Tag Archives: Olympics

The Woman Who Kissed Hitler

THE SMOOCH HEARD ROUND THE WORLD

We’ve all done something impulsive at one time or another. A spur of the moment decision that, when you thought about it later, wasn’t such a good idea. Nearly 90 years ago an American woman acted rashly, and her action involved history’s worst monster. Here’s the story of the woman who kissed Hitler.

In many ways, George and Carla De Vries were typical American tourists vacationing in Europe. The Norwalk, California dairy farmers did what many of their countrymen did that year and seized on the upcoming Summer Olympic Games as the perfect opportunity to see the Continent. Continue reading

The First American Woman To Win the Gold

BUT IN 1900, IT WASN’T A BIG DEAL

Holy Cow

The XXXI Olympiad (better known to you and me as the Rio 2016 Summer Olympic Games) is in full swing.

800px-Margaret-abbott-gold-medal-1900-golfThere are 554 athletes on Team USA this year – 262 men and 292 women. Which makes this the perfect time to revisit the highly unusual games where women competed for the very first time … and where the first American woman ever won the gold, too.

It was as different from today’s Olympics as daylight is from dawn. On top of that, the games were casually organized (to put it charitably). 

Here’s how it happened.

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