
Berlin’s 1936 Summer Olympics generated a great deal of controversy (we all know how that feels). For Adolf Hitler, the occasion served to further the Nazi party’s doctrine of white supremacy. A number of nations discussed boycotting the Games due to grave worries about the safety of Jewish athletes in addition to moral grounds. However, a few inspirational moments were able to come through. Jesse Owens, an African American sprinter, won four gold medals, and two Japanese athletes established the ‘Medals of Friendship.’
Olympic Pole Vault in 1936
Eighty-five years ago, in front of 25,000 spectators, American pole vaulter Earle Meadows achieved an impressive height of 4.35 meters. That was sufficient to win him an Olympic gold medal in Berlin. Three athletes, Shuhei Nishida of Japan, Sueo Oe of Japan, and American Bill Sefton, contested for second place. The two Japanese men cleared the jump-off height, but Sefton did not. The exact same outcome was obtained by Nishida and Oe, so the final standings were still up in the air. Nishida and Oe steadfastly refused to jump again for the silver, despite the judges’ wishes.
Do you know the story behind the 'medals of friendship'? 🎥https://t.co/oA6a8zGP0z #friendship #Olympic pic.twitter.com/J3VIzx15zg
— Athlete365 (@Athlete365) June 11, 2017
In addition to being elite athletes, the two were also close friends. They therefore asked the Olympic organizers if they could share the silver medal because they respected one another’s abilities. On this occasion, the judges steadfastly declined. The Japanese team was instructed to determine amongst themselves which medal each member should take home.
The Reason for the Dilemma
Nishida would accept the silver, it was decided after some consideration. There are numerous theories explaining how they arrived at this conclusion. The most widely accepted explanation claims that Oe won the bronze medal because he successfully cleared the 4.25-meter jump on his second try, while Nishida did so on his first. Nonetheless, some reports also assert that Nishida’s age played a role in the choice. Oe had reverence for his “senpai,” a person in a higher hierarchical position than he was, usually because of their age, despite being four years younger. Nevertheless, according to other reports, Oe, a student at Keio University, accepted the bronze because, as the younger athlete, he had a better chance of winning gold at the next Olympics and thought it would be better to give Nishida the silver medal. However, all of these theories stand at odds with what the two men did next.
Evidently dissatisfied with the competition’s official results, they resolved to resolve the issue on their own.
Making the Friendship Medals
Nishida and Oe asked a jeweler to cut both medals in half when they got back to Japan. After that, they had the bronze and silver portions fused together to produce two awards they believed more accurately represented their true achievements. A mixed-metal silver-bronze medal for every competitor. Eventually, the two medals were referred to as “the medals of friendship.”
友情のメダルを見ることできました。Do you know about this story??@Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/rFBwWEYhJK
— Koji Murofushi PhD 室伏広治 (@KojiMurofushi) November 27, 2017
It does not imply that they lacked competition. The plan was for Nishida and Oe to rematch at the 1940 Olympics, which was originally scheduled for Tokyo but was eventually rescheduled to Helsinki and eventually canceled entirely when World War II broke out. The two athletes would have had another chance to compete at an Olympics in 1952, but Oe was tragically killed in the conflict. Nishida finally passed away in 1997 from heart failure at the age of 87. The Japan Association of Athletics Federations (JAAF), of which Nishida was the honorary vice chairman, gave Waseda University, where he was a student, his medal of friendship in 2005. It is still there as of right now.
It’s critical to keep in mind that the Olympics have other purposes besides competition. It also represents friendship and tranquility. This tale perfectly captures that.

The touching story of David Vetter (bubble boy), the 'boy who lived in a bubble
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Keith Sapsford: The Story of 14-Year-Old Stowaway
The final image of 14-year-old Australian Keith Sapsford, who aspired to travel the world. In February 1970, he sneaked into the wheel-well of a plane flying from Sydney to Tokyo. It opened mid-air & fell out. When a photographer was testing a new lens, he captured this moment on film and was surprised when it developed.

Why the Brooklyn Bridge Was Once Crossed by 17 Camels and 21 Elephants
On May 30, 1883, a rumor that the Brooklyn Bridge was going to collapse caused a stampede, which killed at least at twleve people. To prove the bridge was safe, P.T. Barnum led a parade of 21 elephants over it.

Nordlingen, The Town Inside A Meteorite Crater With Millions Of Meteorite Diamonds
The German town of Nördlingen is embedded with 72,000 tons of microscopic diamonds. About 15 million years ago, a meteorite hit this region, and the impact created a massive depression and formed rocks containing diamonds, glass, and crystals. The town was built in the impact crater sometime around 898 CE.

The youngest person executed, George Stinney Jr was proven innocent
In 1944, George Stinney Jr. was 14 years old when he was executed in South Carolina. It took only ten minutes to convict him — and 70 years to exonerate him.

Atomic Tourism: In the 1950s, nuclear tests in Las Vegas served as a draw for tourists
Between 1950 and 1960, Las Vegas offered “Atomic Tourism” in which guests could watch atomic bombs being tested in the desert as a form of entertainment.

Top 10 Greatest and shocking Archaeological Discoveries of All Time
While we're all locked at home, there's no better way to escape to another time and place than to learn about amazing archeological sites and discoveries from around the world. Here are the 10 greatest and shocking archaeological discoveries —and don't be shocked if they inspire future trip plans whenever it's safe to do so again.

Graves holding hands over wall, A Catholic woman and her Protestant husband grave
A protestant man and a Catholic woman who weren't allowed from being buried together in a graveyard in 19th-century Holland turned their graves into a monument showing them holding hands across the wall separating them.

Will & William Wests: The puzzling situation of two inmates who are identical but not related
These are the mugshots of Will West and William West, and they are not related. They were both sent to Leavenworth Prison at the same time, in 1903, and after some confusion, the staff understood they had two different prisoners with the nearly same name, who looked exactly alike. They are part of the reason fingerprints are now used as identification.

The true story of Annie Oakley, legendary sharpshooter
Anne Oakley was such a good shooter that she could split a playing card help edge-on, hit dimes thrown into the air, shoot cigarette from her husband's lips, and pierce a playing card thrown into the air before it hit the ground.

Hedy Lamarr, A Hollywood actress who also a mathematician and inventor
Hollywood actress Hedy Lamarr was also a mathematician and the inventor of frequency hopping spread spectrum, a technology still used for bluetooth and wifi

Knockers-up: waking up the Industrial Britain's Workers in 1900-1941
Before alarm clocks were invented, there was a profession called a knocker-up, which involved going from client to client and tapping on their windows (or banging on their doors) with long sticks until they were awake. It lasted into the 1920s.

Thomas Baker's heroic act that earned him the "Medal of Honor" was 8 bullets until death
Thomas Baker instructed his team to leave him with a pistol and eight bullets propped up against a tree after he was injured. Later, American troops discovered the now-deceased Baker in the same location, lying next to eight dead Japanese soldiers and carrying an empty pistol.

The day Iceland's women went on strike
Icelandic women went on strike for equal rights on October 24, 1975. 90% of women walked out of their jobs and homes, effectively shutting down the entire country. The men were struggling to keep up. The following year, Parliament passed a law requiring equal pay. Iceland elected the world's first female President five years later. Iceland now has the highest gender equality rate in the world.

Nathan's Famous Doctor Stunt
When Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs first opened in 1916, the owner hired people to dress as doctors and eat hot dogs outside his shop, to convince people his hot dogs were healthy.

Quaker Oats Fed Children with Radioactive Oatmeal
In the 1940s and 1950s, Quaker Oats and MIT conducted experiments on radioactive iron and calcium-containing cereal. The diet was part of a study to see if the nutrients in Quaker oatmeal traveled throughout the body. In January 1998, a $1.85 million settlement was reached for 30 victims who came forward.

Did Gil Pérez Really Teleport from Manila to Mexico Overnight? The 1593 Mystery
On October 24, 1593, while performing his guard duties at Manila's Governor's Palace in the Philippines, Gil Perez stopped to lean against a wall and sleep for a while. He opened his eyes to find himself in an unusual environment. Gil was in the Plaza Mayor in Mexico City. They imprisoned Perez, but the authorities in Mexico City decided to release him and return him home.

Charlie Brown and Franz Stigler incident: Enemy became friends
During WWII, a German pilot spotted an American pilot’s crippled plane in the sky. Tailing it, he noticed that gunner was dead, crew injured, and they posed no threat. Instead of destroying the plane, he led it to safety. 40 years later, the two pilots reunited.

The Baltic Way: the longest unbroken human chain in history
On August 23, 1989, about 2 million people from Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania formed a human chain that united all 3 countries to show the world their desire to escape the Soviet Union and the communism that brought only suffering and poverty. This power stretched 600 km.

The 1976 April Fools' Pranks, Planetary Alignment
On April fool's Day, 1976, the BBC convinced many listeners that a special alignment of the planets would temporarily decrease gravity on Earth. Phone lines were flooded with callers who claimed they felt the effects.

Nearest Green, America's first known Black master distiller
Nathan "Nearest" Green was an African-American head stiller who is now more frequently referred to as a master distiller. He was renowned for imparting his distilling knowledge to Jack Daniel, the creator of Jack Daniel's Tennessee whiskey distiller, after Jack Daniel was freed from slavery following the American Civil War.

Inside The Mysterious Death Of The Famed Gothic Writer Edgar Allan Poe
Hours before his death Edgar Allen Poe was found on the streets of Baltimore. He was incoherent, wearing another man’s clothes, and unable to explain how he got there. The cause of his death is an unsolved mystery.

Titanoboa cerrejonensis, fossils of the world’s largest species of snake
In 2009 in a coal mine of Columbia, scientists discovered fossils of the world’s largest species of snake. The species is called “Titanoboa cerrejonensis,“and it is from around 60 million years ago. It would have had measured about 48 feet long and weighed about 2,500 pounds

D.B. Cooper: Man who hijacked a plane and jumped out with a $200,000
On November 22, 1971, DB Cooper hijacked a Boeing 727, drank a whisky, smoked a fag, and then jumped out of the plane with $200,000. He was never again seen.

Max Headroom Incident: America’s Creepiest TV Hack
In 1987 a man hijacked a television station during an episode of Dr. Who and wore a Max Headroom mask and uttered nonsense, and he still hasn’t been caught