#55: The 1956 Olympics
The Olympics are a time when the world symbolically gathers and unites in one place to show that we can all get along. Well, kind of. There have actually been a few times when the Olympics took place in more than one country. The 1956 Summer Olympics was the second time in modern history that the games were held in two countries. Buckle up because this is a weird one.
So, the 1956 Summer Olympics were hosted in Melbourne, Australia, and Stockholm, Sweden. As we all know, Australia experiences seasons opposite the Northern Hemisphere. So, the Summer Olympics were hosted in November and December of 1956. Where does Sweden come in? Well, the equestrian events were hosted in Stockholm five months earlier, in June, because of Australia’s strict quarantine rules. This all sounds quite complicated. Whoever was in charge of logistics was probably extremely stressed out in 1956.