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Inspired by the Ancient Greeks, the Olympic games were revived in 1896 as a large international sporting competition of amateur athletes. “Friendly competition,” however, sometimes turned slightly bitter as countries sought to assert dominance on the world stage through the competitive games. Read more about it!
The information in this guide focuses on primary source materials found in the digitized historic newspapers from the digital collection Chronicling America.
The timeline below highlights important dates related to this topic and a section of this guide provides some suggested search strategies for further research in the collection.
| 1896 | Athens, Greece hosts the first modern Olympic games. |
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| 1900 | Paris, France hosts the Olympic games in conjunction with the World's Fair, the 1900 Paris Exposition. Women were allowed to participate for the first time; however, they were excluded from sports like track and field. |
| 1904 | St. Louis, Missouri, hosts the Olympics in conjunction with the World's Fair, the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, causing the games to last several months. |
| 1906 | Smaller games are hosted in Athens, Greece. Although called the “Olympics” at the time, there is debate over whether to recognize the games as such. |
| 1908 | London, Great Britain hosts the Olympics. |
| 1912 | Stockholm, Sweden hosts the Olympics. |
| 1916 | Olympic games were to be held in Berlin, Germany, but are cancelled due to World War I. |
| 1920 | Antwerp, Belgium hosts the Olympic games despite recovering from destruction from World War I. |
| Winter 1924 | "International Winter Sports Week" was organized by the French Olympic Committee and held in Chamonix, France. Due to its success leading to a continuation of this event, this winter event would be retroactively designated as the first Winter Olympics. |
| Summer 1924 | Paris, France hosts the Olympics for the second time. This marks the first time the Winter and Summer Olympic games were held at the same year. |
| 1928 | Amsterdam, Netherlands hosts the Olympics. For the first time, women are allowed to participate in athletics (track and field) and gymnastics. |
| Winter 1932 | Lake Placid, New York hosts the Winter Olympics. |
| Summer 1932 | Los Angeles, California hosts the Summer Olympics during the Great Depression. |
| 1936 | The Summer Olympics are held in Berlin, Germany under Nazi rule. African American athlete Jesse Owens wins four gold medals, becoming a national sports icon. |
| 1940-1944 | Due to the onset of World War II, the Olympics are cancelled. |
| 1948 | St. Moritz, Switzerland and London, England host the first post-war Olympic Games. |
| 1952 | Helsinki, Finland hosts the Summer Olympics. The games are fraught with political tension due to the Cold War. |
| 1956 | Melbourne, Australia hosts the first Olympics in the Southern Hemisphere, causing the Summer Games to be held in November and December. Many countries boycott the Games for political reasons. |
| 1960 | Olympic Valley, California hosts the Winter Olympics. |
