April 6 in History

In April 1896, Athens hosted the first modern Olympic Games, reviving a festival that had last been held in antiquity. Roughly 240 athletes from 14 nations took part, according to the figures usually cited, though historians note that records from the period are imperfect and that counts of participants and countries vary slightly depending on how national affiliations are assigned. The Games mattered because they launched what became the world's largest international sporting event, and a model of regular, rotating, multi-sport competition that still endures.

In April 1909, the American naval officer and explorer Robert E. Peary claimed to have reached the North Pole, ending a quest that had consumed him for more than two decades. His announcement that September, made within days of a rival claim by Frederick Cook, set off one of the most bitter disputes in the history of exploration. Whether Peary actually stood at the Pole remains debated to this day.