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!
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!"
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.
The Williams Sisters Meet The President
Young Venus and Serena Williams are seen here cheesing from ear-to-ear with former U.S. President Ronald Reagan at a tennis camp in Florida in 1991. Perhaps he already recognized the Williams sisters as a force to be reckoned with even in their junior tennis career. If so, his prediction was correct, as the Williams sisters went on to be two of the best tennis players the world has witnessed. They are so good that during the final matches of many competitions, they were left to compete against each other- they met in the 9 Grand Slam Singles finals!
Venus and Serena Williams became the first two players, female or male, to play in four Grand Slam singles finals from the 2002 French Open to the 2003 Australian Open, consecutively! Between 2000 and 2016, they collectively won 12 Wimbledon singles titles (Serena won 7, and Venus won five), and they're the 5th pair to complete the Career Doubles Grand Slam and the only pair to complete the Career Doubles Golden Slam.
Dad To The Rescue
Derek Redmond, now retired, is an accomplished track runner who held the British record for the 400 m sprint and helped bring his team to take the gold at European and World championships 4x400 relay races. His career, however, was halted after some serious injuries. During the 400-meter semi-finals in the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain, Redmond felt something in his leg "snap"; he tore his hamstring mid-race.
Redmond immediately fell to his knees but soon got up, and despite the excruciating pain, he continued to limp to the finish line. With the help of his father, who came running to the track, Redmond managed to complete his final lap. Although he was disqualified and listed as "Did Not Finish" due to receiving outside assistance to finish the race, the crowd gave Redmond a well-deserved standing ovation. The incident has become well-remembered as one of the most heartwarming moments in Olympic history.