Winter Olympics
The 1960 Winter Olympics: Where Underdogs Ruled
History Flashback takes a look at historical “found footage” of all kinds—newsreels, instructional films, even cartoons—to give us a glimpse into how much things have changed, and how much has remained the same. When the Olympic Committee announced that Squaw Valley would be the ...read more
How Snowboarding Became a Mainstream Olympic Event
Skiing has been a method of transportation since prehistoric times and a competitive sport for more than a century. In contrast, skiing’s younger, hipper counterpart—snowboarding—only emerged in the 1960s, after surfing and skateboarding had already gained mainstream popularity. ...read more
The Terrorist Attack That Failed to Derail the 1988 Seoul Olympics
On November 29, 1987, two North Korean spies boarded a South Korean plane in Baghdad. The pair had used fake names and forged passports to pose as Japanese tourists. They’d also convinced security to let them keep the batteries in their carry-on “radio,” which they’d turned on to ...read more
Why Are North and South Korea Divided?
North and South Korea have been divided for more than 70 years, ever since the Korean Peninsula became an unexpected casualty of the escalating Cold War between two rival superpowers: the Soviet Union and the United States. A Unified Korea For centuries before the division, the ...read more
The Man Who Invented Figure Skating Was Laughed Out of America
Nearly 60 years before the first Winter Olympics, long before figure skating was even a sport, an American named Jackson Haines became known for the pirouettes, dances and dramatic jumps he performed on the ice. Haines’ road to fame and fortune wasn’t an easy one. He was laughed ...read more
Russia Isn’t the First Country to be Banned from the Olympics
The Olympic Games come just every two years. But what never ceases is the Olympic Movement, a philosophy based on striving to create a peaceful, better world. So when nations have historically run afoul of that mission, they have been subsequently banished from the games. ...read more
10 Things You May Not Know About the Winter Olympics
1. Denver won—then rejected—the 1976 Winter Olympics. In 1970, the International Olympic Committee selected Denver over three other candidates—Sion, Switzerland; Tampere, Finland and Vancouver, Canada—to host the 1976 Winter Olympics. As the projected costs and environmental ...read more
The First Winter Olympics
The snow-covered Alps sparkled in the sunlight that bathed the winter resort of Chamonix, France, on January 25, 1924. In the heart of the alpine village, 258 amateur athletes gathered for the ceremonial opening of the first-ever “International Winter Sports Week,” a frozen ...read more
First Winter Olympics
On January 25, 1924, the first Winter Olympics take off in style at Chamonix in the French Alps. Spectators were thrilled by the ski jump and bobsled as well as 12 other events involving a total of six sports. The “International Winter Sports Week,” as it was known, was a great ...read more
Olympic speed skater Dan Jansen falls after sister dies
On February 14, 1988, U.S. speed skater Dan Jansen, a favorite to win the gold medal in the 500-meter race at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, falls during competition, only hours after learning his sister had died of cancer. Jansen suffered disappointment after ...read more