating the hidden wonders of flight. Today, these lightweight aircraft serve as a source of inspiration not only for aviation enthusiasts but also for fluid dynamicists and engineers studying the complex effects of air on small aircraft like drones.
At Cornell University, in a lab run by physics professor Jane Wang, PhD, paper gliders plunge, swoop, and flutter through the air. What might look like child’s play to the untrained eye is actually part of a serious experiment conducted by Wang and her colleague Leif Ristroph, PhD, an associate professor of mathematics at New York University. Once the planes land, Wang and Ristroph analyze data from their flight and apply weights to change the balance of these gliders. They hope doing so will help them better understand how lightweight objects soar—something that could one day inform the future of miniature drones and other robotic craft.
The team’s most latest study, published in the Journal of Fluid Mechanics in February 2022, explored the mechanics of gliding and identified new ways for paper gliders to achieve stable flight. Insights gleaned from this research have practical applications, but they also shed light on the aerodynamic principles that keep paper airplanes thrown by enthusiasts up in the air. All planes —powered and unpowered —are controlled by the four forces of flight: lift, weight, thrust, and drag. Lift is the aerodynamic force produced by the forward motion of an object through a fluid—in this case, air. Weight, or the force of gravity, is the opposing force and pulls the airplane toward Earth. Where the engines or propellers on a passenger aircraft generate thrust, the force of a paper plane pilot’s throw gives the aircraft the forward momentum. Drag, caused by the friction a plane experiences as it moves through the air, acts in opposition to thrust.
Traditional airplanes have airfoil-shaped wings with a round leading edge. Air that passes over the wing conforms to its shape. Air flowing above the wing moves faster than air below the wing, forming a low-pressure zone above the wing that generates lift.
But the wing of a paper glider is flat, and air does not flow smoothly around it. Instead, that air forms a small, low-pressure vortex immediately above the leading edge of the wing. “This little vortex ends up changing a lot of the aerodynamic characteristics of the plane,” Ristroph says. “One thing it does is deliver the plane a natural stability, meaning that, in principle, it can and will glide.”
As the angle at which a glider’s wing cuts through the air—known as the angle of attack—changes, so too does the size and location of the vortex above the wing. This affects where the center of pressure, or the precise location where lift is focused, lies along the wing and how responsive it is to disturbances. If, for example, the plane encounters a gust that pushes its nose down, the center of pressure will slide forward, pushing the nose back up and into a stable position.
“The magic of a paper airplane is that all of these little flight corrections are happening continuously throughout its flight,” Ristroph says. “The plane is hanging under a vortex that is constantly swelling and shrinking in just the right ways to keep a smooth and level glide.”
The center of pressure for an airfoil, however, is locked in place and does not change with the angle of attack. This means it has trouble self-correcting if destabilized. Ristroph says the team tested this in some of their experiments by folding the sheets into an airfoil. These sheets quickly crashed after brief, erratic flights because they could not stabilize after being perturbed.
This phenomenon changes at different scales, Ristroph adds. For instance, if you were to construct a paper plane the size of a Boeing 747, the vortex above the wing would be much larger and behave differently. “That vortex would not just stay on the plane and sit there, it would jump off, reform again, and do something a little turbulent and a little crazy,” he says. “You might not be able to rely on that vortex to deliver you stability because it may not always be there.” Conversely, if you created a paper airplane less than, say, a millimeter long, the aerodynamics would change—along with the behavior of that vortex.
The central focus of Ristroph and Wang’s work—and, as their research suggests, the true secret to a stable glide—is identifying and making adjustments based on a glider’s center of balance. The center of balance lies at the point where a plane would be perfectly balanced if suspended in midair. (You can locate the center of balance on a paper airplane by balancing it between the tips of your thumb and forefinger.) For an unfolded sheet of paper like the ones Wang and Ristroph tested, the center of balance is directly in the middle of the page.
The team experimented with tweaking the center of balance by placing strips of copper tape on their paper gliders and studying their flight. If the weights were placed too close to the center of the sheet, the gliders would tumble uncontrollably to the ground. If the weights were placed too far forward, they would immediately nose-dive.
Through trial and error, they discovered that placing these weights halfway between the middle of the sheet and the leading edge created a stable glide, meaning that even if the glider was disturbed during its flight, it would still be able to right itself. Wang says this discovery was particularly surprising because previous work done on this syllabu had only ever identified “neutrally stable” modes of flight, which become unstable if perturbed and cannot self-correct.
Ristroph hopes the findings from their work will help engineers design new types of small aircraft that take advantage of passive modes of flight like, say, windsurfing craft that sail high above cities to monitor air quality. “Over the last 20 years, there’s been increasing interest in smaller-scale flight,” Ristroph says. “Small-scale flying robots [could] do things like ride on the wind rather than having some kind of engine or spinning rotors like a helicopter.”
The push to develop low-cost and low-impact alternatives to traditional aircraft has grown in latest decades. For example, in 2017 the San Francisco–based research and development firm Otherlab announced it had won a grant from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to work on a lightweight cardboard glider that could someday deliver blood, vaccines, or other critical cargo to remote locations inaccessible via other modes of transportation.
The gliders, constructed from flat-packed pieces of cardboard, would be released from an airplane and, with the help of an onboard computer, navigate to a preprogrammed set of coordinates. Otherlab and DARPA shelved the project, but the central idea—tapping into the realm of unpowered flight to solve difficult problems—lives on.
Future small aircraft may also veer away from mimicking airplanes altogether, Wang says. In addition to studying paper gliders, much of her research focuses on forms of passive flight and gliding we already find in nature, such as insects and seeds that twirl off tree limbs. Using these techniques to create small craft could create even more possibilities in years to come.
Even after locating a glider’s center of mass, Wang cautions that this discovery won’t necessarily make solving future problems facing paper craft experts or engineers any easier. She and colleagues are attempting to solve these problems mathematically. Applying these mathematical revelations to a working glider? Well, that’s another challenge entirely.
Paper airplane enthusiasts, she suggests, might have better luck crafting gliders using intuition and experimentation instead. “People can make very, very good paper airplanes now,” Wang says. “It’s a fine art. They build their intuition by making them.”
Suzuki, Toda, and their collaborators spent 18 months testing multiple designs. They coated each plane in a protective glasslike substance that would raise the heat resistance but still allow for crisp, complex folds. With this design, Suzuki hoped that they might be able to test applications for other small-scale reentry vehicles.
The team then tested a prototype glider in the University of Tokyo’s hypersonic wind tunnel, subjecting the plane to speeds as high as Mach 7 and temperatures of almost 450°F—conditions similar to those a paper plane might face when reentering Earth’s atmosphere.
With these tests under their belt, the team reached out to Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, who agreed to fund the project. One of the agency’s astronauts, Koichi Wakata, even expressed interest in launching them from the orbiting outpost himself. Ultimately, due to budget cuts, Suzuki and Toda’s paper planes never made it to space.
As researchers explore the field of aerodynamics, and new technology continues to model this type of flight, there’s still a chance we could see paper gliders pushing boundaries in years to come.
Here’s how strangely shaped objects—from Frisbees to honeybees—generate lift to soar through the air.
Sarah is a science and technology journalist based in Boston interested in how innovation and research intersect with our daily lives. She has written for a number of national publications and covers innovation news at Inverse.
Jennifer Leman is a science journalist and news editor at Popular Mechanics, where she writes and edits stories about science and space. A graduate of the Science Communication Program at UC Santa Cruz, her work has appeared in The Atlantic, Scientific American, Science News and Nature. Her favorite stories illuminate Earth's many wonders and hazards.
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Read MoreThe RIAA gives diamond certifications to songs that have gone platinum 10 times.
Sam Hunt's "Body Like a Back Road" is the most latest song to receive the rare certification.
Listen to the complete playlist on Insider's Spotify.
1. "Something About The Way You Look Tonight / Candle in the Wind" by Elton John
"Something About the Way You Look Tonight / Candle in the Wind" became the first-ever song to be certified diamond on October 9, 1997.
In fact, it received the certification two years before the official diamond award was unveiled by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). In the years since, it has been bestowed sparingly — if a song has moved at least 10 million equivalent units by combining sales and streaming numbers, and if an artist or label requests certification.
2. "Baby" by Justin Bieber featuring Ludacris
"Baby" was certified diamond on May 9, 2013.
3. "Not Afraid" by Eminem
"Not Afraid" was certified diamond on June 10, 2014.
4. "Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga
"Bad Romance" was certified diamond on May 29, 2015.
5. "Radioactive" by Imagine Dragons
"Radioactive" was certified diamond on July 6, 2015.
6. "Thrift Shop" by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis featuring Wanz
"Thrift Shop" was certified diamond on November 19, 2015.
7. "Poker Face" by Lady Gaga
"Poker Face" was certified diamond on November 30, 2015.
8. "Call Me Maybe" by Carly Rae Jepsen
"Call Me Maybe" was certified diamond on September 28, 2016.
9. "Uptown Funk" by Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars
"Uptown Funk" was certified diamond on October 18, 2016.
10. "Roar" by Katy Perry
"Roar" was certified diamond on June 22, 2017.
11. "Royals" by Lorde
"Royals" was certified diamond on December 8, 2017.
12. "All About That Bass" by Meghan Trainor
"All About That Bass" was certified diamond on January 23, 2018.
13. "Despacito" by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee featuring Justin Bieber
"Despacito" was certified diamond on January 27, 2018.
14. "Firework" by Katy Perry
"Firework" was certified diamond on February 13, 2018.
15. "Lose Yourself" by Eminem
"Lose Yourself" was certified diamond on February 28, 2018.
16. "Love the Way You Lie" by Eminem featuring Rihanna
"Love the Way You Lie" was certified diamond on February 28, 2018.
17. "Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke featuring Pharrell and T.I.
"Blurred Lines" was certified diamond on June 6, 2018.
18. "I Gotta Feeling" by The Black Eyed Peas
"I Gotta Feeling" was certified diamond on June 6, 2018.
19. "Party Rock Anthem" by LMFAO featuring Lauren Bennett and GoonRock
"Party Rock Anthem" was certified diamond on June 6, 2018.
20. "Counting Stars" by OneRepublic
"Counting Stars" was certified diamond on August 20, 2018.
21. "Closer" by The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey
"Closer" was certified diamond on September 17, 2018.
22. "Cruise" by Florida Georgia Line
"Cruise" was certified diamond on October 10, 2018.
23. "Dark Horse" by Katy Perry featuring Juicy J
"Dark Horse" was certified diamond on December 12, 2018.
24. "Just the Way You Are" by Bruno Mars
"Just the Way You Are" was certified diamond on January 11, 2019.
25. "Shape of You" by Ed Sheeran
"Shape of You" was certified diamond on January 24, 2019.
26. "Thinking Out Loud" by Ed Sheeran
"Thinking Out Loud" was certified diamond on February 8, 2019.
27. "We Are Young" by Fun. featuring Janelle Monáe
"We Are Young" was certified diamond on June 13, 2019.
28. "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz
"I'm Yours" was certified diamond on June 24, 2019.
29. "The Hills" by The Weeknd
"The Hills" was certified diamond on June 28, 2019.
30. "See You Again" by Wiz Khalifa featuring Charlie Puth
"See You Again" was certified diamond on September 24, 2019.
31. "God's Plan" by Drake
"God's Plan" was certified diamond on September 25, 2019.
32. "Congratulations" by Post Malone featuring Quavo
"Congratulations" was certified diamond on October 8, 2019.
33. "Old Town Road" by Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus
"Old Town Road" is the fastest song in history to be certified diamond. It received the honor on October 22, 2019, less than one year after its original release.
34. "Trap Queen" by Fetty Wap
"Trap Queen" was certified diamond on November 8, 2019.
35. "Perfect" by Ed Sheeran
"Perfect" was certified diamond on December 20, 2019.
36. "Shake It Off" by Taylor Swift
"Shake It Off" was certified diamond on March 13, 2020, making Swift the first female artist in US history to have both a diamond-certified single and album (2008's "Fearless").
37. "Happy" by Pharrell
"Happy" was certified diamond on May 6, 2020.
38. "Meant to Be" by Bebe Rexha featuring Florida Georgia Line
"Meant to Be" was certified diamond on August 17, 2020.
39. "Grenade" by Bruno Mars
"Grenade" was certified diamond on October 2, 2020.
40. "Pumped Up Kicks" by Foster the People
"Pumped Up Kicks" by Foster the People was certified diamond on October 13, 2020.
41. "All of Me" by John Legend
"All of Me" was certified diamond on October 13, 2020.
42. "Baby Shark" by Pinkfong
"Baby Shark" was certified diamond on November 5, 2020.
43. "Rockstar" by Post Malone featuring 21 Savage
"Rockstar" was certified diamond on November 9, 2020.
44. "Sunflower (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse)" by Post Malone and Swae Lee
"Sunflower (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse)" was certified diamond on November 9, 2020.
45. "Stay With Me" by Sam Smith
"Stay With Me" was certified diamond on November 12, 2020.
46. "Party in the U.S.A." by Miley Cyrus
"Party in the U.S.A." was certified diamond on December 7, 2020.
47. "Sicko Mode" by Travis Scott featuring Drake
"Sicko Mode" was certified diamond on December 9, 2020.
48. "Bodak Yellow" by Cardi B
"Bodak Yellow" was certified diamond on March 8, 2021, making Cardi B the first female rapper in history to have a diamond-certified single.
49. "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen
"Bohemian Rhapsody" was certified diamond on March 25, 2021.
50. "Sorry" by Justin Bieber
"Sorry" was certified diamond on March 29, 2021.
51. "Hey, Soul Sister" by Train
"Hey, Soul Sister" was certified diamond on April 7, 2021.
52. "Low" by Flo Rida featuring T-Pain
"Low" was certified diamond on April 22, 2021.
53. "Stressed Out" by Twenty One Pilots
"Stressed Out" was certified diamond on April 30, 2021.
54. "Somebody That I Used to Know" by Gotye featuring Kimbra
"Somebody That I Used to Know" was certified diamond on May 6, 2021.
55. "That's What I Like" by Bruno Mars
"That's What I Like" was certified diamond on May 21, 2021.
56. "When I Was Your Man" by Bruno Mars
"When I Was Your Man" was certified diamond on May 21, 2021, making Mars the first artist in history with five diamond-certified songs.
57. "Sail" by AWOLNATION
"Sail" was certified diamond on June 14, 2021.
58. "Moves Like Jagger" by Maroon 5
"Moves Like Jagger" was certified diamond on July 1, 2021.
59. "Sad!" by XXXTentacion
"Sad!" was certified diamond on August 13, 2021.
60. "Demons" by Imagine Dragons
"Demons" was certified diamond on August 31, 2021.
61. "Believer" by Imagine Dragons
"Believer" was certified diamond on August 31, 2021.
62. "Lean On" by Major Lazer and DJ Snake featuring MØ
"Lean On" was certified diamond on September 17, 2021.
63. "Havana" by Camila Cabello featuring Young Thug
"Havana" was certified diamond on October 4, 2021.
64. "Stronger" by Kanye West
"Stronger" was certified diamond on October 6, 2021.
65. "Super Bass" by Nicki Minaj
"Super Bass" was certified diamond on November 9, 2021.
66. "Life Is Good" by Future featuring Drake
"Life Is Good" was certified diamond on November 22, 2021.
67. "Girls Like You" by Maroon 5 featuring Cardi B
"Girls Like You" was certified diamond on November 29, 2021.
68. "All I Want for Christmas Is You" by Mariah Carey
"All I Want for Christmas Is You" was certified diamond on December 3, 2021.
69. "The Box" by Roddy Ricch
"The Box" was certified diamond on December 6, 2021.
70. "I Like It" by Cardi B featuring J Balvin and Bad Bunny
"I Like It" was certified diamond on December 13, 2021.
71. "Tennessee Whiskey" by Chris Stapleton
"Tennessee Whiskey" was certified diamond on December 14, 2021.
72. "Sugar" by Maroon 5
"Sugar" was certified diamond on January 11, 2022.
It marks Maroon 5's third diamond-certified song, putting the band on equal footing with Eminem, Katy Perry, Ed Sheeran, Justin Bieber, and Cardi B.
73. "I Will Always Love You" by Whitney Houston
"I Will Always Love You" was certified diamond on January 12, 2022.
74. "Lucid Dreams" by Juice Wrld
"Lucid Dreams" was certified diamond on February 4, 2022.
75. "Location" by Khalid
"Location" was certified diamond on March 3, 2022.
76. "A Thousand Years" by Christina Perri
"A Thousand Years" was certified diamond on March 3, 2022.
77. "Blinding Lights" by The Weeknd
"Blinding Lights" was certified diamond on April 5, 2022.
78. "Starboy" by The Weeknd featuring Daft Punk
"Starboy" was certified diamond on April 5, 2022.
79. "Timber" by Pitbull featuring Kesha
"Timber" was certified diamond on June 23, 2022.
80. "Thunder" by Imagine Dragons
"Thunder" was certified diamond on July 7, 2022, marking Imagine Dragon's fourth diamond-certified song.
81. "Don't Let Me Down" by The Chainsmokers featuring Daya
"Don't Let Me Down" was certified diamond on July 11, 2022.
82. "Heathens" by Twenty One Pilots
"Heathens" was certified diamond on July 22, 2022.
83. "Unforgettable" by French Montana featuring Swae Lee
"Unforgettable" was certified diamond on August 25, 2022.
84. "Billie Jean" by Michael Jackson
"Billie Jean" was certified diamond on August 29, 2022.
85. "Thriller" by Michael Jackson
"Thriller" was certified diamond on August 29, 2022.
86. "Drip Too Hard" by Lil Baby and Gunna
"Drip Too Hard" was certified diamond on September 12, 2022.
87. "Locked Out of Heaven" by Bruno Mars
"Locked Out of Heaven" was certified diamond on October 1, 2022. Mars now has six diamond-certified songs, the second-most in history.
88. "Can't Hold Us" by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis featuring Ray Dalton
"Can't Hold Us" was certified diamond on October 14, 2022.
89. "Wagon Wheel" by Darius Rucker
"Wagon Wheel" was certified diamond on October 27, 2022.
90. "Something Just Like This" by The Chainsmokers and Coldplay
"Something Just Like This" was certified diamond on November 2, 2022.
91. "Psycho" by Post Malone featuring Ty Dolla $ign
"Psycho" was certified diamond on November 14, 2022.
92. "White Iverson" by Post Malone
"White Iverson" was certified diamond on November 14, 2022.
93. "Can't Feel My Face" by The Weeknd
"Can't Feel My Face" was certified diamond on December 6, 2022.
94. "Hotline Bling" by Drake
"Hotline Bling" was certified diamond on December 8, 2022.
95. "One Dance" by Drake
"One Dance" was certified diamond on December 8, 2022.
It marks Drake's fifth diamond-certified song, the third-most in history.
96. "Lollipop" by Lil Wayne featuring Static Major
"Lollipop" was certified diamond on December 14, 2022.
97. "Pursuit of Happiness (Nightmare)" by Kid Cudi featuring MGMT and Ratatat
"Pursuit of Happiness (Nightmare)" was certified diamond on December 15, 2022.
98. "XO Tour Llif3" by Lil Uzi Vert
"XO Tour Llif3" was certified diamond on December 7, 2022.
99. "Fireflies" by Owl City
"Fireflies" was certified diamond on January 25, 2023. It's also one of the few solo-written songs from this century to hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
100. "Without Me" by Halsey
"Without Me" was certified diamond on February 1, 2023.
101. "Say You Won't Let Go" by James Arthur
"Say You Won't Let Go" was certified diamond on February 15, 2023.
102. "Earned It" by The Weeknd
"Earned It" was certified diamond on February 16, 2023, becoming The Weeknd's fifth diamond single.
He is now tied with Drake for the third-most in history. They trail Bruno Mars (six) and Post Malone (eight).
Although it was released as the lead single from the "Fifty Shades of Grey" film soundtrack, "Earned It" was also included on The Weeknd's sophomore studio album "Beauty Behind the Madness" — now the first album in history to have three diamond-certified songs on its tracklist.
103. "Take Me to Church" by Hozier
"Take Me to Church" was certified diamond on March 15, 2023.
104. "Just Dance" by Lady Gaga
"Just Dance" was certified diamond on April 12, 2023.
105. "Need You Now" by Lady A
"Need You Now" was certified diamond on April 17, 2023.
106. "Sweater Weather" by The Neighbourhood
"Sweater Weather" was certified diamond on April 19, 2023.
107. "Better Now" by Post Malone
"Better Now" was certified diamond on April 20, 2023.
108. "I Fall Apart" by Post Malone
"I Fall Apart" was certified diamond on April 20, 2023.
109. "Circles" by Post Malone
"Circles" was certified diamond on April 20, 2023, becoming Post Malone's eighth diamond single.
He now has more than any artist in history, surpassing Bruno Mars.
110. "We Found Love" by Rihanna featuring Calvin Harris
"We Found Love" was certified diamond on April 27, 2023.
111. "Beautiful Crazy" by Luke Combs
"Beautiful Crazy" was certified diamond on June 12, 2023.
112. "Ni**as in Paris" by Jay-Z and Kanye West
"Ni**as in Paris" was certified diamond on June 12, 2023.
113. "Wake Me Up" by Avicii
"Wake Me Up" was certified diamond on June 16, 2023.
114. "Fuck Love" by XXXTentacion featuring Trippie Redd
"Fuck Love" was certified diamond on June 18, 2023.
115. "California Gurls" by Katy Perry featuring Snoop Dogg
"California Gurls" was certified diamond on June 21, 2023.
116. "Stay" by The Kid LAROI and Justin Bieber
"Stay" was certified diamond on June 23, 2023.
117. "No Hands" by Waka Flocka Flame featuring Wale and Roscoe Dash
"No Hands" was certified diamond on July 20, 2023.
118. "Riptide" by Vance Joy
"Riptide" was certified diamond on July 27, 2023.
119. "Bad Guy" by Billie Eilish
"Bad Guy" was certified diamond on July 31, 2023.
120. "Body Like a Back Road" by Sam Hunt
"Body Like a Back Road" was certified diamond on August 1, 2023.
Read the original article on Insider
Consider your short-term and long-term availability to find the right online history degree for your schedule. For a clear sense of how education can fit into your life, take inventory of your professional and personal obligations.
If you work full time or have other responsibilities, programs with night courses, weekend classes or part-time enrollment may offer the best option. Busier students can prioritize programs offering asynchronous online learning, which allows learners to complete assignments without set login times.
Zoom out to consider how quickly you want to earn a degree and enter the workforce. You can typically earn a bachelor’s degree in four years of full-time enrollment, though accelerated programs offer shorter degree timelines if you want to graduate and start working faster. Keep in mind, however, that accelerated programs tend to be more intensive and may not allow time to keep a job while studying.
Accredited schools meet rigorous standards set by independent agencies recognized by the U.S. Department of Education or the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. Institutions and programs voluntarily undergo assessment for the validity of their resources, educational offerings and student outcomes.
Accreditation occurs at both institutional and programmatic levels. Institutional accreditation applies to entire schools; this status is key for students to qualify for federal financial aid and transfer credits to other institutions. In some cases, professionals need degrees from accredited institutions to qualify for certifications and land employment after graduation.
Within schools, programs and departments may receive programmatic accreditation. Though there is no programmatic accreditor for history programs, students in specific subsets of history, such as art history, can look for programs accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design.
Finding the right online history degree requires you to take stock of your long-term goals. If you plan to work in academia as a researcher or professor, seek schools that feature graduate degrees in relevant areas. Universities often provide smoother graduate admissions to undergraduate alums, so you might apply to schools with bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral programs that align with your academic and career goals.
However, if you plan to enter the workforce after earning a bachelor’s degree, consider prioritizing schools with internship partners and large alumni networks. Connecting with peers, instructors and employers while still in school can help get your foot in the door of your desired industry after graduation.
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Our team thoroughly researches and evaluates the recommendations we make on our site. To establish that the product manufacturers addressed safety and efficacy standards, we:Was this helpful?
Our editors tested and selected the best CBD gummies based on quality, safety, and transparency. Among our top picks are CBDfx, Cornbread Hemp, Medterra, and FOCL. Check out the full list below.
Healthline has sole editorial control over this article. Potential uses for the products listed here are not health claims made by the manufacturers. The information in this article is intended to be general in nature. It’s not intended to be a substitute for medical advice from a healthcare professional. Healthline encourages you to make any treatment decisions with your healthcare professional.
Cannabidiol (CBD) has a variety of potential health benefits and effects, with more research on the way. CBD gummies are easy to dose, portable, discreet, and come in various flavors, making them a good choice for people looking to try CBD for the first time.
Our editors have tested all the gummies in this article and provided feedback to help make choosing and buying a little easier for you. Read on for our top picks.
We chose these products based on criteria we think are good indicators of safety, quality, and transparency. Every brand and product featured has been vetted by our team for medical and business standards. Each product in this article:
As a part of our selection process, we also considered:
Where available, we’ve included special discount codes for our readers.
CBD prices are a reflection of the costs involved in producing these products, including the growing of the hemp and the extraction process. Quality control and third-party testing also drive up pricing, as does the fairly limited supply versus the significant demand.
To help readers understand how different brands are priced, we’ve included price per milligram (mg) of CBD for all gummies in this article.
Use the following criteria when buying CBD gummies:
The first thing to consider when purchasing CBD gummies is the type of CBD used.
CBD isolate is pure CBD, with no other cannabinoids. While isolates are good for consumers who want to avoid THC, this extraction method strips away the flavonoids and terpenes found in cannabis. This means the end result won’t provide the full range of health benefits.
Products made with broad-spectrum CBD contain most cannabinoids, plus other cannabis compounds, but they generally don’t contain THC.
Products made with full-spectrum CBD can contain all the plant’s cannabinoids, including THC. Full-spectrum products provide the most therapeutic benefits as a result of the entourage effect, which means that cannabinoids have a greater effect combined than consumed alone.
The best bet is to go for a full- or broad-spectrum product made with organic hemp grown in the United States. Hemp grown in the United States is subject to agricultural regulations, and it can’t contain more than 0.3% THC.
Any product that doesn’t specifically say what type of CBD was used — for instance, listing only “cannabis extract” as an ingredient — is probably one to avoid.
Doses vary widely across CBD products, and it may depend on the CBD source. For example, a 5-mg full-spectrum CBD gummy may feel a lot more potent than a 5-mg CBD isolate gummy.
If you’re unsure what dose to look for, the best bet is to start with the lowest one available — generally 2.5 mg to 5 mg — and increase from there.
There’s a lot more to CBD gummies than just CBD. Other ingredients can vary widely. Pay attention to additives like artificial ingredients and preservatives.
You may also want to avoid high fructose corn syrup, and if you’re vegan or have allergies, look for products that match those needs.
The ideal CBD gummy is made with organic, non-GMO ingredients, real sugar, and natural flavorings. Although you can purchase CBD products that contain vitamins or adaptogenic herbs, it may be best to avoid these, as experts aren’t sure how CBD interacts with vitamins, minerals, or supplements.
Currently, the FDA does not ensure the safety, effectiveness, or quality of OTC CBD products.
However, to protect public health, the FDA can take action against CBD companies that make unfounded health claims. It’s important to do your research and find a quality product.
Take a look at the COA and make sure the product has been tested for contaminants like heavy metals, pesticides, and molds. You can also use the COA to verify that the product actually contains the amount of CBD and THC that the label says it does.
Beware of any company that promises extreme results and remember that results may differ. A product that works well for a friend or family member may not have the same effects for you.
If a product doesn’t work for you, consider trying another with different ingredients or a different amount of CBD.
Most gummies come in packs of 20 to 60, and they’re dosed at 5 mg or more of CBD per gummy. If you’ve never tried CBD, start with a 5-mg gummy. Some gummies can be cut in half, so you can start with 2.5 mg.
Wait up to 2 hours to experience the full effects, and if you feel like you need more, experiment until you find your “just right” dose. You can consume gummies daily, but keep in mind that the effects of a gummy tend to last 4 to 6 hours.
Store in a cool, dark place away from sunlight.
Some prefer ingesting CBD by eating edibles like gummies. CBD gummies are offered in a variety of potencies. But generally, it’ll be about 30 to 60 minutes before the results begin, although it can take longer.
When you eat a CBD gummy, your body will first absorb it in the digestive system. Next, the active ingredients can move into your bloodstream, making their way to your liver.
From here, your liver metabolizes the ingredients before entering the bloodstream again and then finally making it to your brain.
This is when the results are generally noticed. Although everyone’s experience with onset time may be different. Of course, if you eat a CBD gummy on an empty stomach, you may notice results faster than if you take it with a full stomach.
CBD oil differs from CBD gummies in a few ways. It’s a more versatile consumption method since it can be taken sublingually (beneath the tongue) or added to foods and beverages.
Because gummies are chewed and swallowed, CBD must be metabolized via the digestive system before any effects become noticeable. However, those effects may last longer. CBD oil taken sublingually has a very rapid onset, but effects may not last as long as those from a gummy.
CBD may offer some health benefits, and a gummy is an easy way for people to explore the effects of CBD. Gummies are easy to dose and tend to minimize natural CBD flavor, which can be off-putting to some people. Instead, they’re designed to be delicious and can be found in all kinds of flavors and potencies.
If you’re looking for a specific type of CBD, such as broad-spectrum or isolate, it’s easy to find a gummy that fits the bill. CBD gummies can also be made with key ingredients for specific benefits, like melatonin to promote sleep.
CBD is nonintoxicating, meaning it will not get you “high.” It’s generally recognized as safe, and there are few side effects, though they do occur occasionally.
Some research suggests that CBD may interact with liver enzymes and interfere with metabolizing other medications or breaking down toxins. Always consult a clinician before using CBD products, especially if you take any medications or supplements.
Additionally, keep in mind that some research suggests that consuming CBD with high fat meals could increase your risk for side effects. This is because high fat meals can increase CBD blood concentrations, which can increase the risk of side effects.
If you’re pregnant or breastfeeding, avoid CBD.
The best CBD gummies are ones made by transparent companies with strong reputations, ethical practices, and testing standards, as well as overall positive reviews from users. The gummies featured on this list are considered to be some of the best available.
After consuming a CBD gummy, it can be as soon as 30 to 60 minutes or up to a couple of hours before the effects kick in.
It may take longer to notice the effects of CBD gummies compared with CBD oil, as gummies have to travel through your digestive system before the effects can take place. If you’re looking for faster absorption, go for CBD oil.
Some gummies are made using as little sugar, dyes, and additives as possible, while others indulge. You’ll want to read the label carefully and keep that in mind.
This will depend on the product you choose. Some CBD gummies come in higher doses and are meant to be taken only once per day, while others are less potent, meaning you can slowly take more as you get used to CBD and find the result you’re looking to achieve.
Some CBD gummies are free of THC, but there is always a chance that trace amounts could be included, which can result in a positive drug test. Full-spectrum CBD does include all the plant’s cannabinoids, meaning it contains THC. To be sure there is no THC in your CBD gummies, select an isolate (also known as pure CBD) option.
CBD may have health benefits, and gummies are a great way for CBD-curious folks to dip their toes into the water. Stick with full- or broad-spectrum products made with organic hemp grown in the United States, and be sure that whatever you buy is third-party tested.
Start slowly, enjoying enough of a gummy to ingest 2.5 mg to 5 mg of CBD. Evaluate any effects as you slowly work your way toward finding the right amount for you — your Goldilocks dose. Wait up to a full 2 hours before taking any additional CBD.
Consult a clinician before taking CBD, especially if you’re currently on any other medication.
Is CBD legal? The 2018 Farm Bill removed hemp from the legal definition of marijuana in the Controlled Substances Act. This made some hemp-derived CBD products with less than 0.3% THC legal at the federal level. However, CBD products containing more than 0.3% THC still fall under the legal definition of marijuana, making them illegal at the federal level. Some states have legalized CBD, so be sure to check state laws, especially when traveling. Also, keep in mind that the FDA has not approved nonprescription CBD products, and some products may be inaccurately labeled.