First Olympics Less Complicated than Today’s

The first Olympiad was held in 776 BC as a tribute to the Greek god Zeus. The early Olympic Games were so respected that kings from different parts of Greece agreed to a truce that stopped fighting among waring nations. Athletes and military people could travel without fear of retaliation from enemies while the games were held.

During this year’s games, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the 31^st Modern Olympics will take place over 16 days, starting with the opening ceremonies August 5, 2016. The national event already has controversies and scandals centered on the late construction of several of the venues and local officials embezzling funds. Many athletes decided to boycott the upcoming Olympics because of health fears from the mosquito transmitted Zika virus that exists in Brazil.

About 10,000 athletes will convene in Rio, representing over 200 member nations of the International Olympic Committee.  Qualifying events are currently underway, so, the world-wide competition will certainly commence on time.

Rio 2016 Summer Olympics Venue

The original Olympiad, a much simpler competition, was held within one day in Olympia, Greece. It grew larger and lasted several days as the games continued every four years for more than 1,000 years. After Greece fell under Roman rule, the games eventually moved to Rome, Italy, where they ended in 393AD.

Only male athletes competed, and they did it individually; no team events were used during the competitions. The winner of each event was crowned with an olive branch. No second or third place awards were given.

The athletes in the original games suffered many injuries. Biting, eye gauging and attacking below the belt were prohibited, otherwise no other rules applied. They competed in events that included several running competitions, long jumps, javelin throws, wresting, boxing and discus throwing with a heavy, stone disc.

Most popular among the events was the Pankration—an exhausting, two-man event that combined wrestling and boxing. The competition kept going until one man was seriously hurt or killed.

The marathon wasn’t part of the competition in the original games. The popular cross-country run of 26.2 miles is usually held near the end of the Olympic competition. It was added to the competition for the first time in 1896. That’s when the first modern Olympic Games started in Athens, Greece.

The marathon race celebrates a recorded battle the Greeks won against the Persian Army in 490 BC near the city of Marathon. A traditional story relates that Pheidippides, a Greek soldier, ran 26 miles from the battlefield to his home of Athens to announce the victory over the Persians. He stopped in the center of the city, yelled “Niki!” (Victory), and fell dead.

The first marathon was 24.85 miles (40,000 meters). It immediately became a traditional event after it was first run in the beginning of the modern Olympics 120 years ago. The length was set to the standard 26.2 miles during the 1908 Olympics held in London, England.

The modern Olympiad is more than two weeks long to accommodate all the equestrian, swimming and team events that didn’t exist during the first Olympics that started with only one day. And as host country, Brazil will likely benefit from millions of tourist dollars that always accompany the Olympiad.

You can follow the events of the 31^st Olympic Games using the daily event schedule provided here.  

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Independence Day Declared Two Days before 4th of July

During the American Revolution, on July 2, 1776, the Second Continental Congress declared legal separation of the thirteen U.S. colonies from Great Britain. It was on that date that the patriots voted to accept a written resolution of independence and break away from England’s rule.

Committee of Five

During the following two days, Congress concentrated on polishing the content of the document and changing some wording to what they called the Declaration of Independence. It was a document that explained the action of the 13 English colonies to become the United States of America, a new, separate nation that no longer accepted Great Britain’s authority. The statement came from the Committee of Five with Thomas Jefferson as its principal author. The committee worked on the declaration beginning June 11, 1776, and presented it on July 2nd. Members of Congress completed revising the document two days later on July 4th.

John Adams

John Adams, a member of the Committee of Five and the Continental Congress, wanted July 2nd to be recognized as the birthday of the United States since that was the day the Congress officially declared the U.S. Colonies were no longer part of the British Empire.

On July 3rd, Adams, who later became the second U.S. president, penned a letter to his wife, Abigail. In part he wrote, “The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the History of America.”

He went on to call July 2nd a day to be filled with celebrations by future generations. Adams said July 2, 1776, was a day of deliverance. Congress settled on making July 4^th the official holiday date since that was the day the patriots approved the revised document they titled the Declaration of Independence. 

The news about the United States becoming a separate nation from England spread slowly. Many citizens didn’t learn about the break from England until several days after the Second Continental Congress made the big decision. In fact, a popular movement wanted July 10th to be the country’s birthday since it took that long for the majority of the population to get the news that they had separated from England.

Adams specified celebrations in the letter he sent to his wife, but such events were modest until the war ended in 1783. The Fourth of July became a day communities celebrated by holding speeches, military events, parades, and fireworks. But July 4th didn’t become an official federal holiday until 1941.

Thomas Jefferson

The founding fathers who made up the U.S. Congress risked their lives in agreeing to separate from Great Britain. King George III named them traitors who could be executed for treason. Since they felt like loyal Englishmen during the beginning of the U.S. Colonies, the patriots undoubtedly felt torn between their loyalty to the king and their involvement in the revolution.

James Monroe

July 4th is the date of coincidences involving three of our founding fathers. Each of them lived beyond the expected lifespan of people in the 19th century. John Adams, the second president, and Thomas Jefferson, the third president, both died on Independence Day, 1826. It was the 50th anniversary of the Declaration. They lived well beyond the average lifespan of people in the 19th century. Adams was 91 years old when he died that morning. Jefferson, 83, died that afternoon. They were the only signers of the Declaration who become presidents.

James Monroe, the fifth U.S. president, died on July 4, 1831. He was 73 years old. Monroe didn’t sign the Declaration of Independence. 

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Ten Thousand Athletes Expected in Brazil for Summer Olympics

Rio de Janeiro will host the XXXI (31^st) Olympiad in August. More than 10,000 athletes from 206 countries have been invited to go to Brazil for the Summer Olympics. They will compete for gold, silver and bronze medals in some 200 events, assuming the events happen as planned.

Nearly every country that has hosted the Olympic Games had controversy during the last few months of preparation. The problems usually involve construction delays and political discord. As the deadline for the opening ceremonies approaches, Brazil is no exception to having problems preparing.

A major contractor was replaced early this year by Brazilian officials. That led to delays in completing construction of 41 major venues. At least one upper-level governor in Brazil faces impeachment for embezzlement of Olympic funds. Brazil is also host to the mosquito transmitted Zika virus, a worldwide health concern.

A handful of U.S. and world-wide athletes said they will not attend the games in Brazil because of the possibility of contracting the virus. The World Health Organization (WHO) issued a statement that the chance of any visitors contracting the Zika virus while visiting Brazil is less than one percent. The WHO supports no actions to move or postpone the 31^st Summer Games.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is working to get the concerns about lack of readiness of venues and health scares under control before the opening ceremonies on August 5^th.

Brazil is pursuing every means to be ready to host the Olympics; it will be the first time the Games will be held in South America. Rio will gain millions of dollars from the Olympic Games. And Brazil hopes to get big money from tourism that will result from the publicity of hosting the competitions.

By area, Brazil is the largest country in South America and the fifth largest country in the world. Brazil also ranks number five in world-wide population with more than 200 million people.

Brazil is a country full of contrasts compared to the rest of the continent. Most South American countries surrounding Brazil speak Spanish. However, Brazilians speak Portuguese. European explorers came into Brazil in the 1500s. They influenced the culture by bringing Africans and Western Europeans who blended with the Americans of Brazil. This blending of cultures, unique to Brazil, influenced the way citizens of Brazil openly invited Western people.  Portugal, a nation famous for its explorers and world-wide sailors, claimed Brazil as a colony in the first part of the 16^th century. Portuguese became the dominating language.

A huge religious statue overlooks Rio de Janeiro (which means January River) from the peak of the 2,300 foot Corcovado Mountain. The statue symbolizes the feelings of world peace popularized by the mostly Roman Catholic population. It’s an icon known throughout the world and thousands of visitors during the Olympic Games will undoubtedly take the elevator ride to the base of the structure. The statue, called Christ the Redeemer, is nearly 125 feet high. Public donations helped pay for the five-year construction project. The 700 ton statue consists of reinforced concrete with an outer layer of soapstone. It was dedicated on October 12, 1931.

Undoubtedly, future host cities of the Olympic games will face their own controversy. Boston will host the next Summer Olympics in 2020. The Winter Olympics in 2018 will be held in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

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Memorial Day’s Name, Reason and Date Changed

Decoration Day started as an unofficial holiday in 1868 to celebrate and honor soldiers who died during the U.S. Civil War. Now called Memorial Day, the holiday celebrates all American military men and women who died in any U.S. war or military action.

In 1971, Congress made it an official federal holiday 148 years after communities began honoring casualties of the Civil War. The day for the holiday was changed from May 30th to the last Monday in May, making it one of the five, three-day federal holidays.

The mounting number of deaths of U.S. military members during the world wars and the Korean conflict encouraged public sentiment that military causalities in all conflicts should be honored during Memorial Day.

Nonessential employees get a paid holiday on the last Monday of May. Most states offer a day off for their government employees.

Memorial Day is the unofficial beginning of summer. Most of the country gets weather that’s warmer as spring replaces the cold months, and people often take time to visit extended family members. Highways congested with traffic result from the number of people traveling to spend time with relatives and friends.

Patriotic feelings get strong during the holiday because of parades we see and speeches we hear honoring the country’s military members. Seeing the number of American flags flying in front of homes during the holiday emphasizes the feelings of honor, courage and sacrifice people feel towards our nation. These feelings are the real reasons the country celebrates Memorial Day.

This short post gives an overview of Memorial Day.  You can learn more about this national holiday by visiting my 2014 blog post: Memorial Day Provides Remembrance and Fun 

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Amendment 12 Changed Voting for Vice President

Our country’s first presidents--George Washington, James Adams and Thomas Jefferson--had no choice in selecting the persons who became their second in command. The person who received the second number of elector votes became vice president. During Jefferson’s first term, the U.S. Eighth Congress submitted the 12^th Amendment. That amendment stipulates that each elector in the Electoral College must cast a distinct vote for president and vice president. This amendment became law when it was ratified by 17 of the existing 21 states on Sept. 25, 1804. The remaining four states approved the law later that year.

George Washington

The Electoral College becomes a topic of discussion and disagreement each presidential election year. From now until the national vote in November 2016, many opinions and discussions about the country’s method of electing a president will fill airtime and print space for local and national media.

This is a brief explanation of how the Electoral College selects the U.S. president, not the actual votes that citizens make. When Americans vote for a president and vice president, they vote for presidential electors. These electors are called the Electoral College. The U.S. Constitution assigns each state a number of electors equal to the combined total of each state’s senators and representatives. Presently, the number of electors per state ranges from 3 to 54 for a total of 538 for all U.S. states and territories.

The Electoral College members meet on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December after the presidential election in the previous month. The electors make their selections according to the popular vote in each of their states. On the sixth day of January, each states’ electoral votes are counted in a joint session of Congress and the winner is named U.S. president. This very cumbersome, awkward procedure was established to help even out the influence of population density that greatly dominated the east coast of America.

In modern times when electronic results and exit polling usually determine the winner by the time polls close on the West Coast, the Electoral College often gets criticized as obsolete and completely unnecessary. Use of the Electoral College shows how the United States is governed as a republic, not a democracy. Instead of electing the president by the votes of each citizen, the population selects electors who actually pick the president. The Electoral College is a topic for a more detailed blog post later this year.

John Adams

In modern elections, a vice president candidate is selected to appeal to a set of voters who don’t fully agree with a person running for president. Each political party hopes the person selected for vice president will complement the choice for number one. And it’s important to select a person who will agree with the philosophy of the president and not act as a rival. A successful administration relies on cooperation between the top two office holders.

Thomas Jefferson

The first three presidents had number two men with different opinions about running the country. John Adams lost to George Washington and automatically became the first vice president. When John Adams became president, Thomas Jefferson automatically became his vice president by losing the presidential vote. The third president, Thomas Jefferson, had his rival Aaron Burr as vice president during his first term. Each of the first three presidential administrations exited with friction and disagreement between the president and vice president.

George Clinton

Jefferson was the first president to pick his vice president. He was re-elected president in 1805 after the 12^th Amendment became law, and he selected George Clinton as the fourth vice president. The 12^th Amendment helped streamline the presidential voting process by allowing the winning political party to select the person they wanted to be vice president.

Information used in this post came from the National Archives and Record Administration website and Wikipedia. 

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