National Olympian Games

London, England. The first national Olympic style games in Britain, at the Crystal Palace

Overview

The National Olympian Association, founded in Liverpool in 1865 with William Penny Brookes and John Hulley among its leaders, staged its first National Olympian Games at the Crystal Palace in London in 1866. A crowd of about 10,000 attended, and an 18 year old W G Grace, later the most famous cricketer of the age, won the 440 yards hurdles. Further editions followed in English towns into the 1880s.