Today marks the start of the Summer Olympics in Paris. The City of Light becomes the second city, after London, to host the Summer Olympics for a third time. What makes these Games truly unique is the opening ceremony: rather than in a stadium, participants will parade along the Seine on a flotilla of boats, passing under the Pont Neuf, pictured here, and cheered by spectators lining both banks. Paris is no stranger to historic firsts; the 1900 Games in the city was where women competed for the first time, although only 22 out of 997 athletes were women.
Summer Olympics begin in Paris
Today in History
More Desktop Wallpapers:
-
Katmai National Park, Alaska, USA
-
Earth Day
-
Staying in the loop
-
Gespensterwald, Nienhagen, Germany
-
Coastal redwoods in Redwood National and State Parks, California, United States
-
Glenariff Forest Park, County Antrim, Ireland
-
Fresh finds in Fraser Valley
-
Canadian Tulip Festival
-
Magnified moss
-
The butterfly effect
-
Shi Shi Beach, Olympic National Park, Washington, United States
-
Haghartsin Monastery, Armenia
-
Jacksons Point Lighthouse on Lake Simcoe, Ontario
-
Spanning the soft sunlight
-
West Cornwall Covered Bridge, Connecticut, USA
-
Cala Luna beach, Sardinia, Italy
-
Independence Day of the Argentine Republic
-
What’s your favourite colour?
-
Sharks, just living their lives
-
Gravity-defying wonders of the world
-
Celebrating Festivus
-
Gaztelugatxe islet at sunset, Basque Country, Spain
-
A scented sea of purple
-
Starry, starry night
-
The ancient home of the Minoans
-
Molokini crater, Maui, Hawaii, USA
-
Monarch butterflies, Goleta, California
-
An ugly duckling no more
-
What are these beautiful sandy waves?
-
International Day of Peace