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1974 in television

The year 1974 involved some significant events in television. Below is a list of television-related events of that year.

Events

 * January 6 – CKGN-TV begins broadcasting in Brantford, Ontario.
 * January 31 – CBS airs a multi-Emmy-winning adaptation of Ernest J. Gaines' novel The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, which follows the 110-year life of a former slave from the Civil War to the Civil Rights Movement. Cicely Tyson portrays the title role.
 * February 1 – KITC (now KIVI-TV) begins broadcasting in Boise, Idaho.
 * February 2 – The Filipino government television station GTV 4 (now known as the People's Television Network) begins operations, under the National Media Production Center.
 * February 8 – After 20 years, The Secret Storm airs its 5195th and final episode on CBS Daytime. The show is replaced ten days later by Tattletales, a game show hosted by Bert Convy.
 * March 11 – The children's special Free to Be... You and Me, produced by comedic actress Marlo Thomas, airs on ABC.
 * March 13 – The Execution of Private Slovik airs on NBC. A made-for-television film, it told the story of Pvt. Eddie Slovik, the only American soldier to be executed for desertion since the American Civil War.
 * March 18 – Lucille Ball ends her 23-year consecutive television reign when Here's Lucy is cancelled.
 * April 5 – After 264 hour-long episodes, The Dean Martin Show ends its run on NBC, then spins off to 10 years of The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast.
 * April 6 – "Waterloo" wins the Eurovision Song Contest for Sweden and launches ABBA on their stellar global career.
 * May 4 – Steve Frame (George Reinholt) marries Alice Matthews (Jacqueline Courtney) for the second time on a special hour-long broadcast of Another World, coinciding with the show's tenth anniversary.
 * June 8 – Jon Pertwee makes his final regular appearance as the Third Doctor in the concluding moments of Part Six of the Doctor Who serial Planet of the Spiders. Tom Baker briefly appears as the Fourth Doctor at the conclusion of this serial.
 * August 5 – For the first time on a pre-school children's programme, the UK show Inigo Pipkin covers the death of the main character, Inigo, as the actor who played him (George Woodbridge) had died. The show is renamed Pipkins.
 * August 8 – US President Richard Nixon announces pending resignation (effective August 9) live on television.
 * September 10 – The controversial TV movie Born Innocent, starring Linda Blair, airs on NBC. The film, which involved a fourteen-year-old being sent to what the television preview deemed a women's prison (when in reality it was a reform school), drew heavy criticism due to an all-female rape scene, the first ever seen on American television. The scene was deleted in subsequent re-airings after a group of girls assaulted an eight-year-old with a pop bottle, influenced by the scene in the film.
 * October 6 – Monty Python's Flying Circus, the popular British sketch comedy which aired its final episode this year, is first shown in the U.S. on KERA-TV in Dallas, Texas, at 10pm.
 * December 28 – Tom Baker makes his first full appearance as the Fourth Doctor in the Doctor Who serial Robot.
 * On the American soap opera Love of Life, Meg Dale (Tudi Wiggins) calls her son Ben (Christopher Reeve) a "bastard", the first time a profanity was spoken on American daytime television.

Programmes

 * 60 Minutes (1968–present)
 * All in the Family (1971–1979)
 * All My Children (1970–2011)
 * American Bandstand (1952–1989)
 * Another World (1964–1999)
 * Are You Being Served? (UK) (1972–1985)
 * As the World Turns (1956–2010)
 * Barnaby Jones (1973–1980)
 * Blue Peter (UK) (1958–present)
 * Bozo the Clown (1949–present)
 * Candid Camera (1948–2014)
 * Captain Kangaroo (1955–1984)
 * Clyde Frog Show (1974–1976)
 * Columbo (1971–1978)
 * Come Dancing (UK) (1949–1995)
 * Coronation Street (UK) (1960–present)
 * Crossroads (UK) (1964–1988, 2001–2003)
 * Cutey Honey (Japan) (1973–1974)
 * Dad's Army (UK) (1968–1977)
 * Days of Our Lives (1965–present)
 * Dixon of Dock Green (UK) (1955–1976)
 * Doctor Who (UK) (1963–1989, 1996, 2005–present)
 * Emergency! (1972–1977)
 * Emmerdale Farm (UK) (1972–present)
 * Face the Nation (1954–present)
 * Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids (1972–1984)
 * Four Corners (Australia) (1961–present)
 * General Hospital (1963–present)
 * Grandstand (UK) (1958–2007)
 * Gunsmoke (1955–1975)
 * Hallmark Hall of Fame (1951–present)
 * Hawaii Five-O (1968–1980)
 * Hee Haw (1969–1993)
 * Ironside (1967–1975)
 * It's Academic (1961–present)
 * It Ain't Half Hot Mum (UK) (1974–1981)
 * Jeopardy! (1964–1975, 1984–present)
 * John Craven's Newsround (UK) (1972–present)
 * Kaynanalar (Turkey) (1974–2004)
 * Kojak (1973–1978)
 * Kung Fu (1972–1975)
 * Last of the Summer Wine (UK) (1973–present)
 * Love of Life (1951–1980)
 * Magpie (UK) (1968–1980)
 * Majokko Megu-chan (Japan) (1974–1975)
 * Mannix (1967–1975)
 * Marcus Welby, M.D. (1969–1976)
 * Mary Tyler Moore (1970–1977)
 * M*A*S*H (1972–1983)
 * Masterpiece Theatre (1971–present)
 * Match Game '74 (1962–1969, 1973–1984, 1990–1991, 1998–1999)
 * Maude (1972–1978)
 * McCloud (1970–1977)
 * McMillan & Wife (1971–1977)
 * Meet the Press (1947–present)
 * Monday Night Football (1970–present)
 * Old Grey Whistle Test (UK) (1971–1987)
 * One Life to Live (1968–2012)
 * Opportunity Knocks (UK) (1956–1978).
 * Panorama (UK) (1953–present)
 * Play for Today (UK) (1970–1984)
 * Play School (Australia) (1966–present)
 * Sanford and Son (1972–1977)
 * Schoolhouse Rock! (1973–2009)
 * Search for Tomorrow (1951–1986)
 * Sesame Street (1969–present)
 * Soul Train (1971–2008)
 * Space Battleship Yamato (Japan) (1974–1975)
 * Superstars (UK) (1973–1985)
 * The Benny Hill Show (UK) (1969–1989)
 * The Bob Newhart Show (1972–1978)
 * The Carol Burnett Show (1967–1978)
 * The Dean Martin Show (1965–1974)
 * The Doctors (1963–1982)
 * The Edge of Night (1956–1984)
 * The Good Old Days (UK) (1953–1983)
 * The Guiding Light (1952–2009)
 * The Late Late Show (Ireland) (1962–present)
 * The Lawrence Welk Show (1955–1982)
 * The Mike Douglas Show (1961–1981)
 * The Money Programme (UK) (1966–present)
 * The Odd Couple (1970–1975)
 * The Price Is Right (1972–present)
 * The Six Million Dollar Man (1973–1978)
 * The Sky at Night (UK) (1957–present)
 * The Today Show (1952–present)
 * The Tomorrow Show (1973–1982)
 * The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962–1992)
 * The Waltons (1972–1981)
 * The Wonderful World of Disney (1969–1979)
 * The Young and the Restless (1973–present)
 * This Is Your Life (UK) (1955–2003)
 * Top of the Pops (UK) (1964–2006)
 * Truth or Consequences (1950–1988)
 * What the Papers Say (UK) (1956–present)
 * World of Sport (UK) (1965–1985)
 * Z-Cars (UK) (1962–1978)

Debuts

 * January 5 – Tiswas, a local programme in the Midlands (ATV) in the UK, though not fully automatically networked through ITV until 1979 (1974–82)
 * January 7
 * How to Survive a Marriage in a 90-minute special on NBC daytime
 * Jackpot! (1974–75), a game show hosted by Geoff Edwards on daytime NBC
 * Wish You Were Here...? premieres on ITV (1974–2003, 2007–)
 * January 15 – Happy Days on ABC (1974–84)
 * February 1 – Good Times (a spinoff of Maude) on CBS (1974–79)
 * February 10 – Apple's Way on CBS (1974–1975)
 * February 12 – Bagpuss (12 February – 7 May 1974)
 * February 18 – Tattletales, hosted by Bert Convy, on CBS daytime (1974–78, 1982–84)
 * March 3 – Nova on PBS (1974–present)
 * March 13 – Clyde Frog Show on PBS (1974–1976)
 * April 12 – Ultraman Leo on TBS in Japan (1974–75)
 * May 6 – The $10,000 Pyramid moves to ABC, with Dick Clark as host
 * July 1
 * High Rollers on NBC (1974–76; 1978–80)
 * Winning Streak on NBC daytime
 * July 4 – CBS airs its first Bicentennial Minute (They will continue until the end of 1976)
 * July 29 – Name That Tune on NBC daytime with Dennis James hosting, and in nighttime syndication with Tom Kennedy hosting
 * September 4 – That's My Mama on CBS (1974–1975)
 * September 7 (Saturday)
 * Land of the Lost on NBC (1974–77)
 * Valley of the Dinosaurs on CBS (1974–76)
 * Shazam! on CBS (1974–77)
 * Hong Kong Phooey on ABC (1974)
 * September 9 (Monday)
 * Rhoda on CBS (1974–78)
 * The $25,000 Pyramid in syndication with host Bill Cullen; basically The $10,000 Pyramid with larger prizes
 * Definition on CTV daytime (1974–89)
 * Dinah! in syndication (1974–80)
 * September 11 – Little House on the Prairie on NBC (1974–83)
 * September 12
 * Harry O on ABC (1974–76)
 * Paper Moon on ABC (1974)
 * September 13 (Friday)
 * Chico and the Man (1974–78) on NBC
 * The Rockford Files (1974–80) on NBC
 * Police Woman (1974–78) on NBC
 * The Texas Wheelers (1974) on ABC
 * Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1974–75) on ABC
 * Planet of the Apes (1974) on CBS
 * September 14 (Saturday)
 * The New Land (1974) on ABC
 * Paul Sand in Friends and Lovers (1974–75) on CBS
 * September 23 – Dr. Zonk and the Zunkins on CBC (1974–75)
 * October 20 – Derrick, German Krimi written by Herbert Reinecker, starring Horst Tappert, on ZDF (1974–1988)
 * November 8 – Countdown on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (1974–87)
 * December 20 –  Chéri-Bibi on ORTF (1974–75)
 * December 23 – The Big Showdown and The Money Maze on ABC daytime
 * Unknown date – House of Pride on CBC (1974–76)

Television debuts

 * Daniel Auteuil – Les Fargeot
 * Dan Aykroyd – The Gift of Winter
 * Tom Bower – Kojak
 * James Cromwell – The Rockford Files
 * George Dzundza – Kung Fu
 * Georgia Engel – Rhoda
 * Victor Garber – ABC Afterschool Special
 * Joe Grifasi – Police Surgeon
 * Richard Griffiths – Crown Court
 * Judd Hirsch – The Law
 * Michael Ironside – The Ottawa Valley
 * Carol Kane – The American Parade
 * Michael Keaton – Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
 * Delroy Lindo – Police Surgeon
 * John Lithgow – The Country Girl
 * Edie McClurg – Tony Orlando and Dawn
 * Richard Masur – All in the Family
 * Edward James Olmos – Cannon
 * Sean Penn – Little House on the Prairie
 * Christopher Reeve – Great Performances
 * Brooke Shields – After the Fall
 * Frank Sivero – Happy Days
 * Dee Wallace – Lucas Tanner
 * JoBeth Williams – Great Performances

title: 1974 in television


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1900 Summer Olympics

The 1900 Summer Olympics (Jeux olympiques d'été de 1900), today officially known as the Games of the II Olympiad (Jeux de la IIe olympiade) and also known as Paris 1900, were an international multi-sport event that took place in Paris, France, from 14 May to 28 October 1900. No opening or closing ceremonies were held. They were the first Summer Olympics to be held in a non-leap year until the 2020 Summer Olympics, which were delayed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

At the Olympic Congress of 1894 convened in the Sorbonne building, Pierre de Coubertin proposed that the Olympic Games should take place in Paris in 1900. However, the delegates to the conference were unwilling to wait six years, and lobbied to hold the first games in 1896. A decision was made to hold the first Olympic Games in 1896 in Athens and have Paris host the second Games.

The Games were held as part of the 1900 World's Fair. In total, 1,226 competitors took part in 19 different sports. This number relies on certain assumptions about which events were and were not "Olympic". Many athletes, some of whom had won events, were unaware that they had competed in the Olympic Games. Women took part in the games for the first time, with sailor Hélène de Pourtalès, born Helen Barbey in New York City, becoming the first female Olympic champion. The decision to hold competitions on a Sunday brought protests from many American athletes, who traveled as representatives of their colleges and were expected to withdraw rather than compete on their religious day of rest.

Most of the winners in 1900 did not receive medals but were given cups or trophies. Professionals competed in fencing, as was tradition, and Albert Robert Ayat (France), who won the épée for amateurs and masters, was awarded a prize of 3000 francs. Some events were contested for the only time in the history of the Games, including angling, motor racing, ballooning, cricket, croquet, Basque pelota, 200m swimming obstacle race and underwater swimming. This was also the only Olympic Games in history to use live animals (pigeons) as targets during the shooting event. The host nation of France fielded 72% of all athletes (720 of the 997) and won the most gold, silver and bronze medal placings. U.S. athletes won the second-most in each, while fielding the fifth most participants, 75. British athletes won the third-most in each, while fielding the second most participants, 102.

Organization
The 1900 Games were held as part of the 1900 Exposition Universelle. The Baron de Coubertin believed that this would help public awareness of the Olympics and submitted elaborate plans to rebuild the ancient site of Olympia, complete with statues, temples, stadia and gymnasia. The director of the Exposition Universelle, Alfred Picard, thought holding an ancient sport event at the Exposition Universelle was an "absurd anachronism". After thanking de Coubertin for his plans, Picard filed them away and nothing more came of it.

A committee was formed for the organization of the Games, consisting of some of the more able sports administrators of the day and a provisional program was drawn up. Sports to be included at the games were track and field athletics, swimming, wrestling, gymnastics, fencing, French and British boxing, river and ocean yacht racing, cycling, golf, lifesaving, archery, weightlifting, rowing, diving, and water polo.

British and Irish sports associations announced a desire to compete, as did a number of powerful American universities and sports clubs. Competitors from Russia and Australia also confirmed their intentions to travel to Paris.

On 9 November 1898, the Union des Sociétés Françaises de Sports Athlétiques ("Union of the French Societies for Athletic Sports" or USFSA) put out an announcement that it would have sole right to any organised sport held during the World's Fair. It was an empty threat but Viscount Charles de La Rochefoucauld, the nominated head of the organizing committee, stepped down rather than be embroiled in the political battle. The Baron de Coubertin, who was also secretary-general of the USFSA, was urged to withdraw from active involvement in the running of the Games and did so, only to comment later, "I surrendered – and was incorrect in doing so."

The IOC ceded control of the Games to a new committee which was to oversee every sporting activity connected to the 1900 Exposition Universelle. Alfred Picard appointed Daniel Mérillon, the head of the French Shooting Association, as president of this organization in February 1899. Mérillon proceeded to publish an entirely different schedule of events, with the result that many of those that had made plans to compete in concordance with the original program withdrew, and refused to deal with the new committee.

Between May and October 1900, the new organizing committee held an enormous number of sporting activities alongside the Paris Exposition. The sporting events rarely used the term of "Olympic". Indeed, the term "Olympic Games" was replaced by "Concours internationaux d'exercices physiques et de sport" ("International physical exercises and sports" in English) in the official report of the sporting events of the 1900 Exposition Universelle. The press reported competitions variously as "International Championships", "International Games", "Paris Championships", "World Championships" and "Grand Prix of the Paris Exposition".

These poorly organized games along with those of 1904 were termed decades later by several historians, "The Farcical Games". Years later many competitors were unaware that they had competed in the Olympics. While there is an Official Report of these Games, complete records of results do not exist. De Coubertin commented later to friends, "It's a miracle that the Olympic Movement survived that celebration".

Highlights

 * These Olympic Games were the first organised under the IOC Presidency of Pierre de Coubertin
 * Alvin Kraenzlein (United States) won the 60 metres (he was one of two people to ever win this event at the Olympic Games as it was withdrawn from Olympic competition after the 1904 Olympics), the 110 metre hurdles, the 200 metre hurdles and the long jump events;, these four individual gold medals are still a record for a track and field athlete. For his victory in the long jump, he was allegedly punched in the face by his rival Meyer Prinstein, who was prevented from competing in the final by officials of Syracuse University because it was scheduled for a Sunday.
 * American-born Hélène de Pourtalès became the first female Olympic champion as part of the Swiss winning team in the 1-2 ton sailing event. Two months later, Charlotte Cooper (UK) became the first woman to win an individual Olympic event after winning the women's singles tennis competition. She later went on to win the mixed doubles tournament.
 * Three marathon runners from the United States contested the result saying the French runners who got first and second places took a short cut, and in fact they were the only contestants not spattered with mud.
 * In the coxed pairs and eights events in rowing, crews replaced adult coxswain with children. The identities and ages of these boys were not recorded but they are believed to have been among the youngest of all Olympic competitors.

Sports
Before July 2021, the IOC had never decided which events were "Olympic". In fact, Pierre de Coubertin had ceded that entire determination to the organizers. The IOC webpage for the 1900 Summer Olympics affirms a total of 95 medal events. Weightlifting and wrestling were dropped since the 1896 Summer Olympics, while 12 new sports were added. Among the sports below, only croquet was not an international competition, being contested by French players only. The number of events in each discipline is noted in parentheses.

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• *Driving (2)

• *Jumping (3)

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Venues
14 venues were used at the 1900 Summer Olympics to host 20 sports.

Sport-by-sport overview
The standard of competition at the Games was variable. Despite a poor quality track, a strong contingent of top-class American collegiate athletes ensured the track and field competitions were of the highest quality. The tennis gold medalists were all former Wimbledon champions, swimming and fencing events were of a good standard and even polo, a minority sport for the social elite, was well represented by some of the best players in the game. Other sports were noticeably weak in both quality and depth. Only athletics, swimming and fencing had competitors from more than ten nations.

Archery
The history of the archery competition at the 1900 Olympics is one of confusion. The IOC currently lists six events with Olympic status, but a case has been made that as many as eight other events equally deserve to be considered part of official Olympic history. About 150 archers competed in the six events that later had official status conferred. However, as many as 5,000 were involved in archery competition in conjunction with the 1900 World's Fair. Belgian Hubert Van Innis took two gold medals and one silver and would add to his tally twenty years later in Antwerp.

Athletics

The track and field events were held at the home of the Racing Club de France at the Croix-Catelan stadium in Bois de Boulogne. No track was laid and races took place on an uneven field of grass littered with trees. Additional events were held for professionals and a series of handicap races also took place. These are not considered official Olympic events.

The sprints
In the seven events contested over 400 metres or less, the United States took 13 out of a possible 21 medals. Athletes from Columbia University, Princeton University and the University of Pennsylvania all won gold medals. Indeed, two would-be dentists from the University of Pennsylvania were among the stars of the Games. Alvin Kraenzlein won 4 individual gold medals, a feat that has never repeated, while Walter Tewksbury took five medals including two golds. The hurdles in the 400 m hurdle race were 30 ft-long telegraph poles arranged on the track and the race, uniquely in Olympic competition, had a water jump on the final straight. Adolphe Klingelhoeffer, who had Brazilian citizenship in 1900, competed for France in three events.

Middle and long distance races
United States dominance in sprinting was matched in the longer track races by United Kingdom. Only George Orton, who won Canada's first Olympic title in the shorter of the two steeplechases, ruined a perfect record for the British. Orton won his title less than an hour after placing third in the 400 metre hurdles.

The Marathon
The most contentious of all the events in these Games began and ended in the Bois de Boulogne. Intended to follow the track of the old city wall, the course was poorly marked out and runners often got lost and had to double back on themselves before continuing. On some parts of the course, runners had to contend with distractions from cars, bicycles, pedestrians and animals. Arthur Newton of the United States finished fifth but stated he had not been passed by any other runner during the race. Another American, Richard Grant, claimed he was run down by a cyclist as he made ground on the leaders. French honour seemed to have been satisfied when Michel Théato crossed the finish line and a military band struck up La Marseillaise. However, modern research has revealed that Théato was born in Luxembourg and maintained Luxembourgian citizenship throughout his life.

Field events
The Hungarian discus thrower Rudolf Bauer was the only non-American crowned as Olympic Champion. American domination was even greater in the field events than the track events, with outstanding performances coming from Ray Ewry and Irving Baxter. Ewry started his Olympic career with a sweep of the three standing jumps, while Baxter finished second to Ewry three times and won both the regular high jump and pole vault. Meyer Prinstein became the first Jewish Olympic gold medalist in the triple jump.

Basque pelota

The chistera form of the game was played at this, the sport's only appearance at full Olympic level. Two pairs entered and the Spanish partnerships of Amezola and Villota became their nations' first Olympic champions. The mano form of the game and a chistera tournament for professional players were contested unofficially.

Cricket

After the withdrawal of teams from the Netherlands and Belgium, only two teams played in the cricket tournament. A team made up of players from the Albion Cricket Club and the Standard Athletic Club, two Paris clubs consisting almost exclusively of British expatriates, played a touring team from the southwest of England. The Devon and Somerset Wanderers were no more than a team of competent club cricketers (made up from Blundells School old boys and members of Castle Cary Cricket Club), and only Montagu Toller and Alfred Bowerman were deemed good enough to play at county level for Somerset. The game was played before a small crowd at the Vélodrome de Vincennes. An emphatic second innings bowling performance from Toller captured victory for the visitors as time appeared to be running out for them. If the French had held out for five more minutes the game would have been a draw. Knowledge of the game would have been lost but for the forethought of John Symes, a member of the victorious team, who kept a scorecard in his own writing.

Croquet
The croquet tournament was notable as it marked the first appearance of women at Olympic level. Madame Desprès, Madame Filleul-Brohy and Mademoiselle Ohier were eliminated in the first round of competition. All players were French. A single paying spectator attended the tournament, an elderly English gentleman who travelled from Nice for the early stages. An unofficial two-ball handicap competition was also held. This was also the only Olympiad where croquet was part of the official programme, though there was the variant called roque at the 1904 Summer Olympics.

Cycling
The home nation won six of the nine medals available, including one that was initially awarded to Great Britain until this was reversed in 2024. A number of unofficial events were held for both amateurs and professionals.

Equestrian
Equestrian sport made its debut at the Olympic Games with three jumping events being held, plus two other events. The Italian rider Gian Giorgio Trissino won a gold and a silver. He narrowly missed making Olympic history by winning two medals in the same event. Competing with two different horses in the high jump, he jointly won the gold medal and finished in 4th place on his second horse.

Fencing

Nineteen nations were represented in the fencing competition, which was held in a field near the cutlery exhibit at the 1900 World's Fair. French fencers dominated the proceedings but both Cuba and Italy also took titles. The early rounds of the foil competitions were judged on style rather than the actual result of the contest. This meant that some fencers were eliminated without losing a contest while others were defeated and still progressed to the next rounds.

Football
The first football champions at the Olympics were the London amateurs of Upton Park F.C. A crowd of around 500 spectators saw them defeat their French rivals.

Golf
Margaret Ives Abbott, a student of art from Chicago, played in and won a nine-hole golf tournament on an October Tuesday in Paris. She died in 1955 without being aware that the tournament was part of the Olympic Games and she had become America's first ever female Olympic champion.

Gymnastics
135 gymnasts took part in a competition that involved elements from track and field and weightlifting as well as gymnastic disciplines.

Polo
Eight separate tournaments were held in 1900 as part of the 1900 World's Fair. Only the Grand Prix Internationale de l'Exposition is counted as an official medal event. Entries were from clubs rather than countries, and the winning Foxhunters club comprised English, Irish and American players.

Mexico won its first medal in this sport, a bronze won by Guillermo Hayden Wright, Marquez de Villavieja and three brothers: Eustaquio de Escandón y Barron, Pablo de Escandón y Barron and Manuel de Escandón y Barron.

Rowing
Competitions were held on the River Seine. The coxed fours event descended into disarray after the officials changed the qualifying criteria for the final several times, culminating in two finals: the first final was held without the original qualifiers, who boycotted the race to protest the decision to run six boats on a course laid out for four boats. Following this, officials decided to run another final for the boycotting crews. Both events are considered official Olympic competitions.

In a number of events, crews saw the advantage of having ultra-lightweight coxswains and recruited local boys for race days. Most of these remain a mystery; some could have been under ten years old.

Rugby union

Three teams competed in the Rugby tournament. A French representative team defeated a team from the German city of Frankfurt and Moseley Wanderers from England. The Moseley team had played a full game of rugby in England the day before they made the journey to Paris. They arrived in the morning, played the match in the afternoon and were back in their home country by the next morning. The proposed game between the British and German sides was cancelled, and both are credited as silver medalists. The Franco-Haitian centre Constantin Henriquez become the first black gold medalist.

Sailing

The 1900 sailing regatta differs from every other Olympic regatta in a number of ways. In most classes, there were two distinct "finals", boats were assigned time handicaps according to their weight within each class and cash prizes were handed out to the winner of each race. The IOC initially recognized the winner of the first race in each class as Olympic champion except in the case of the 10-20 ton class, which was decided on aggregate time over three races. However currently the participants of both first and second races in 3 classes (0-0.5t, 1-2t and 2-3t) are present in the as medalists, so the second races in these 3 classes were recognized by the IOC, as recommended by Olympic historian Bill Mallon. To support the recognition of a total of 95 medal events per Mallon's suggestion, one more race in each of 2 other classes (0.5-1t and 3-10t) has been recognized by the IOC. Thus, for five of the eight events, two gold, two silver and two bronze medals were retrospectively awarded. Races were held at both Meulan and Le Havre and medals shared among five nations. France and Great Britain were the most successful of the countries involved. A number of people named as members of medal-winning crews by the IOC have been proved not to have competed; others have their participation seriously questioned by historical research.

Shooting
Switzerland's Konrad Stäheli was the outstanding marksman of the Games, taking a trio of titles and leading his country to the top of the shooting medal table. The medals were shared between six different nations. There is a debate as to whether the live pigeon shooting event was a full Olympic event, Belgian Leon Lunden shot twenty-one birds on his way to the championship. Up to thirty unofficial shooting events were also held, most involving professional marksmen. Research has shown that one of the medal events in the IOC database (25m rapid fire pistol, also called military pistol cat. 6) was contested by professionals.

Swimming

The muddied waters of the Seine hosted the swimming events in 1900. Run with the current, the races produced very fast times by the standards of the day. John Arthur Jarvis of Great Britain, Frederick Lane of Australia and the German Ernst Hoppenberg each won two titles. Lane received a 50-pound bronze statue of a horse as a prize. A couple of unusual events were held. The obstacle race required both swimming underneath and climbing over rows of boats while Charles de Venville stayed submerged for over a minute to win the underwater swimming event.

Tennis

A high-quality men's tournament saw three past or future Wimbledon champions reach the semi-finals. Laurence Doherty reached the final when older brother Reggie stepped aside and let his sibling advance to the final. The two refused to play each other in what they considered a minor tournament. On the 11th of July a landmark was reached in the history of the Olympic Games. Charlotte Cooper, already three times Wimbledon champion, took the singles championship to become the first individual female Olympic champion, also winning the mixed doubles event.

Tug of war

A combined Sweden/Denmark team, made up of three competitors from each country, defeated the French team to win the title. One of the members of the French team was a Colombian citizen. They were left as the only participating teams; the United States had entered but were forced to scratch as three of their team were involved in the final of the hammer. Edgar Aabye was a journalist covering the Games for the Danish newspaper Politiken and was asked to join the team when another puller was taken ill.

Water polo
Osborne Swimming Club, representing Great Britain were unchallenged in the tournament, scoring 29 goals and conceding only 3 in their 3 matches. In the final, they limited the number of shots on goal to avoid humiliating their opponents. One of its team members, Victor Lindberg was from New Zealand, while Thomas William Burgess of the bronze medal-winning Libellule de Paris team, represented Great Britain in the swimming events.

Olympic status of sports and events
The 1900 Games were not governed by a specific Olympic organizing committee, but were instead held as an appendage to the 1900 World's Fair. An enormous number of events was held, though many fall short of the standards later required for Olympic championship status.

After the several initial editions of the Olympic Games, decisions as to which Olympic events were termed "official" and which had "unofficial" or "demonstration" status were usually left to the Olympic organizing committees and/or the IOC. In the early Olympic Games, however, no decision as to the official status of any event was made at the time of the Games.

While a document from 1912 exists, listing results from the 1900 Games, and formed the original basis of the results of the Paris games in the IOC database, the reliability and authenticity of this paper has been questioned by Olympic historians. Further complicating matters, the IOC has never determined which events were Olympic and which were not.

All events satisfying all four of the retrospective selection criteria (restricted to amateurs, international participation, open to all competitors and without handicapping) are now regarded by historians as Olympic events, except for ballooning, while croquet, motorboating and boules satisfied three of these criteria (as only French athletes competed).

Of the three events that satisfied three criteria, only croquet has been accorded Olympic status. In this regard, one of the ten croquet players, Marcel Haëntjens, had been believed to be Belgian, and the croquet events were thus considered as international. Despite the Flemish name, it was discovered in recent times that Haëntjens was French.

Like all the Olympic events widely regarded as official, there were other events conducted during the 1900 World's Fair:
 * Angling
 * Ballooning (hydrogen-filled, non-fueled )
 * Baseball
 * Boules
 * Cannon shooting
 * Fire fighting
 * Kite flying
 * Life saving
 * Longue paume
 * Military exercise
 * Motor racing
 * Motorcycle racing
 * Pigeon racing
 * Water motorsports

Scholastic and military events were also held across a range of sports. Four planned competitions were not organized due to a lack of participants: balle au tamis, field hockey, jeu de paume and lacrosse.

Participating nations
According to the International Olympic Committee, 26 nations sent competitors to this edition. The concept of "national teams" chosen by National Olympic Committees did not exist at this point in time.

When counting the number of participating countries in the early Olympic Games, the IOC does not take into account otherwise unrepresented countries whose citizens competed for other countries. Modern research shows that at the 1900 Olympics, the athletes of at least four otherwise unrepresented countries competed for other countries in both individual and team sports. George Orton, gold medalist in 2500 metres steeplechase event and bronze medalist in 400 metres hurdles event, and Ronald J. MacDonald, both of Canada, competed for the U.S. athletics team. Orton ran for the University of Pennsylvania and was therefore assumed to be American, but he always considered himself a Canadian. Michel Théato, the winner of the marathon, competed for the French athletics team. He was a Luxembourger; however, this was only discovered decades later. Francisco Henríquez de Zubiría of Colombia was a silver medal-winner on the French tug of war team. Victor Lindberg of New Zealand was a gold medal-winner on the British water polo team. The IOC website lists all of them in the results section under their nationalities, but does not include their countries among the 26 participating countries.

Some sources also list athletes from the following nation as having competed at these Games:
 * – Adolphe Klingelhoeffer was the son of a Brazilian diplomat, and although he was born and raised in Paris, he had Brazilian citizenship in 1900, and maintained this citizenship until at least the 1940s per French athletics historian Alain Bouille. As this was discovered in late 2008, his participation is usually attributed to France.

At the time, Bohemia was a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, while Australia, Canada and India were all part of the British Empire.

Further to this, modern nations could be considered to have competed in some form in 1900, as Algeria, Croatia, Ireland, Poland and Slovakia had athletes compete, though these nations would not gain independence until many years later (Poland in 1918, the Irish Free State in 1922, Algeria in 1962, and Croatia and Slovakia in 1992).

Algeria sent four gymnasts who competed for France, while all of Ireland was considered a part of Great Britain: Irish athletes competed in athletics, polo, sailing and tennis. Further, a Polish fencer represented Russia, a Croatian fencer represented Austria, and two Slovakian athletes competed for Hungary.

Number of athletes by National Olympic Committees
The concept of "national teams" chosen by National Olympic Committees did not exist at this point in time.

Medal count

The 1900 Olympics is unique in being the only Olympic Games to feature rectangular medals, which were designed by Frédérique Vernon. Gilt silver medals were awarded for 1st place in shooting, lifesaving, automobile racing and gymnastics. Whilst 2nd place silver medals were awarded in shooting, rowing, yachting, tennis, gymnastics, sabre, fencing, equestrian and athletics. With 3rd place bronze medals being awarded in gymnastics, firefighting and shooting. In many sports, however, medals were not awarded. With most of the listed prizes were cups and other similar trophies. The International Olympic Committee has retrospectively assigned gold, silver and bronze medals to all competitors who earned 1st, 2nd and 3rd-place finishes, respectively, in order to bring early Olympics in line with current awards.

For the first Olympic Games (until Antwerp in 1920), it is difficult to give the exact number of medals awarded to some countries, due to the fact that teams were composed of athletes from different countries. For Olympic Games before 1908 there is no universally accepted definition of nationality, and medal tables may vary depending on the chosen definition. For example, Australian Stanley Rowley competed as part of a team selected by the Amateur Athletic Association of England. The concept of "national teams" chosen by National Olympic Committees did not exist at this point in time.

These are the top ten nations that won medals at the 1900 Games.

Key

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: 1900 Summer Olympics


text:
Melon

A melon is any of various plants of the family Cucurbitaceae with sweet, edible, and fleshy fruit. The word "melon" can refer to either the plant or specifically to the fruit. Botanically, a melon is a kind of berry, specifically a "pepo". The word melon derives from Latin melopepo, which is the latinization of the Greek μηλοπέπων (mēlopepōn), meaning "melon", itself a compound of μῆλον (mēlon), "apple", treefruit (of any kind)" and πέπων (pepōn), amongst others "a kind of gourd or melon". Many different cultivars have been produced, particularly of cantaloupes.

History

Melons were thought to have originated in Africa, however, recent studies suggest a Southwest Asian origin, especially Iran and India, from where they gradually began to appear in Europe toward the end of the Western Roman Empire. Melons are known to have been grown by the ancient Egyptians. However, recent discoveries of melon seeds dated between 1350 and 1120 BCE in Nuragic sacred wells have shown that melons were first brought to Europe by the Nuragic civilization of Sardinia during the Bronze Age. Melons were among the earliest plants to be domesticated in the Old World and among the first crop species brought by westerners to the New World. Early European settlers in the New World are recorded as growing honeydew and casaba melons as early as the 1600s. A number of Native American tribes in New Mexico, including Acoma, Cochiti, Isleta, Navajo, Santo Domingo and San Felipe, maintain a tradition of growing their own characteristic melon cultivars, derived from melons originally introduced by the Spanish. Organizations like Native Seeds/SEARCH have made an effort to collect and preserve these and other heritage seeds.

Benincasa

 * Winter melon (B. hispida) is the only member of the genus Benincasa. The mature winter melon is a cooking vegetable that is widely used in Asia, especially in India. The immature melons are used as a culinary fruit (e.g., to make a distinctive fruit drink).

Citrullus

 * Egusi (C. lanatus) is a wild melon, similar in appearance to the watermelon. The flesh is inedible, but the seeds are a valuable food source in Africa. Other species that have the same culinary role, and that are also called egusi include Melothria sphaerocarpa (syn. Cucumeropsis mannii) and Lagenaria siceraria.
 * Watermelon (C. lanatus) originated in Africa, where evidence indicates that it has been cultivated for over 4,000 years. It is a popular summer fruit in all parts of the world.

Cucumis
Melons in genus Cucumis are culinary fruits, and include the majority of culinary melons. All but a handful of culinary melon varieties belong to the species Cucumis melo L.
 * Horned melon (C. metuliferus), a traditional food plant in Africa with distinctive spikes. Now grown in California, Chile, Australia and New Zealand as well.
 * True melon (C. melo)
 * C. melo cantalupensis, with skin that is rough and warty, not netted.
 * The European cantaloupe, with lightly ribbed, pale green skin, was domesticated in the 18th century, in Cantalupo in Sabina, Italy, by the pope's gardener. It is also known as a 'rockmelon' in Australia and New Zealand. Varieties include the French Charentais and the Burpee Seeds hybrid Netted Gem, introduced in the 19th century. The Yubari King is a highly prized Japanese cantaloupe cultivar.
 * The Persian melon resemble a large cantaloupe with a darker green rind and a finer netting.
 * C. melo inodorus, casabas, honeydew, and Asian melons
 * Argos, a large, oblong, with orange wrinkled skin, orange flesh, strong aroma. A characteristic is its pointed ends. Growing in some areas of Greece, from which it gets its name.
 * Banana melon, an heirloom variety with salmon-colored flesh and an elongated banana shape and yellow rind
 * Canary melon, a large, bright-yellow melon with a pale green to white inner flesh.
 * Casaba, bright yellow, with a smooth, furrowed skin. Less flavorful than other melons, but keeps longer.
 * Crenshaw melon, a hybrid between a Casaba melon and a Persian melon that is described to have a very sweet flavor
 * Gaya melon, originally from Japan, a honeydew cultivar that is ivory in color and has a mild, sweet flavor
 * Hami melon, originally from Hami, Xinjiang, China. Flesh is sweet and crisp.
 * Honeydew, with a sweet, juicy, green-colored flesh. Grown as bailan melon in Lanzhou, China. There is a second variety which has yellow skin, white flesh and tastes like a moist pear.
 * Honeymoon melon, a variety of honeydew with golden rind and bright green flesh and a sweet flavor
 * Kajari melon, a sweet honeydew cultivar that is red-orange in color with green stripes reminiscent of a beach ball
 * Kolkhoznitsa melon, with smooth, yellow skin and dense, white flesh.
 * Japanese melons (including the Sprite melon).
 * Korean melon, a yellow melon with white lines running across the fruit and white inside. Can be crisp and slightly sweet or juicy when left to ripen longer.
 * Mirza melon, a large, cream-colored melon native to Central Asia with a sweet, savory flavor
 * Oriental pickling melon
 * Pixie melon, a sweet, palm-sized cantaloupe cultivar with a strange, cracked-looking netting
 * Piel de Sapo (toad skin) or Santa Claus melon, a melon with a blotchy green skin and white sweet-tasting flesh.
 * Sugar melon, a smooth, white, round fruit.
 * Tiger melon, an orange, yellow and black striped melon from Turkey with a soft pulp.
 * C. melo reticulatus, true muskmelons, with netted (reticulated) skin.
 * North American cantaloupe, distinct from the European cantaloupe, with the net-like skin pattern common to other C. melo reticulatus varieties.
 * Galia (or Ogen), small and very juicy with either faint green or rosy pink flesh.
 * Sharlyn melons, with taste between honeydew and cantaloupes, netted skin, greenish-orange rind, and white flesh.
 * C. melo agrestis, Wilder melon cultivars, with smooth skin, and tart or bland taste. Often confused with cucumbers (Dosakai, Lemon Cucumber, Pie Melons).
 * C. melo conomon, Conomon Melons, Pickling Melons, with smooth skin, and ranging from tart or bland taste (pickling melon) to mild sweetness in Korean Melon.Oriental Pickling melon, Korean Melon. Closely related to wilder melons (C Melo Var Agrestis).
 * Modern crossbred varieties, e.g. Crenshaw (Casaba × Persian), Crane (Japanese × N.A. cantaloupe).

Production
In 2018, world production of melons was 27 million tonnes, led by China with 46% of the total (table). Turkey, Iran, and India each produced more than 1 million tonnes.

General references

 * Interregional Research Project IR-4
 * Interregional Research Project IR-4

title: Melon