http://blogs.news.com.au/jackmarxlive/i ... y_not_know
The first couple give a feel for the rest:
Jack Marx wrote:Most people know that the Olympic Marathon honours the memory of Pheidippides, a Greek soldier who, in 490 BC, ran from Marathon to Athens to inform the Athenians that the Greeks had defeated the invading Persians. After telling the townspeople the good news, Pheidippides fell to the ground dead. But it wasn’t mere exhaustion from his anxious 25-mile sprint that killed Pheidippides – what really broke his heart was the response of the Greeks, to wit: “So we’ve heard.” This, and many other strange dollops of uncheckable news, constitute my own contribution to the interminable quagmire of useless Olympic factoids, 2008. Enjoy…
* In the time of the early Olympiad, there were only three competitive nations: Greece, the Ottoman Empire and Cyprus. Thus, while Gold and Silver medals were awarded for first and second, he who came last was made to wear a disc of fecal matter dangled around the neck for the remainder of the Games. In the modern era, this became the Bronze medal.
