Early Christians and Pope Theodosius I must have been appalled at the Greek pagan practices at the Olympic games. Animal sacrifices at the opening ceremonies, followed by supplications to the gods in whose honor the participants were competing. If that was not enough, a lot of the competitions also took place in the nude. Not surprising, then, that Theodosius decided to issue a series of decrees to put an end to bizarre rituals in the Christian lands once and for all.

On this day, April 6, in 1896, after a millennium-and-a-half hiatus, the Olympic games returned to their origins, in Athens, Greece. The first modern Olympic games took place, as amateur athletes from 13 nations gathered to compete.

Athens was not as eager to embrace to new event as the other nations. The high costs of creating facilities that could handle the influx of athletes and tourists were thought too high by Greek officials. Changing their mind took a fair bit of coaxing from the French, whose Pierre Coubertin, the first president of the International Olympic Committee, said “We French have a proverb that says that the word ‘impossible’ is not in the French language. I have been told this morning that the word is Greek. I do not believe it.” The deal was sealed after Giorgios Averof, a Greek businessman and philanthropist donated 920,000 drachmas to restore the ancient Olympic stadium.