The Boston Marathon is an annual road race held in the Boston area in Massachusetts on Patriots' Day, the third Monday of April. The first race took place in 1897, inspired by the marathon at the first modern Olympic Games in Athens in 1896, which several members of the Boston Athletic Association had attended, making it the oldest annual marathon in the world. The route runs from the town of Hopkinton to central Boston, and its famous hill known as Heartbreak Hill is a challenge for runners. Women were officially allowed to enter only in 1972, after Kathrine Switzer had been physically challenged by a race official in 1967. In April 2013 two bombs exploded near the finish line, killing three people and injuring hundreds, and the race has since been run with strong symbolic significance.
Before and after
- 10 December 1896Death of Alfred Nobel
- 1897Construction of Villa Park
- 1897Publication of The War of the Worlds
- 1897Electron
- 1897Origins of Boston Marathon
- 4 February 1897Birth of Ludwig Erhard
- from 9 February 1897 to 21 February 1897Benin Expedition of 1897
- 3 April 1897Rise of Vienna Secession
- 3 April 1897Death of Johannes Brahms
More in Society, economy & sport
- 25 March 1807Britain abolishes the slave trade
- from 10 June 1815 to 24 August 1866Founding of German Confederation
- from 19 July 1848 to 20 July 1848The Seneca Falls Convention
- 17 February 1863Founding of International Committee of the Red Cross
- 14 September 1867Karl Marx publishes Das Kapital
- 29 November 1899Founding of FC Barcelona
The era
This moment belongs to the Industrial era (1760 CE to 1914 CE), steam, factories and revolutions. You can also browse everything in the 19th century.