When the first Olympic Committee of the modern age met in Sorbonne, France, in 1895 to agree on the location for the first Olympic games, the French naturally suggested Paris. But they would need time to build out the stadium — so the first ever games went to Athens (who after all, already had a 1,500 year-old stadium used for the first ancient Olympic games) with the agreement the Paris would get the second one. Paris got another one after that, too, in 1924, hosting the 8th Olympic Games.

On this day, May 8, in 1924 the first Olympic games kicked off with opening ceremonies in 1924. The usual sports competitions were present — running, track and field, gymnastics, etc. — but also an Olympic Arts Competition took place in the realm of Music, Literature, Painting, Sculpture and Architecture.

British runners Harold Abrahams and Eric Liddell won the 100 m and 400 m events, respectively. Their story was popularized in the 1981 award-winning film Chariots of Fire: Abrahams was a Jew running from prosecution, winning the gold medal on his last race, while Liddell refused to run on Sunday (the Christian Sabbath) in spite of heavy pressure to reconsider, and winning the 400 meter race against large odds.