This a great article and the video is pure genius!
Brian Murphy at The Miami Herald reports.
Iceland’s Haukur Heidar Hauksson takes a selfie with supporters at the end of the Euro 2016 round of 16 soccer match between England and Iceland, at the Allianz Riviera stadium in Nice, France, Monday, June 27, 2016. Claude Paris AP
On June 27, Iceland recorded one of the biggest soccer victories in its history, defeating England 2-1 in Euro 2016 and advancing to the quarterfinals.
Nine months later, the country is apparently experiencing a baby boom.
“Set a record for the number of epidurals in the maternity duty this weekend — nine months after the 2-1 win over England,” tweeted Asgeir Petur Thorvaldsson, who multiple outlets reported is a doctor in the anaesthesiology department at Landspitali University Hospital in Reykjavik.
His tweet was translated by Google from Icelandic to English.
Iceland — a country of 330,000 people — drew with Portugal and Hungary before defeating Austria in pool play. Then in the knockout round, Iceland scored its momentous upset of England. England’s manager resigned immediately after the game.
Iceland’s fans made “The Thunderclap” famous during its run at the tournament. Iceland lost to host France 5-2 in the quarterfinals of the tournament, which was won by Portugal.
It is not the first time athletic success has led to more births. Spain’s birth rate rose 16 percent after Barcelona won the 2009 Champions League, researchers found. The Boston Globe reported signs of a “Red Sox phenomenon” in 2005, nine months after the Boston Red Sox won their first World Series title since 1918. The New Zealand Herald reported on a baby boom in 2012 after the country’s rugby team won the World Cup in 2011.
We could be soon hearing about a baby boom in Chicago after the Cubs won their first World Series title since 1908 in October.
The NFL produced a commercial highlighting what it called “Super Bowl Babies,” though no hard data exists that Super Bowl titles lead to a baby boom in the winning city.
