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2016First time in history, when this famous Event will be celebrated in a South American country. RIO DE JANEIRO GAMES

2012 Phelps ended his Olympic swimming career with another gold medal. He amassed 22 medals in his Olympic career: 18 gold,

two silver, and two bronze.

LONDON SUMMER GAMES

2008The 2008 Summer Games ended on Aug. 24 with the United States, China, and Russia taking home the most medals. BEIJING SUMMER GAMES

2004ATHENS GAMES

200017-year-old Ian Thorpe of Australia wins four medals (three gold) in swimming, breaking

his own world record in the 400m freestyle. SYDNEY GAMES

1996 Muhammad Ali lights the cauldron at the start of the Centennial Games. A pipe bomb

in Centennial Olympic Park kills one person and injures 111, but the Games go on.

ATLANTA GAMES

1992For the first time in decades, every single nation with an Olympic Committee shows up, even Cuba, North Korea, and South Africa.

BARCELONA GAMES

1988 North Korea refuses to participate, and Cuba and Ethopia follow suit in solidarity, but there are no widespread boycotts for the first time since 1972.

SEOUL SUMMER GAMES

1984The first privately-financed Olympic with a profitof more than $215 million.

LOS ANGELES SUMMER GAMES

1980MOSCOW SUMMER GAMES

197614-year-old Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci scores seven perfect 10s on the way to three gold medals, plus

a silver and a bronze. Nobody had achieved even one 10 before. MONTREAL SUMMER GAMES

1972 The Games are overshadowed when members of the Black September terrorist group kidnap eleven

Israeli athletes from the Olympic Village, killing two and taking the other nine hostage.

MUNICH SUMMER GAMES

1968These Games are controversially held at the highest altitude ever: 7,349 feet. MEXICO CITY SUMMER GAMES

1964 Japan spends about $3 billion to rebuild Tokyo for the Olympics, revitalizing a city that had been

devastated by earthquakes and World War II bombings.TOKYO SUMMER GAMES

1960The first Summer Games covered by television worldwide.

ROME SUMMER GAMES

1956MELBOURNE SUMMER GAMES

1952Russian athletes participate for the first time in forty years. HELSINKI SUMMER GAMES

1948 The first Games to be shown on home television.

LONDON GAMES

1940Games called off due to World War II.

WORLD WAR II

1936 The Games are the first to be televised, being shown on large screens around Berlin.BERLIN GAMES

1932Paavo Nurmi is barred from the Los Angeles Games, on grounds that, on a trip to a German meet, he had claimed too much money in travel expenses. LOS ANGELES GAMES

1928AMSTERDAM GAMES

1924Originally planned to take place in Amsterdam, the Games are moved to Paris at the urging of Baron de Coubertin. PARIS GAMES

1920 Germany, Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, and Turkey are not invited, having been on the

wrong side of the Great War.ANTWERP GAMES

1916Games cancelled due to World War I.

WORLD WAR I

1912 Finland begins its domination of long-distance running events,as Hannes Kolehmainen picks up

three gold medals and a silver.STOCKHOLM GAMES

1908The 1906 eruption of Mt. Vesuvius requires the Games to move from Rome to London.

LONDON GAMES

1906INTERCALATED GAMES

1904Only 13 countries show up. ST. LOUIS GAMES

1900 The second modern Games are overshadowed by, and incorporated into,the Paris Exposition.

1,319 men from 26 countries compete in 75 events.PARIS GAMES

1896The first modern Olympic Games. 14 countries are represented by about 245 men, competing in 43 events. ATHENS GAMES

1894 At the urging of Baron Pierre de Coubertin, theInternational Olympic Committee (IOC) is founded.FIRST MODERN

OLYMPIC GAMES

394 A.D.Roman Emperor Theodosius I abolishes the Games, as part of a series of reforms against pagan practices.

THE GAMES ARE ABOLISHED

776 B.C.

ANCIENT GREECEAthletic contests are held at Olympia every four years,

between August 6 and September 19.

OLYMPIC GAMES TIMELINE