OGN Wednesday

2 days ago
4 min read

Mid-week collection of positive news stories to brighten the day.

Teemu Touvinen carrying Jatta Leinonen over his shoulders — Quirky British sporting event

Wife Carrying Race

To have and to hold took on a new meaning for about two dozen couples who put their relationships to the test on a grassy hill in southern England. Wives and girlfriends clung on for dear life as their partners carried them up and down a hillside for the Wife Carrying Race - one of the country’s quirkiest annual sports events. Teemu Touvinen and Jatta Leinonen from Finland (appropriately) were crowned the winners at 1 minute and 45 seconds. Their prize? A barrel of local ale. The awkward footrace in Dorking, Surrey is said to be inspired by a 19th-century Finnish legend about a gang that pillages villages and steals the women. Contestants raced up a gently sloping hillside and back down, clearing obstacles like low rows of hay bales and having buckets of water thrown at them for good measure. The course is 380 meters (416 yards) long - “a long way under the circumstances,” organizers noted.

silver medal from the 1896 Games featuring a portrait of Zeus — Credit: Bruun Rasmussen

When Gold Was Silver

The Olympics date back to 776 B.C.E., when athletes first started gathering in Olympia, Greece, for a festival honouring Zeus. But the modern Olympics as we know them today are a relatively recent development, kicking off in Athens in the spring of 1896. Now, a rare silver medal from the 1896 Games has sold at auction, bringing in roughly $179,000 at an auction in Denmark. At the time, silver medals were awarded to first-place winners. Second-place finishers, meanwhile, received bronze medals, while those who came in third received no medals at all. The 130-year-old artifact, which was designed by French artist Jules-Clément Chaplain, features a portrait of Zeus holding the goddess of victory, Nike, in his palm. The other side depicts the Acropolis in Athens, with the phrase “International Olympic Games -Athens 1896” written in raised Greek characters across the top.

Ancient Olympians Performed Nude: In 776 B.C.E., spectators gathered in Olympia, Greece, to watch a simple footrace. Thus began the ancient Olympics.

Boy Standing in Front of Faucet — Good news for millions

Profound Impact

Out of 193.6 million rural households in India, more than 157.9 million have tap water today, according to the government. The milestone is thanks to the efforts of Jal Jeevan Mission, a government program first launched in 2019 with the aim of providing piped drinking water to every rural household in the country. Since 1990, India has greatly reduced the deaths from unsafe drinking water by over 80 percent. To further improve public health and reduce waterborne illnesses, the JJM also launched a “Citizen Corner,” which makes village-level water quality test results available to the public.

large tortoiseshell butterfly on a yellow flower — Credit: Butterfly Conservation

No Longer Extinct

A butterfly officially classed as extinct in the UK - last recorded as a breeding species in the 1980s - has been seen at several sites across southern England. It has led Butterfly Conservation to declare the large tortoiseshell a resident breeding species in the country once again, as opposed to a migratory one. Prof Richard Fox said: "We don't know why the butterfly was lost from Britain, so it's difficult to know why it has come back as well."

Cleaner Air

Researchers from the University of Southern California analyzed air quality from 2019 to 2023 in California and found that for every 200 electric vehicles added in a ZIP code, nitrogen dioxide levels dropped by about 1.1 percent. Projection models have long predicted the benefits of EVs, but this study is the first of its kind to collect EV data via satellite. The new study used satellite measurements to capture trends across nearly 1,700 areas. The researchers say the results indicate that even incremental shifts toward electric vehicles can deliver tangible air quality improvements.

New Protections

Over the past several months, Bolivia has created four new protected areas covering 907,244 hectares, or 2.2 million acres, of Amazon lowlands and Andean highlands. The new areas create corridors to improve wildlife migration and maintain forest-based economies for locals and is part of an effort by local governments to link Indigenous territories with nearby national parks and strengthen ecological connectivity. The new management area will help protect the endangered Bolivian river dolphin and vulnerable harpy eagle, among other species.

“The difference between fiction and reality? Fiction has to make sense.” Tom Clancy

On This Day

11 March 1927: Samuel "Roxy" Rothafel opened the Roxy Theatre in New York City, which was the world's largest movie palace at the time with 5,920 seats. The opening featured the silent film The Love of Sunya, starring and produced by Gloria Swanson. Designed by Walter W. Ahlschlager, the opulent theater was located on 7th Avenue and 50th Street.