London 2012 Olympics

^{The official London 2012 Olympics Torch Relay song.'Spinnin' for 2012' by Dionne Bromfield and Tinchy Stryder.. what do you think?}

History of the Olympic Games

You would have to go back to 776 BC and Greece for the first Olympic Games. Men from all over Greece would complete at a place called Olympia - hence the name given to the games. In those days it was a religious festival in honour of the Greek gods Zeus and Hera.

The games happened every four years without fail and because of this people began to use the Olympic games as a way of marking important dates such as births and deaths. But in 393 AD the games was banned by Emperor Theodosius.

It would be approximately 1,500 years later before the Olympic Games would be championed by a young Frenchmen named Pierre de Coubertin. In 1892, he spoke before a sports committee in Paris asking them to revive the Olympic games. The committee agreed and the first modern olympics was held in Greece in April 1896.

• 245 men took part from 14 different countries
• The most successful competitor was a German named Carl Schuhmann - he won four events
• It was held in the Panathinaiko Stadium
• The highlight for the Greek crowd was the Marathon won by a Greek named Spiridon Louis

Origin of the Paralympics

In 1948, Sir Ludwig Guttman, determined to promote the rehabilitation of soldiers after World War II, organised a multi sport event between several hospitals to coincide with the 1948 London Olympics.

Guttman's event, known then as the Stoke Mandeville Games, became an annual sports festival. Over the next twelve years Guttman and others continued their efforts to use sports as an avenue to healing.

For the 1960 Olympic Games, in Rome, Guttman brought 400 athletes to compete in the "Parallel Olympics", which became known as the first Paralympics. Since then, the Paralympics have been held in every Olympic year.

How good are you on Olympic facts or trivia? For more information about Olympic triva

Got a favourite event that your looking forward to seeing at London 2012? If it's swimming, the Men's 100m final -  take a look at All things Olympic to find out where and when events are happening.