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There have been 25 Olympic Games since its
inception in 1896 at Athens, Greece. Except for three occasions, the
Olympic Games have been successfully held across the globe.
Olympics History
The Modern Olympic Games began from the year 1896 and
were held in Athens, Greece, the place of birth of Olympics. It was the
efforts of French educator Baron Pierre de Coubertin and others that led
to the revival of the Olympic event. The Olympic Games have since been
held successfully twenty five times, with the last Olympic Games also
happening in Athens in 2004. The Games were successfully held after a
gap of four years but it was only on three occasions that the Olympic
Games could not be held. These were the warring periods in the history
of modern world. In the year 1916, 1940 and 1944 the Olympic Games could
not take place due to the destruction and devastation caused by the 1st
and 2nd World Wars. The XXIX Olympiad is now all set to take place in
Beijing from 8th August 2008 to 24th August 2008. Given below is the
chronology of the modern Olympic Games.
- Athens, 1896 - The first Modern Olympic Games were held
in the place of birth of the Olympics.
- Paris, 1900 - Women took part for the first time in the
history of modern Olympics.
- St Louis, 1904 - These were the first modern Olympic
Games, where gold, silver and bronze medals were awarded for first,
second and third prize respectively.
- London, 1908 - Athletes from 22 nations represented their
respective countries at the Olympic Games.
- Stockholm, 1912 - At these games, for the first time
competitors came from all five continents symbolized in the Olympic
rings.
- Antwerp, 1920 - The Olympic Games at Antwerp, Belgium had
several firsts. For the first time the Olympic oath was uttered, the
Olympic flag hoisted and doves released to symbolize peace.
- Paris, 1924 - The VIII Olympiad were the last ones to be
organized under the presidency of Pierre de Coubertin, the founder
of modern Olympics.
- Amsterdam, 1928 - These games were the first to bear the
name Summer Olympic Games and the Olympic torch was also lit for the
first time.
- Los Angeles, 1932 - Colombia and the Republic of China
made their first appearances at the Olympic Games.
- Berlin, 1936 - Jesse Owens, an African-American athlete
in the times of racial discrimination, became the star of the Games
and won four gold medals in the sprint and long jump events.
- London, 1948 - The XIV Olympiad was officially opened by
King George VI.
- Helsinki, 1952 - At the 1952 Olympic Games, for the first
time a team from USSR participated.
- Melbourne / Stockholm, 1956 - The Olympic Games were
celebrated in Melbourne, Australia. However the equestrian events
were held five months earlier in Stockholm, Sweden due to quarantine
regulations in Australia.
- Rome, 1960 - At the Rome Olympics, Soviets won 15 of the
16 possible medals in women's gymnastics.
- Tokyo, 1964 - Sixteen nations made their first appearance
in the Tokyo Olympics.
- Mexico, 1968 - These are the only Olympic Games held in
Latin America. Also at these games, East and West Germany send their
separate teams for the first time.
- Munich, 1972 - The Games were marred by the Munich
massacre. On September 5, 1972 Palestinian terrorists belonging to
the Black September Organization abducted eleven Israeli athletes
from the Games Village and subsequently killed them.
- Montreal, 1976 - The Games were officially opened by
Queen Elizabeth II and several of the members of the royal family of
Britain were present on the occasion. Also owing to the Munich
massacre, the security arrangements were very tight.
- Moscow, 1980 - The USA boycotted the Games as a protest
to USSR's invasion of Afghanistan.
- Los Angeles ,1984 - Owing to the American boycott of the
1980 Olympic Games, Soviet and other Eastern bloc countries
including Cuba, East Germany and others also boycotted the Los
Angeles Games.
- Seoul, 1988 - Guam, Maldives, Cook Islands, Aruba,
American Samoa, Vanuatu, Saint Vincent, Grenadines and South Yemen
participated in the Olympic Games for the first time at the Seoul
Olympics.
- Barcelona ,1992 - With the exception of Afghanistan, it
was for the first time since 1972 Munich Olympics that all the IOC
countries participated in the Games.
- Atlanta, 1996 - Twenty four countries made their Olympic
debut this year. The Games were also affected by violence as on July
27, 1996 the Centennial Olympic Park was bombed killing two and
wounding 111 others.
- Sydney, 2000 - The 'Millennium Games' or the 'Games of
the New Millennium' generated much interest world wide and the host
city Sydney also won the 'Pierre de Coubertin Trophy', in
recognition of the collaboration and happiness shown by the people
of Sydney during the event.
- Athens, 2004 - At the Athens Olympic Games all the 202
nations affiliated to the International Olympic Committee
participated at the Games. The Athenians put up a spectacular
cultural show and fireworks during the opening and closing
ceremonies.
- Beijing, 2008 - The Beijing Olympics are due to be held
from August 8th to August 24th. The Games will be co-hosted by six
other cities of People's Republic of China.
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