1896

Events

March

• March 22: Charilaos Vasilakos wins the first marathon ever run with a time of 3hrs 17mins.

April

• April 6: Commencement of the first modern Olympic Games. By the Julian calendar, the games commenced on March 25 - the national holiday of Greece - as a symbolic gesture.
• April 7: Leonidas Pyrgos becomes the first Greek to win an Olympic Gold Medal after defeating Frenchman Peronnet at fencing.
• April 7: Miltiades Gouskos breaks the Greek record for the shot put with 11.20m to win the silver medal in the 1896 Summer Olympics.
• April 10: Spiros Loues wins the marathon in the 1896 Summer Olympics.
• April 15: Closing ceremony of the first modern Olympic Games.

May

• May 21: Sotiris Versis breaks the Greek record in the discus throw with 29.50m.

June

• June 5: The National Company sends 86 guerrilas, under Athanasios Broufas, to support the Macedonian Struggle.

July

• July 3: The National Company sends 500 guerrilas from Greece to support the Macedonian Struggle.

August

• August 8: Greek volunteers land in Crete to support the Cretan revolt against the Ottoman Empire.

October

• October 11: Procopius II is elected Archbishop of Athens and all Greece.

Births

February

• February 5: George Dilboy, Greek-American World War I hero
• February 10: Sir John Harding, military governor of Cyprus.

March

• March 1: Dimitris Mitropoulos, conductor
• March 9: Archbishop of Cyprus Leontios

September

• September 4: Aspasia Manou, wife of King Alexander.

October

• October 30: Kostas Karyotakis, poet

Unknown

• Eleni Skoura, politician

Deaths

March

• March 30: Charilaos Trikoupis, politician, Prime Minister

April

• April 15: Georgios Vizyinos, poet/writer.

November

• November 12: Spyridon Xyndas, musician