Today marks the 125th anniversary of the first modern Olympic Games, held in Athens in 1896—1,500 years after they were banned by the Roman emperor. (The original games were held at least as far back as 776 BCE and probably earlier.) The 1896 Games were held in the Panathenaic Stadium, in the shadow of the Acropolis of Athens, shown here. Those newly revived games of 1896 included athletes from 14 countries, with the largest delegations from Greece, Germany, France, and Great Britain. The 43 events included a marathon, tennis, cycling, fencing, shooting, Greco-Roman wrestling, and swimming. And while some things haven"t changed over the years, some were pretty different back then. Swimmers were taken out to sea by boat for the longer races and had to swim back to shore. Winners were given a silver medal (copper for second place), as well as an olive branch and a diploma.
On the rebirth of the Olympic Games
Today in History
More Desktop Wallpapers:
-
Negratín Reservoir, Granada, Spain
-
An island hopper s paradise
-
International Rock Day
-
It s Mountain Day in Japan
-
Pumpkin patch
-
Ancient art in the Amazon
-
World Book Day
-
The Tre Cime di Lavaredo, Italy
-
There’s a dog in there somewhere
-
World Photography Day
-
A spectacle unlike any other
-
Honoring our veterans
-
Frost on autumn leaves
-
Bungle Bungle Range in Purnululu National Park, Australia
-
Atlanta Botanical Garden
-
It s Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
-
A wonder in winter
-
Dog days of summer
-
Jaguar in the Pantanal wetlands
-
Did it see its shadow?
-
Gazing down on planet Earth
-
Leap day
-
Keep calm and drive on (slowly)
-
Sweetheart Abbey, Scotland
-
Christmas Eve
-
Corfe gets creepy
-
Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia
-
2022 FIFA World Cup
-
Winter scenery near Kuhmo, Finland
-
Lavender fields on the Valensole Plateau in Provence, France