January 25th 1924: First Winter Olympics
On this day in 1924, the first Winter Olympic Games began in Chamonix, France, and lasted until February 5th. At the time, the event was called ‘International Winter Sports Week’ but it was later retroactively named the Winter Olympics. The sports included speed skating, figure skating, ice hockey, bobsleigh, and skiing. Only 16 nations took part in the first Winter Olympics, but the event steadily gained more recognition. The most recent Winter Olympics, in Sochi in 2014, had 88 participating nations. 1924 also saw the Summer Olympic Games in Paris. However in 1994, the rules were changed so the Winter Olympics take place two years after the Summer Olympics. Hence last year’s Winter Olympics in Sochi occurred two years after London hosted the Summer Games.