The marathon was not an event in the ancient form of the Olympics

The marathon’s roots can be traced back to a Greek myth

Legend has it that the first marathon took place in 490 BCE, when Pheidippides, an ancient Greek soldier, ran from the Battle of Marathon back to Athens—approximately 25 miles—to inform his people they’d defeated the Persians. The story is likely apocryphal: No Greek historian mentioned it until over 500 years later.

The first modern marathon was at the 1896 Olympic Games

The modern marathon was created for the revived Olympic Games in 1896, with the course starting in Marathon and ending in Athens. The race was won by Spiridon Louis, a Greek water carrier who surged in the last stretch to the delight of the hometown crowd.

See artifacts from the ancient Olympics at the Met

For nearly a millennium, the ancient Greeks gathered every four years to participate in or watch sports, from footraces to a type of mixed martial art. These events—in some cases known as the Olympics—provided the basis for the modern event, which began in 1896 in Athens.

The 1904 Olympic marathon was a bizarre spectacle

When the Olympics first came to the US, the race was still a fringe event with few established rules. That led to an absurd comedy, with competitors ingesting poison, hitchhiking 11 miles of the course, and occasionally sipping brandy.

The evolution of the Olympics from ancient Greece to the modern world

The Olympic Games have evolved from a sacred footrace in 776 BCE honoring Zeus to a global celebration of athletic excellence and unity. Ancient Greek city-states set aside their conflicts under a sacred truce for events like wrestling and chariot racing. Though the Games ended in 393 CE, Pierre de Coubertin revived them in 1896, adding modern elements like the torch relay and the inclusion of women. Watch 1440's breakdown of the historic event here.

The Olympics were just one of four Panhellenic Games in ancient Greece

Within every "Olympiad" (or four-year period), different Games were held each year in Greece—it was not just the single Olympics every four years. The Hellenic Museum in Australia explores each of the Panhellenic Games: the Isthmian Games, the Nemean Games, the Pythian Games, and the Olympic Games. Each section explores the history, which god was worshiped, and what winners received.

Why marathons are 26.2 miles (not 26)

Over 1,100 marathons are run every year, and they all share one oddly specific distance: 26.2 miles. From ancient Greece to a British queen's request, here's the surprising story behind the marathon's decimal.

The ancient Games at Olympia ended after 1,500 years due to economic issues

The ancient Olympics came to an end in 393 CE, and some historians point to Christian Roman emperor Theodosius I's ban on celebrating pagan festivals. This article explores an alternative theory: a bad economy. The writers cite the Theodosian Code, which makes no mention of the Olympics, and multiple records that mention the Olympics after Theodosius' death.

A visual guide to the athletic events the Olympics left behind

The series of competitions in today's version of the Olympic Games are the survivors of years of experimentation. This illustrated guide details some of the sports and creative competitions that didn't make the cut. Some sports were dropped due to their lack of visual appeal, while others were simply too specific, like the swim limited to sailors of the Royal Greek Navy.

There are over 800 annual marathons, but only seven deemed World Marathon Majors

The races—Tokyo, Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago, Sydney, and New York City—are on some of the best-known courses in the world and are run by some of the sport’s top athletes.

Frank Shorter was the first American to win the 26.2-mile Olympic marathon

The running legend became the first American to win the 26.2-mile Olympic marathon in 1972 at 2:21:19. The televised race contributed to a nationwide running boom and helped popularize the event.

An ‘ultramarathon’ is any race longer than a marathon

The event is a catchall for any event longer than a marathon, with some races hundreds of miles long. Despite the inherent risks, including death, the sport has exploded in recent years.

Synchronized swimming dates back to Ancient Rome

Known for gruesome gladiatorial contests, ancient Rome's aquatic spectacles may have been even more over-the-top. This article dives into the art of synchronized swimming in ancient Rome. Lakes were dug and amphitheaters flooded to provide space for aquatic reenactments of naval battles and artistic performances. Swimmers playing the role of water nymphs would create elaborate shapes, including ships with billowing sails.

The poet Martial vividly described the Colosseum’s opening games

In "Liber Spectaculorum," Martial recounts the inaugural spectacles at the Colosseum, offering graphic depictions of staged executions—some modeled on Greek myths—that took place during the midday program.

One ethnic group in Kenya is responsible for most of the country’s running success

Both the men’s and women’s world record holders in the marathon hail from the same region in Kenya. They’re Kalenjins, a minority ethnic group responsible for nearly 73% of the country’s Olympic gold medals in running. Studies have determined that the success is thanks to high-altitude training, a healthy diet, and a tradition of excellence.

The story of Sporus, the castrated boy who married Emperor Nero

Ancient Romans’ views of homosexuality are quite different from Western understandings. Nero was an emperor is infamous for his cruelty, and appears to have heaped that cruelty upon Sporus, a boy he fell for and married in a public ceremony. As a slave, Sporus was held captive at the whims of Nero and subject to the class-based rules on same-sex relationships in ancient times.

Computer pioneer Alan Turing was also an elite runner

Alan Turing is credited with helping to found modern computer science, in addition to cracking the Nazi code known as Enigma. Beyond these world-historical achievements, the British mathematician also nearly represented his country in the Olympics in the marathon, running just 11 minutes slower than the eventual gold recipient at the 1948 games. Read more on this lesser-known aspect of the man here.

The Greeks named their dogs with short names similar to modern ones

Xenophon, a historian from ancient Greece, proposed that the best dog names were limited to one or two syllables and referenced important qualities, like courage or speed. Some ideas: Aura, meaning "breeze," or Corax, a raven.

Analysis finds dementia was rare in ancient Greece

Ancient medical texts seldom mention severe cognitive decline, suggesting that such conditions were uncommon. This scarcity is attributed to factors like shorter lifespans and active lifestyles, implying that modern environmental and lifestyle changes—along with longer life expectancy—contribute to the current prevalence of dementia.

What did it take to eat like a gladiator?

If you think gladiators were all rippling muscle, think again. Evidence suggests fighters weren't as cut as we've been led to believe. This article dives into the diets of ancient Roman gladiators, who may have eaten mostly vegetarian. Archaeological evidence gathered from the skeletons of 68 gladiators found in a 2,000-year-old Turkish grave suggests the fighters' diets mainly relied on barley and legumes, with little animal protein.

The Dokos shipwreck, the oldest discovered to date, is more than 4,000 years old

Many of the oldest shipwrecks yet discovered sank during the late Bronze Age as Mediterranean trade networks began to flourish. This video explores the nine oldest wreckage sites, topped by the wreck off the Greek island of Dokos.

The 2026 Milan-Cortina Games are the most geographically spread out ever

As part of the planning committee's efforts to reduce costs and minimize infrastructure impact, existing ski resorts, rinks, and stadiums were used for the Winter Olympics in northern Italy. This inherently spreads events out, with venues scattered over a roughly 8,500-square-mile area of the country. See a map of the venues here.

Estimate the costs of an ancient Roman vacation

Thanks to a sophisticated system of roads, Romans could travel great distances for their Roman holidays. This interactive resource from Stanford allows you to create fictional journeys around the empire, seeing approximate routes, costs, and time.

Stanford built a Google Maps for the Roman Empire, revealing how much it cost to travel in the ancient world

On one sailor's race to sail around the world solo

People wanting to sail around the world in modern times can sign up for the Golden Globe Race, a decades-old, organized sprint to circumnavigate the world by ship. This long-form article follows one woman's journey as she attempted to complete the...

The essential facts to know about ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt spanned three millennia—more than 10 times the history of the US—but disappeared from the world's consciousness until the 18th century when it was rediscovered by Napoleon's army. Take a trip through the dynastic periods in this three-minute video.

American dance legend Martha Graham, sometimes called 'the Picasso of dance,' refused to perform at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin and conceived the piece 'Chronicle' in response to the experience.

Graffiti dates back to at least ancient Pompeii, where citizens scrawled messages to one another on public walls

The 1987 Nintendo video game 'Stadium Events' isn't known for being particularly fun, but its scarcity has made it a highly sought-after item that has sold for up to $35K at auction.

Apollo astronauts left items in the moon's 'toss zone,' including golf balls, family photos, and bags of human waste, to make room for lunar rocks.

See photos of Meteora, a mountainous site in central Greece, home to 14th-century monasteries perched atop soaring outcroppings.

The US first hosted the World Cup in 1994, a tournament that lives in soccer infamy for its poor planning and the murder of Colombian player Andres Escobar, who'd accidentally scored on his own net.

Learn more about the history of fireworks, which dates back to an accidental invention during an alchemist's quest for information about immortality.

Hear about the 250-year history of the United States Postal Service, complete with some of its strangest deliveries, important innovations, and the figures that made it an American institution.

Larger animals like giraffes, elephants, and blue whales have developed a unique defense against cancer, a phenomenon known as Peto's Paradox

Double world record holder Hunter Ewen helped conquer his fear of balloons, called globophobia, by training to win Guinness World Record titles for balloon inflation.

See how Budweiser's famous Clydesdales spend their days at Warm Springs Ranch, where roughly 70 to 80 of the beer brand's giant horses can be found at any given time.

Take a 3D tour of the Hajj, Islam's annual pilgrimage to Mecca, undertaken by over 1.5 million Muslims.

For centuries, it was common to sleep in two shifts: a few hours at the beginning of the night, and a longer period beginning around midnight

'Saturday Night Fever,' the 1977 film that introduced disco to the mainstream, was based on a fabricated magazine story.

Waves off the coast of Nazaré, Portugal, can reach over 100 feet and are caused by the area's deep underwater canyon geography

Some researchers have labeled nomophobia, the fear of being without your phone, as 'the phobia of the 21st century.'

Many legends about George Washington, including his supposed wooden teeth and the story of cutting down the cherry tree, lack evidence.

Domino's Pizza's 30-minute delivery guarantee was responsible for the chain's 1980s surge, but it was discontinued after the company was found liable for delivery driver accidents.

NBA superstar Victor Wembanyama spent the 2025 summer training with monks in central China to enhance his body and mind.

Volcanoes 'die' when their supply of magma runs out, if they are shifted away from their underlying magma reservoir, or if they get clogged by collapsing or their magma cooling back into rock.

Explore a list of the 100 best novels of all time, compiled by some of the world's best living writers, including Salman Rushdie, Stephen King, and Jennifer Egan.

The US Constitution is widely regarded as the longest-standing written national constitution still in force—see how it has influenced rights worldwide.

SpongeBob exemplifies Aristotle's philosophy for living well because he understands that happiness doesn't come from external factors like money, recognition, or power.

The Nasdaq's 'Magnificent 7' companies are responsible for roughly 40% of the Nasdaq 100 index's gains, while the remaining 93 companies account for the other 60%.