The olympics have the potential to be a great unifier. The joining of nations from around the world, who come together for weeks at a time to compete, is supposed to be peaceful. Countries, for the most part, put aside their differences for the spectacle happening every two years.

The olympics have only been canceled twice, during World War I and World War II, and they were pushed back a year due to the coronavirus pandemic, as you can find on the Tokyo 2021 page. At all other times, no matter what was going on in the world, the olympics were played. It is a staple of world culture.

First introduced in the modern era in 1994, the Olympic Truce is a worldwide agreement that grants safe passage to athletes and fans despite conflicts between nations. The truce is in place during the games, but also for a period before and after to allow for safe travel. The truce was first instituted way back when the Greek city-states were constantly at war, so the king at the time felt like it was a good idea to institute the policy.

Because of increasing world conflicts, the IOC decided to reinstitute the truce at a 1993 meeting. Today, now unfortunately but possibly more than ever, the truce is still in use.

The olympics have been the cause for some historic events that history will never forget. Throughout this website, we’re going to try showing you times during the olympics that its overall impact went further than who was standing on the podium.