Ville Ritola, Finnish-American runner (d. 1982)
Vilho "Ville" Eino Ritola (18 January 1896 – 24 April 1982) was a Finnish long-distance runner. Known as one of the "Flying Finns", he won five Olympic gold medals and three Olympic silver medals in the 1920s. He holds the record of winning most athletics medals at a single Games – four golds and two silvers in Paris 1924 - and ranks second in terms of most athletics gold medals at a single Games.
1896Jan, 18
Ville Ritola
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Events on 1896
- 28Jan
Speed limit
Walter Arnold of East Peckham, Kent, becomes the first person to be convicted of speeding. He was fined one shilling, plus costs, for speeding at 8 mph (13 km/h), thereby exceeding the contemporary speed limit of 2 mph (3.2 km/h). - 6Apr
1896 Summer Olympics
In Athens, the opening of the first modern Olympic Games is celebrated, 1,500 years after the original games are banned by Roman emperor Theodosius I. - 26May
Dow Jones Industrial Average
Charles Dow publishes the first edition of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. - 16Aug
Klondike Gold Rush
Skookum Jim Mason, George Carmack and Dawson Charlie discover gold in a tributary of the Klondike River in Canada, setting off the Klondike Gold Rush. - 21Sep
Horatio Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener
Mahdist War: British forces under the command of Horatio Kitchener takes Dongola in the Sudan.