The first Olympic Games and the fall of China's Western Zhou are five years apart: the games traditionally date to 776 BC, and in 771 BC nomads sacked the Zhou capital, opening the Spring and Autumn period.
The events
- First Olympic Games776 BC · Olympia. The first recorded Olympic Games were held at the sanctuary of Zeus at Olympia; Coroebus of Elis won the stadion footrace. Held every four years, the Games gave the Greeks a common system for counting years.
- Fall of the Western Zhou771 BC · Haojing, near Xi'an. The Quanrong tribes, allied with disaffected nobles, took Haojing and killed King You. His heir moved the capital east to Luoyi (Luoyang). The Eastern Zhou kings became figureheads, and the Spring and Autumn period began, when rival states effectively ran the country.
More amazing facts
- 782 BC · 753 BC Yerevan is 29 years older than Rome.
- 776 BC · 753 BC The Olympic Games are older than Rome: the first were held in 776 BC, and by tradition the city was founded only 23 years later.
- 776 BC The first Olympic champion on record was a cook.
- 776 BC · 393 · 1896 The break in the Olympics lasted longer than the ancient Games themselves: they ran for about 1,170 years, traditionally from 776 BC to AD 393, and the next Games came only in 1896 — 1,503 years later.
- 776 BC · 100 BC The ancient Greek 'computer' had a dial for the Olympics.
- 753 BC · 248 · 476 In 248 Rome celebrated its 1,000th birthday.