See artifacts from the ancient Olympics at the Met

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.

An illustrated guide to the ancient Greek version of the Olympics

Go back to the original time and place of the athletic contest with this illustrated guide to the Games. For 1,200 years, the ancient Greeks would gather every four years for the Games in Elis, months after heralds had spread the word of the event to the region's many peninsulas, with its greatest athletes competing for honor.

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.

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

The ancient Olympics started with just one footrace, a roughly 3-mile jaunt dubbed the "dolichos." Over the centuries, it blossomed into multiple running events, field events, combat sports, and equestrian events—all performed in the nude. This list showcases eight more lesser-known facts about the ancient Games.

The ancient Greeks were known to take vacations

Historians trace the vacation back to at least ancient Greece, where many people traveled to festivals and athletic events, including the Olympic Games.

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.

The all-time list of every modern Olympic sport

Curious about which sports were played at the 1894 Olympics? Want to learn the rules of Breaking? This list gives a comprehensive overview of every Olympic sport ever played, sortable by game type and specific Olympic year. Click into a sport to see a brief overview, a list of rules, and an explainer video.

The ancient Greeks laid the foundation of Western culture, from ideas to sports

The Latin alphabet is the most used in the world and stems from the Greek language. The greatest sporting event in the world, the Olympics, originated among the Greeks. The way many countries decide on policy is via forms of democracy, an innovation of the ancient Greeks.

Ancient Greek gymnasium: where philosophy met fitness

In ancient Greece, gymnasiums were not just places of physical training, but centers of intellectual life. This article explores the ways in which exercise, philosophy, and education were deeply intertwined, reflecting a cultural belief that physical fitness was essential for mental development.

A timeline of the ancient Greeks

When exactly were the Ancient Greeks around on Earth? Their roots go back nearly 9,000 years to the Bronze Age with the so-called Minoan civilization. These sea-faring tribes would come together to hold off the invading Persian Empire and culminate in the glories of Athenian democracy, Spartan military discipline, and more. Check out this thorough timeline of the Ancient Greeks.

The history of the Met

From a single sarcophagus to a collection of more than a million artifacts that span nearly the entirety of human civilization, the Met and its importance have grown significantly over the last 150 years. This history of the museum hits all the highlights, including important acquisitions, new wings and galleries, and the importance of the buildings that hold and display all of the incredible artwork.

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.

Hear what ancient Greek music sounded like

Greek poetry was usually created with the intention that the words would be sung along with music. Evidence and reconstructions of ancient melodies and instruments mean researchers and musicians of today can play music in which the final notes have long since faded.

Four astronomical discoveries from ancient Greece

Modern astronomy relies on making discoveries without being present on the planets, stars, galaxies, and other objects studied. Imagine the difficulty the ancient Greeks had studying them without computers and telescopes. Yet somehow they calculated precise measurements of planetary distances, sizes, and more. Read this page to learn more about early triumphs in astronomical science.

Gladiator training is known mainly from art, not ancient texts

Since literary sources provide little information about gladiator training, scholars rely on visual evidence. This illustrated essay draws on artifacts from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, including an oil lamp from Cyprus showing a gladiator practicing against a wooden stake.

Bad Ancient: a site to fact-check claims about the ancient world

Peruse popular questions about ancient Rome, Egypt, Greece, and more, from whether Greek boxers were ripped or to what extent Alexander the Great conquered the world.

Photos of Olympians visiting with US presidents

American Olympic athletes have visited the White House for nearly a century, with presidents using these ceremonial receptions to celebrate athletic excellence and connect sports achievement to national pride. The tradition has evolved from modest gatherings into major media events across multiple administrations.

The sordid soirées of the Olympic Village

The Olympic Village brings together some of the world's most physically fit young people for two weeks. That leads to lots of romantic connections, as this firsthand account from a few who have been there attests. The degree of connection at some Games in recent decades has required the village's medical facility to distribute more than 100,000 prophylactics.

Homer's warrior tales were loosely based on the Mycenaean civilization

The great eighth-century BCE poet Homer's "Iliad" and "Odyssey" portray a great warrior culture based in large palaces around the Aegean Sea in the Mediterranean. Historians and archaeologists have long believed Homer's stories were based on the Mycenaean civilization, which flourished several centuries before his time.

Watch the Space Olympics from the International Space Station

From "synchronized space swimming" to "weightless sharpshooting," crew members in 2021 competed in microgravity versions of events from the summer Games. The "lack-of-floor routine" featured mid-air gymnastics as astronauts floated through space station modules.

Why only one of the seven wonders of the ancient world still exists

Greek writers recorded lists of great structures that were later codified by Renaissance writers. The definitive list includes the Colossus of Rhodes, the Giza Pyramid (the only existing one today), the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, and the Lighthouse of Alexandria.

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

Fantasy sports began in the 1860s

“Sebring Parlor Base Ball,” a tabletop board game in which players flicked a coin as if they were hitters is believed to be the first game that allowed players to imagine themselves as athletes without actually taking part in physical activities.

The ancient Greeks and Romans viewed comets and meteors as divine omens

Both considered the appearance of a comet or its fragments as a precursor to significant events, such as the birth of a notable figure or the death of a ruler. One observed in 44 BCE was believed to be a sign of the deification of Julius Caesar after his assassination.

See images of modern Druids who visit Stonehenge to celebrate the solstice

At the summer solstice, crowds at Stonehenge range from white-robed modern Druids with staffs and antler crowns to revelers with ox-horn trumpets or hula hoops—scenes regularly documented by photographers.

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

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.

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

Explore the known asteroids, comets, and spacecraft involved in asteroid studies within our solar system with 'Eyes on Asteroids,' a 3D visualization from NASA.

See the most iconic photos from four decades of LIFE magazine

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.

See how fireworks are made and learn how metals like magnesium and copper are responsible for different colors.

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.

Long before Major League Baseball began allowing instant replay for balls and strikes, an umpire reluctantly used the technology to determine whether a hit was a home run, a move that inadvertently ushered in a new era for the sport.

Before humans, the Soviet Union and the United States sent animals—including apes, dogs, and cats—to space during the Space Race.

While the first exchange-traded fund (a 'basket' of different assets that can be bought and sold on a stock exchange) in the US only launched in 1993, the global ETF market has grown to more than $10T in the short time since.

Poison ivy was sent to Europe in the 1600s as an exotic, ornamental oddity, where it was purposefully grown in the English royal gardens at Kew, the Faculty of Medicine in Paris, and a few other locations.

Explore an interactive map of battles from the American Revolution, along with detailed summaries of each engagement

At the beginning of the 20th century, a group of young men ate standard American food—replete with food additives like borax and formaldehyde—as part of government research to better understand food safety.

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

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.

A 2019 Facebook event called on attendees to "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us," resulting in countless memes, the creation of a music festival, and eventually the arrests of those who did try to approach the area.

The hormonal disorder PCOS was renamed PMOS in 2026, a move designed to improve care and research by shifting the focus to the hormonal causes of this condition that affects 1 in 8 women.

The concept of phantom limbs, the perception that amputated limbs are still present, dates back to a French military surgeon in the 16th century.

For centuries, Niagara Falls has been a magnet for daredevils seeking to conquer one of nature's most powerful wonders, with its 200-foot drop and water rushing at 32 feet per second with 280 tons of force.

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

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

Watch how algorithms can be designed to train themselves and self-improve without human input, to the point where the optimized code is too complex for programmers to understand.

Apeirophobia is an overwhelming fear of living forever, perhaps stemming from the brain's inability to conceptualize an infinite life.