Olympic Games

Berlin, 1936

Berlin was also selected to host the Games in 1916, but the event was cancelled due to WW1. They had to wait until 1936 to get the chance again. Germany again hosted the Olympic Games in 1972 in Munich.
The 1936 Berlin Games were the first games to be televised.
In 1936, the chairman of the organizing committee for the Games, Carl Diem, suggested what is now the modern Olympic Torch relay.
A star of the 1936 Games was Jesse Owens. Jesse won four gold medals, showing up German claims of Aryan superiority. The real name of the great USA sprinter was James Cleveland Owens. As a boy he was known as 'J.C.' because of his initials. That was until a new teacher mistaked the sound of J. C., and began calling him 'Jesse'. The name stuck.
These Games were the first to be televised, being shown on large screens around Berlin.
Basketball was admitted as an Olympic sport for the first time. In the final, played on a dirt court in the rain, making dribbling impossible, the United States team beat Canada 19–8.
Denmark's 12-year-old Inge Sorensen wins a bronze medal in the 200-meter breaststroke, making her the youngest medalist ever in an individual event.