18 facts about the Olympic Summer Games!

1. The early Olympic Games were celebrated as a religious festival from 776 B.C. until 393 A.D., when the games were banned for being a pagan festival (the Olympics celebrated the Greek god, Zeus). In 1894, a French educator Baron Pierre de Coubertin, proposed a revival of the ancient tradition and so, the modern-day Olympic Summer Games were born.
2. China didn't get its first Olympic medal until 1984. (Xu Haifeng won gold in the 50 meter pistol event.)
3. The youngest (10 years old) Olympian ever was Dimitrios Loundras, a Greek gymnast in the 1896 Athens Olympics. The oldest Olympian ever (72 years old) was Oscar Swahn, a Swedish shooter in the 1920 Antwerp, Belgium, Olympics. 
4. Because of World War I and World War II, there were no Olympic Games in 1916, 1940, or 1944.
5. The 1908 Olympic Games, in London, took 187 days to last.
6. The United States has won more medals (2,189) at the Summer Games than any other country.
7. Larrisa Latynina, a gymnast from the former Soviet Union, finished her Summer Olympic Games career with 18 total medals (9 were gold)—the most in history. But currently, at the London 2012 Olympics, Michael Phelps could break that record since he has 17 medals so far (14 gold).
8. The five Olympic rings represent the five major regions of the world – Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceania, and every national flag in the world includes one of the five colors, which are (from left to right) blue, yellow, black, green, and red.
9. It wasn't until 1900 that women were allowed to participate in the Olympic Games.
10. The Olympic Moto is “Swifter, Higher, Stronger” used since 1921.
11. Three continents – Africa, South America, and Antarctica – have never hosted an Olympics. But this will change in 2016, since Brazil will be the first country in South America to host an Olympic Summer Games. 
12. A black athlete didn't win the marathon until Abebe Bikila of Ethiopia did it in 1960. And he did it barefoot.
13. The first ever Opening Ceremonies were held at the London Olympic Games in 1908.
14. The word "gymnasium" comes from the Greek root "gymnos" meaning nude; the literal meaning of "gymnasium" is "school for naked exercise". Athletes in the ancient Olympic Games would participate in the nude.
15. Cuba has won the most medals overall of any country which has never won a medal at the Winter Olympics. The first gold medal was won in 1900 by Ramon Fonst, fencer.
16. The 2004 Olympic Summer Games in Athens holds the record of most participants ever, with 202 countries.
17. In 1932, 14-year-old Kusuo Kitamura won the 1500m freestyle and became the youngest male to win an individual gold medal in any event.
18. The Olympic flame first appeared in the Olympics in 1928. The idea of using a flame actually came from the ancient Olympic Games in Greece, where they would light the flame at the beginning of the games and keep it burning until the end of the games.

*Most of these facts actually came from my lovely dad, who used to be a teacher of Sports History*