Baloo's bugle volume 21, Number 9

Fun Facts About the Olympics

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  Because of World War I and World War II, there were no Olympic Games in 1916, 1940, or 1944.
  
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  In 490 BCE, Pheidippides, a Greek soldier, ran from Marathon to Athens (about 25 miles) over terrible terrain to let the people know their soldiers were victorious over the Persians, then fell to the ground dead.
  
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  The distance of a marathon was decided to be 26 miles and 385 yards because the British Royal Family requested the 1908 marathon to begin at Windsor Castle so their children could watch. That distance became the standard marathon length in 1924.
  
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  Motor boating was an official sport at the 1908 Olympics.
  
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  The original Greek athletes played in the nude. The Greek root "gymnos" means nude and the word "gymnasium" literally means "school for naked exercise."
  
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  The Olympic flag was first flown during the 1920 Olympic Games.
  
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  Modern Olympic Gold Medals were originally made entirely out of real gold, until after 1912.
  
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  Ancient Greek Olympic athletes won a wreath of olive leaves – the first winner was a cook.
  
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  James B. Connolly (United States), winner of the hop, step, and jump (the first final event in the 1896 Olympics), was the first Olympic champion of the modern Olympic Games.
  
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  The original Olympic flame of ancient Greece was ignited by the sun and then kept burning until the closing of the Olympic Games.
  
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  The modern Olympic flame is lit at the ancient site of Olympia by women wearing ancient-style robes and using a curved mirror and the sun. The Olympic Torch is then passed from runner to runner from the ancient site of Olympia to the Olympic stadium in the hosting city, and kept lighted till the games end.
  
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  The Beijing Olympic motto of “One World, One Dream” was chose from over 210,000 entries submitted from around the world.
  
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  Pierre de Frédy, a French educator and sportsman, revived the Olympic Games in 1896 and designed the Olympic Flag in 1913-1914.
  
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  The Olympic Flag has five interlocking rings (blue, yellow, black, green and red) to represent Africa, the Americas, Asia, Australia and Europe, the five parts of the world involved when the modern Olympics began.
  

Random Fun Facts

Grand Teton Council

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  In a year, a person's heart beats 40,000,000 times
  
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  A great reason to smile - You use an average of 43 muscles for a frown. You use an average of 17 muscles for a smile.
  
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  And then every two thousand frowns creates one wrinkle.
  
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  Fit people can burn more fat for longer periods of time than unfit people.
  
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  We call the hot, muggy days of summer "Dog days." This expression may have originated with the Romans who associated such weather with the influence of Sirius, the Dog Star, which is high in the sky during summer.
  

Directory: bbugle
bbugle -> Perseverance head west young man
bbugle -> Baloo's bugle volume 22, Number 2 Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future
bbugle -> Baloo's bugle volume 16, Number 10 "Make no small plans. They have no magic to stir men's blood and probably will not themselves be realized."
bbugle -> Baloo's bugle volume 22, Number 6 The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance

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