The first Olympics were the 1896 Summer Games in Athens, Greece.  The event was organized by Pierre de Coubertin, a French aristocrat and historian. I found this interesting and hilarious:  Hungarian Alfred Hajos was the first Olympic champion in swimming, AND he later became the first of two Olympians to win a medal in both athletic and artistic competition.  Yes, Hajos won the silver medal in architecture in 1924.  I kid you not.  Between 1912 and 1948, there were sport-inspired art competitions in five categories: architecture, literature, music, painting, and sculpture.   Luckily the art contests were abandoned before the Olympics were widely televised because we wouldn’t have TiVo to fast-forward through 75 hours of a guy writing a book.