OGN Wednesday

15 minutes ago
4 min read

Mid-week smorgasbord of tasty news nuggets to brighten the day.

Erling Haaland wearing a white Norwegian team shirt — What's in a name?

Baby Names in Peru

The 2026 World Cup is over, but it has left quite a lasting mark on little ones, inspiring many a baby name in Peru. According to EuroNews, 468 newborns were registered with the name Haaland after Norwegian striker Erling Haaland, one of the stars of this year’s tournament. “Haaland is Peruvian too,” joked Ivan Torres, a spokesperson from Peru’s civil registry. The soccer name trend doesn’t end there, as Torres noted that one newborn was simply named “Mundial” after the Spanish shorthand for the World Cup, per Televisión Panamericana. Lionel Messi is the namesake for 3,402 Peruvians (with 292 officially registered with his full name) and Cristiano Ronaldo for 1,185. But the most jaw-dropping stat is that a whopping 33,809 babies are named after the mononymous Brazilian soccer star Neymar.

Sir Paul McCartney chatting to Ringo — Paul chatting to Ringo | Credit: Neil Morton

Surreal Surprise

A tour guide who takes Beatles fans around Liverpool told how fans were stunned to see Sir Paul McCartney while waiting at traffic lights. The chance encounter got even more surreal, when the Fab Four fans realised Sir Paul was at that very moment talking to fellow Beatle Ringo Starr on a video call. "It was surreal," said Neil Morton, who has driven the Magical Mystery Tour bus around various Beatles sights in Liverpool for the last two years. "I had pulled up at the traffic lights on Hope Street when who should I see - Sir Paul with Ringo on Facetime", he said. "He waved to us and everybody took photos. "The passengers could not believe it."

3:42.66

Scottish runner Josh Kerr just put in the fastest mile time in human history, breaking a record that had stood for 27 years after clocking 3:42.66. Set at the recent London Diamond League athletics meet, Kerr finished a half-second faster than the legendary Moroccan runner Hicham El Guerrouj, who ran a mile in 3:43.13 back in 1999, in Rome, when Kerr was just a toddler. Unapologetically bold, Kerr widely publicized his intention to break the Men’s fastest mile record at the start of the year, and spent much of it in intense training.

Level Playing Field

The Women’s Tennis Association is introducing one-off mandatory gene-testing for all players - a requirement to compete at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. The WTA updated its women’s eligibility policy to include gender screening “based on biological sex... to preserve the integrity of women’s professional tennis and maintain fair competition conditions for all players.” The new policy takes the organization in line with the eligibility policy introduced by the International Olympic Committee.

The Original 9: On 23 September 1970, the daring women who would become known as the WTA’s Original 9 signed $1 contracts to create professional women’s tennis - a moment that would change the sport forever.

The bright yellow C4 prototype operating off Aguçadoura, northern Portugal — Credit: CorPower Ocean

Heart Mimic

A Swedish device that mimics the human heart to turn ocean swells into electricity has just cleared a hurdle that's kept wave power sidelined for decades. The CorPower C4 has become the first wave energy converter to earn a full certificate from DNV, the Norwegian firm considered the gold standard for offshore energy certification. The seven-year review covered everything from initial design to structural fatigue, manufacturing, and real-world storm survival. For an industry that has struggled for 50 years to convince investors, that stamp of approval matters - institutional funders typically won't back marine energy projects without it. The company behind it is now moving toward what could become the world's first commercial wave power plant. Covering almost three quarters of the Earth’s surface, oceans are one of the world’s most valuable and yet largest untapped renewable resources.

New York Powers Ahead

The state of New York installed a record 1.28 gigawatts of solar energy in 2025, and has now installed a total of 8 gigawatts statewide, putting it ahead of schedule to reach its 10-gigawatt goal by 2030. With over 276,000 projects in operation statewide, including both community solar programs and the NY-Sun Program, the total installed capacity can power more than 1.3 million homes and businesses. Solar power helped save New Yorkers an estimated $90 million during the summer last year, and in June, the state set a record when solar generated around 29 percent of statewide electricity midday.

"The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience." Atticus Finch from Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird.

On This Day

22 July 1793: Scottish explorer Alexander Mackenzie completed the first recorded transcontinental crossing of North America north of Mexico by a European. Preceding the Lewis and Clark expedition by over a decade, his gruelling overland route via the Peace River and Canadian Rockies successfully reached the Pacific Ocean. To commemorate the exact spot where he arrived at the ocean, Mackenzie famously painted a message on a rocky shore using a mixture of vermilion and bear grease: "Alexander Mackenzie, from Canada, by land, twenty-second of July, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-three".