| (1896) The first modern Olympic Games open in Athens
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Athens, Greece hosts the first Olympic Games to be held in 1,500 years as athletes from 13 nations parade before an audience of 60,000. Events include track and field, gymnastics, wrestling, and the first ever marathon, which will be won by Spyridon Louis, of Greece.. |
| (1909) Peary and Henson reportedly reach the North Pole
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| US explorers Robert Peary and Matthew Henson arrive with four Inuit men at what they and others believe to be the exact location of the North Pole. Their claims will be questioned in 1989 when an examination of navigational errors in Peary’s logs place the explorers about 60 miles short. . |
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| (1917) US declares war on Germany and enters World War I
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After three years of war between European powers, the once-neutral United States, spurred on by German naval attacks on US civilian merchant ships, enters the fray as Congress declares war. Two million American soldiers will be shipped to Europe’s battlefields.. |
| (1924) First round-the-world airplane flight departs
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| The US Army Air Service launches the first aerial circumnavigation of the globe, using a specially modified torpedo bomber and relay teams of pilots. Several countries had vied to be the first to accomplish the feat, but 175 days and 27,553 miles later, the US team will fly into the history books.. |
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