Sports History On This Day: April 6

April 6, 1896 – The First modern-era Olympic Games have opening ceremonies not far from where the ancient Greeks started the tradition in Athens, Greece. American athlete James Connolly became the first modern Olympic champion when he won the triple jump event. 

The rebirth of the games of the Olympiad was the creation of French aristocrat Pierre de Coubertin when he had founded and organized the International Olympic Committee.

These first games of the Summer Olympics had 14 nations participating from April 6 through April 15, 1896, with only male athletes. Over 65% of the participants were Greek but 10 of the 14 nations in this Olympiad did take home medals.

To find more great daily sports history make sure to check out the Sports Jersey Dispatch and Pigskin Dispatch.

American Olympic Team at the 1896 Athens Olympics, 1896, from the Brooklyn Museum photographer: Thomas Pelham Curtis (1873–1944).
The photo is courtesy of Wikimedia Commons and is of the American Olympic Team at the 1896 Athens Olympics, 1896, from the Brooklyn Museum photographer: Thomas Pelham Curtis (1873–1944). Special thanks to the resources of Newspapers.com and OnThisDay.com for the information obtained.

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