The 1st Maccabiah
Jewish athletes from all over the world, as well as Israeli athletes (regardless of their religion), participate in the multi-sport event that is held quadrennially in Israel, called the Maccabiah. With around 10,000 athletes competing, the Maccabiah also called the “Jewish Olympics,” is the third-largest sports event in the world. The first Maccabiah Games, also called the “Jewish Olympics,” was on March 28, 1932, in Tel Aviv, and 390 athletes from 27 countries participated.
As the days leading to the opening ceremony approached, Tel Aviv faced a shortage of accommodation. Thus the residents of the city were asked to host guests in their own homes. Hosts also helped out by taking their athletes to their events. Everything worked out, and the first Maccabiah was considered a big success.”Teamwork makes the dream work!”
1929 Columbia University Varsity Rowing Team
At that time, the college sports that were most popular to follow outside of the pro leagues were football and rowing. Since rowing has lost its popularity, let's take a moment to appreciate the sport. Columbia's 1929 heavyweight crew was possibly the fastest rowing boat in the world. Though they were both a national and international phenomenon, they never got a chance to bring home the gold, as the years of their prime weren't Olympic years. The New York Times once raved about the team, after one of their many victorious matches, "Columbia's victory is among the greatest sporting achievements ever put down on record."
Going season after season undefeated, this varsity heavyweight crew is regarded as one of the greatest 8+ American rowing teams. The team was eventually etched in rowing history in January 1974, when the 1929 Columbia University varsity crew was inducted into the Rowing Hall of Fame by the NAAO.
Youngest Heavyweight Champion
Tyson is widely regarded as one of the best heavyweights of all time. By the age of 20, he became a world heavyweight boxer and became the youngest boxer in history to hold that title. Tyson was known for his ferocious boxing style, as well as his controversial behavior both inside and outside the ring. For example, at one point, he owned a rare white tiger which he kept as a pet. On another occasion, he asked a zookeeper to let him in a gorilla cage so he could wrestle the primate. Ultimately, his reputation got him his second "title" of "The Baddest Man on the Planet."
Since Tyson's young and crazy days, and after he retired, he has become quite an ordinary family man. He once said about himself that he couldn't believe the things he'd done when he was younger. Well, luckily, we have pictures to prove it.
U.S. Athletes Protest At The 1968 Olympics
This powerful photo is widely regarded as one of the most overtly political statements in the history of the modern Olympics. In the 1968 Summer Olympics, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, of the U.S. track team, took 1st and 3rd place in the 200-meter dash, respectively. During their medal ceremony, the African-American athletes turned to face their country's flag, bowed their heads, and raised their firsts, covered with black gloves throughout the whole duration of the national anthem that was played after they received their medals. All three of the winning athletes, including the Australian silver medalist Peter Norman, wore human-rights badges on their jackets.
Tommie Smith later stated in his autobiography that their silent demonstration was a "human rights" salute. Explaining that while he and Carlos were "good enough" to win medals for the country, they knew that when they got back home, they would be "welcomed" with the same discrimination they faced before they were Olympic champions.
Acrobats On The Empire State Building
Acrobats Jewell Waddek, Jarley Smith, and Jimmy Kerrigan performed this stunt on August 21, 1934. Spectator watched speechless as the daredevils balanced themselves in perfect form on a ledge of the Empire State Building in Manhattan. They wouldn't be the last to attempt such acts.
Fun fact about this iconic building: The idea of the Empire State Building was born from a competition between John Jakob Raskob of General Motors and Walter Chrysler of the Chrysler Corporation to see who could build a taller building. Chrysler's famous 1,046-foot skyscraper, Chrysler Building, was already in the makings in midtown Manhattan. Not wanting to lose, Raskob quickly got to work, and his entire new building went up in a little over a year, under budget (at $40 million) and well ahead of schedule, at that!