Since the first modern Olympic games in 1896, the United States has brought home more medals than any other country. Over the years, the U.S. has dominated the Summer Olympics, and the majority of the nation's gold medals come from summer events like swimming and gymnastics. In the Winter Games, however, the U.S. trails behind Norway for medal count.

The National Stadium in Beijing, China, aka the "Bird's Nest," was built between 2003 and 2008 in preparation for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games. Swiss architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron and Chinese architect Li Xinggang designed the modern steel structure, which mimics the natural appearance of a bird's nest. It remains a tourist attraction today.

Tokyo, Japan, is hosting the Summer Olympics in 2021 (postponed from 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic), but it’s the second time the city has had that honor. Tokyo became the first city in Asia to host the Summer Olympics in 1964. The country spent the years leading up to those games building and renovating venues, adding bullet trains and new expressways, and boosting Japan’s athletic programs.

The excitement of the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia — dubbed the “Centennial Olympics” to celebrate 100 years of the modern Olympics — drew spectators in staggering numbers. According to Guinness World Records, 8.3 million tickets were sold, which is still the largest attendance at an Olympic Games in history.

Yosemite’s bid to host the Winter Olympics was part of an effort to lure winter visitors to the popular summertime destination after the construction of a new highway in 1926. The park’s concessionaire, Don Tresidder, pushed for the 1932 Olympic Games to be hosted in Yosemite after he visited the St. Moritz Games in Switzerland in 1928. Ultimately, his bid was unsuccessful, and the 1932 games went to Lake Placid.

Denver, Colorado, was awarded hosting duties for the 1976 Winter Olympics, but many Denverites objected, citing the astronomical costs involved. The city’s anti-Olympics movement managed to defund the games and force the International Olympics Committee to overturn the decision. The IOC turned to Innsbruck, Austria, where infrastructure from the 1964 Winter Games allowed for a short-notice hosting gig.

Los Angeles, California, hosted the Summer Olympics in both 1932 and 1984 (and is set to host them for a third time in 2028). In 1960, Squaw Valley, a ski resort near Lake Tahoe, was home to the winter games, making California the only state to host both seasons of the Olympics.

The 1904 Olympic Games took place in St. Louis, Missouri, making it the first U.S. city to host the sporting event. Chicago originally won the Olympic bid, but the games were moved to St. Louis after organizers of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition (aka the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair) announced they wouldn’t accept a rival international event happening at the same time.

The first modern Olympic games took place in Athens in 1896, but it took nearly 30 years after that — January 1924 — for the first official Winter Olympic Games to be held in Chamonix in the French Alps. The games took inspiration from an early-20th century sporting event in Sweden called the Nordic games (which were themselves based on the Olympics).

Ancient Olympians would be happy to know that the modern Olympics began in the same city where it was born nearly 3,000 years ago: Athens, Greece. The first modern Olympics were held on April 6, 1896, and welcomed 280 athletes from 14 countries. In 2004, the Olympics returned to Athens, this time with more than 11,000 athletes competing from 202 nations.