1.
Athens
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Athens is the capital and largest city of Greece. In modern times, Athens is a cosmopolitan metropolis and central to economic, financial, industrial, maritime. In 2015, Athens was ranked the worlds 29th richest city by purchasing power, Athens is recognised as a global city because of its location and its importance in shipping, finance, commerce, media, entertainment, arts, international trade, culture, education and tourism. It is one of the biggest economic centres in southeastern Europe, with a financial sector. The municipality of Athens had a population of 664,046 within its limits. The urban area of Athens extends beyond its administrative city limits. According to Eurostat in 2011, the Functional urban areas of Athens was the 9th most populous FUA in the European Union, Athens is also the southernmost capital on the European mainland. The city also retains Roman and Byzantine monuments, as well as a number of Ottoman monuments. Athens is home to two UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the Acropolis of Athens and the medieval Daphni Monastery, Athens was the host city of the first modern-day Olympic Games in 1896, and 108 years later it welcomed home the 2004 Summer Olympics. In Ancient Greek, the name of the city was Ἀθῆναι a plural, in earlier Greek, such as Homeric Greek, the name had been current in the singular form though, as Ἀθήνη. It was possibly rendered in the later on, like those of Θῆβαι and Μυκῆναι. During the medieval period the name of the city was rendered once again in the singular as Ἀθήνα, an etiological myth explaining how Athens has acquired its name was well known among ancient Athenians and even became the theme of the sculpture on the West pediment of the Parthenon. The goddess of wisdom, Athena, and the god of the seas, Poseidon had many disagreements, in an attempt to compel the people, Poseidon created a salt water spring by striking the ground with his trident, symbolizing naval power. However, when Athena created the tree, symbolizing peace and prosperity. Different etymologies, now rejected, were proposed during the 19th century. Christian Lobeck proposed as the root of the name the word ἄθος or ἄνθος meaning flower, ludwig von Döderlein proposed the stem of the verb θάω, stem θη- to denote Athens as having fertile soil. In classical literature, the city was referred to as the City of the Violet Crown, first documented in Pindars ἰοστέφανοι Ἀθᾶναι. In medieval texts, variant names include Setines, Satine, and Astines, today the caption η πρωτεύουσα, the capital, has become somewhat common
2.
Greece
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Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, historically also known as Hellas, is a country in southeastern Europe, with a population of approximately 11 million as of 2015. Athens is the capital and largest city, followed by Thessaloniki. Greece is strategically located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, situated on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, the Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to the northeast. Greece consists of nine regions, Macedonia, Central Greece, the Peloponnese, Thessaly, Epirus, the Aegean Islands, Thrace, Crete. The Aegean Sea lies to the east of the mainland, the Ionian Sea to the west, the Cretan Sea and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. Greece has the longest coastline on the Mediterranean Basin and the 11th longest coastline in the world at 13,676 km in length, featuring a vast number of islands, eighty percent of Greece is mountainous, with Mount Olympus being the highest peak at 2,918 metres. From the eighth century BC, the Greeks were organised into various independent city-states, known as polis, which spanned the entire Mediterranean region and the Black Sea. Greece was annexed by Rome in the second century BC, becoming a part of the Roman Empire and its successor. The Greek Orthodox Church also shaped modern Greek identity and transmitted Greek traditions to the wider Orthodox World, falling under Ottoman dominion in the mid-15th century, the modern nation state of Greece emerged in 1830 following a war of independence. Greeces rich historical legacy is reflected by its 18 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, among the most in Europe, Greece is a democratic and developed country with an advanced high-income economy, a high quality of life, and a very high standard of living. A founding member of the United Nations, Greece was the member to join the European Communities and has been part of the Eurozone since 2001. Greeces unique cultural heritage, large industry, prominent shipping sector. It is the largest economy in the Balkans, where it is an important regional investor, the names for the nation of Greece and the Greek people differ from the names used in other languages, locations and cultures. The earliest evidence of the presence of human ancestors in the southern Balkans, dated to 270,000 BC, is to be found in the Petralona cave, all three stages of the stone age are represented in Greece, for example in the Franchthi Cave. Neolithic settlements in Greece, dating from the 7th millennium BC, are the oldest in Europe by several centuries and these civilizations possessed writing, the Minoans writing in an undeciphered script known as Linear A, and the Mycenaeans in Linear B, an early form of Greek. The Mycenaeans gradually absorbed the Minoans, but collapsed violently around 1200 BC and this ushered in a period known as the Greek Dark Ages, from which written records are absent. The end of the Dark Ages is traditionally dated to 776 BC, the Iliad and the Odyssey, the foundational texts of Western literature, are believed to have been composed by Homer in the 7th or 8th centuries BC. With the end of the Dark Ages, there emerged various kingdoms and city-states across the Greek peninsula, in 508 BC, Cleisthenes instituted the worlds first democratic system of government in Athens
3.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
4.
Seating capacity
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Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that seats two to a stadium that seats hundreds of thousands of people. The International Fire Code, portions of which have adopted by many jurisdictions, is directed more towards the use of a facility than the construction. It specifies, For areas having fixed seating without dividing arms and it also requires that every public venue submit a detailed site plan to the local fire code official, including details of the means of egress, seating capacity, arrangement of the seating. Once safety considerations have been satisfied, determinations of seating capacity turn on the size of the venue. For sports venues, the decision on maximum seating capacity is determined by several factors, chief among these are the primary sports program and the size of the market area. Seating capacity of venues also plays a role in what media they are able to provide, in contracting to permit performers to use a theatre or other performing space, the seating capacity of the performance facility must be disclosed. Seating capacity may influence the kind of contract to be used, the seating capacity must also be disclosed to the copyright owner in seeking a license for the copyrighted work to be performed in that venue. Venues that may be leased for private functions such as ballrooms and auditoriums generally advertise their seating capacity, seating capacity is also an important consideration in the construction and use of sports venues such as stadiums and arenas. The seating capacity for restaurants is reported as covers, a restaurant that can seat 99 is said to have 99 covers, seating capacity differs from total capacity, which describes the total number of people who can fit in a venue or in a vehicle either sitting or standing. Use of the term public capacity indicates that a venue is allowed to more people than it can actually seat. Again, the total number of people can refer to either the physical space available or limitations set by law
5.
Basketball
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Basketball is a non-contact team sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of five players each. The objective is to shoot a ball through a hoop 18 inches in diameter and 10 feet high that is mounted to a backboard at each end of the court. The game was invented in 1891 by Dr. James Naismith, a team can score a field goal by shooting the ball through the basket being defended by the opposition team during regular play. A field goal scores three points for the team if the player shoots from behind the three-point line. A team can also score via free throws, which are worth one point, the team with the most points at the end of the game wins, but additional time is mandated when the score is tied at the end of regulation. The ball can be advanced on the court by passing it to a teammate and it is a violation to lift, or drag, ones pivot foot without dribbling the ball, to carry it, or to hold the ball with both hands then resume dribbling. The game has many techniques for displaying skill—ball-handling, shooting, passing, dribbling, dunking, shot-blocking. The point guard directs the on court action of the team, implementing the coachs game plan, Basketball is one of the worlds most popular and widely viewed sports. Outside North America, the top clubs from national leagues qualify to continental championships such as the Euroleague, the FIBA Basketball World Cup attracts the top national teams from around the world. Each continent hosts regional competitions for teams, like EuroBasket. The FIBA Womens Basketball World Cup features the top womens basketball teams from continental championships. The main North American league is the WNBA, whereas the EuroLeague Women has been dominated by teams from the Russian Womens Basketball Premier League, in early December 1891, Canadian Dr. He sought a vigorous indoor game to keep his students occupied, after rejecting other ideas as either too rough or poorly suited to walled-in gymnasiums, he wrote the basic rules and nailed a peach basket onto a 10-foot elevated track. Basketball was originally played with a soccer ball and these laces could cause bounce passes and dribbling to be unpredictable. Eventually a lace-free ball construction method was invented, and this change to the game was endorsed by Naismith, dribbling was not part of the original game except for the bounce pass to teammates. Passing the ball was the means of ball movement. Dribbling was eventually introduced but limited by the shape of early balls. Dribbling only became a part of the game around the 1950s
6.
Handball
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Handball is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the goal of the other team. A standard match consists of two periods of 30 minutes, and the team scores more goals wins. Modern handball is played on a court 40 by 20 metres, the goals are surrounded by a 6-meter zone where only the defending goalkeeper is allowed, goals must be scored by throwing the ball from outside the zone or while diving into it. The sport is played indoors, but outdoor variants exist in the forms of field handball and Czech handball. The game is fast and high-scoring, professional teams now typically score between 20 and 35 goals each, though lower scores were not uncommon until a few decades ago, body contact is permitted by the defenders trying to stop the attackers from approaching the goal. The game was codified at the end of the 19th century in northern Europe, the modern set of rules was published in 1917 in Germany, and had several revisions since. The first international games were played under rules for men in 1925. Mens handball was first played at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin as outdoors, and the time at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich as indoors. Womens team handball was added at the 1976 Summer Olympics, the International Handball Federation was formed in 1946 and, as of 2016, has 197 member federations. The sport is most popular in the countries of continental Europe, in the womens world championships, only two non-European countries have won the title, South Korea and Brazil. The game also enjoys popularity in the Far East, North Africa, There is evidence of ancient Roman women playing a version of handball called expulsim ludere. There are records of games in medieval France, and among the Inuit in Greenland. By the 19th century, there existed similar games of håndbold from Denmark, házená in the Czech Republic, handbol in Ukraine, the team handball game of today was codified at the end of the 19th century in northern Europe—primarily in Denmark, Germany, Norway and Sweden. The first written set of team handball rules was published in 1906 by the Danish gym teacher, lieutenant and Olympic medalist Holger Nielsen from Ordrup grammar school, north of Copenhagen. The modern set of rules was published on 29 October 1917 by Max Heiser, Karl Schelenz, after 1919 these rules were improved by Karl Schelenz. The first international games were played under rules, between Germany and Belgium by men in 1925 and between Germany and Austria by women in 1930. In 1926, the Congress of the International Amateur Athletics Federation nominated a committee to draw up rules for field handball. The International Amateur Handball Federation was formed in 1928 and later the International Handball Federation was formed in 1946, Mens field handball was played at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin
7.
Parquetry
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Parquet is a geometric mosaic of wood pieces used for decorative effect. The two main uses of parquetry are as wood veneer patterns on furniture and block patterns for flooring, parquet patterns are entirely geometrical and angular—squares, triangles, lozenges. The most popular parquet flooring pattern is herringbone, the word derives from the Old French parchet, literally meaning a small enclosed space. Such parquets en losange were noted by the Swedish architect Daniel Cronström at Versailles, while not technically a wood, bamboo is also a popular material for modern floors. Parquet floors were formerly usually adhered with hot bitumen, today modern cold adhesives are usually used. Wood floors may be brushed clean, and mopped when necessary, upright vacuum cleaners can scratch and wear the surface, as grit particles become embedded in the spinning brushes. Parquet floors are long lasting and require little or no maintenance. Bitumen-glued blocks require use of hot bitumen or a cold bitumen emulsion. Parquet floors are found in bedrooms and hallways. They are considered better than regular floor tiles since they feel warmer underfoot, however they do little to absorb sounds such as walking, vacuum cleaning and television, which can cause problems in multi-occupancy dwellings. One of the most famous parquet floors is the one used by the Boston Celtics of the NBA, the floor remained intact and in use until it was cut up and sold as souvenirs in 1999, after the 1998 demolition of Boston Garden. The Celtics today play on a parquet floor inside TD Garden that combines old, similar square-paneled parquet floors were made for the Orlando Magic, Minnesota Timberwolves, Denver Nuggets, and New Jersey Nets. Of the four, only the Magic continue to use a square-paneled parquet floor, the Nets debuted their parquet at the Meadowlands Arena in 1988, and continued to use the floor until 1997. The said floor remained in use with the Seton Hall basketball team until 2007, the Nuggets used a parquet floor from 1990 to 1993 at the McNichols Sports Arena, while the Timberwolves played on the parquet from 1996 to 2008 at the Target Center. In 1995, the Toronto Raptors debuted with a herringbone parquet, the Nets revived the use of the herringbone upon moving to the Barclays Center in 2012. While the Charlotte Hornets unveiled a parquet-like floor at the Time Warner Cable Arena for the 2014–15 season, it is not considered a true parquet floor. Instead, it simulated the pattern of the parquet by alternately painting light and dark trapezoid sections through the use of varnish, forming a beehive pattern that is synonymous with the franchise
8.
Euro
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Outside of Europe, a number of overseas territories of EU members also use the euro as their currency. Additionally,210 million people worldwide as of 2013 use currencies pegged to the euro, the euro is the second largest reserve currency as well as the second most traded currency in the world after the United States dollar. The name euro was adopted on 16 December 1995 in Madrid. The euro was introduced to world markets as an accounting currency on 1 January 1999. While the euro dropped subsequently to US$0.8252 within two years, it has traded above the U. S. dollar since the end of 2002, peaking at US$1.6038 on 18 July 2008. In July 2012, the euro fell below US$1.21 for the first time in two years, following concerns raised over Greek debt and Spains troubled banking sector, as of 26 March 2017, the euro–dollar exchange rate stands at ~ US$1.07. The euro is managed and administered by the Frankfurt-based European Central Bank, as an independent central bank, the ECB has sole authority to set monetary policy. The Eurosystem participates in the printing, minting and distribution of notes and coins in all states. The 1992 Maastricht Treaty obliges most EU member states to adopt the euro upon meeting certain monetary and budgetary convergence criteria, all nations that have joined the EU since 1993 have pledged to adopt the euro in due course. Since 5 January 2002, the central banks and the ECB have issued euro banknotes on a joint basis. Euro banknotes do not show which central bank issued them, Eurosystem NCBs are required to accept euro banknotes put into circulation by other Eurosystem members and these banknotes are not repatriated. The ECB issues 8% of the value of banknotes issued by the Eurosystem. In practice, the ECBs banknotes are put into circulation by the NCBs and these liabilities carry interest at the main refinancing rate of the ECB. The euro is divided into 100 cents, in Community legislative acts the plural forms of euro and cent are spelled without the s, notwithstanding normal English usage. Otherwise, normal English plurals are used, with many local variations such as centime in France. All circulating coins have a side showing the denomination or value. Due to the plurality in the European Union, the Latin alphabet version of euro is used. For the denominations except the 1-, 2- and 5-cent coins, beginning in 2007 or 2008 the old map is being replaced by a map of Europe also showing countries outside the Union like Norway
9.
Indoor arena
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An arena is an enclosed area, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theater, musical performances, or sporting events. The word derives from Latin harena, a particularly fine/smooth sand used to absorb blood in ancient arenas such as the Colosseum in Rome and it is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators. The key feature of an arena is that the event space is the lowest point, arenas are usually designed to accommodate a large number of spectators. The term arena is used as a synonym for a very large venue such as Pasadenas Rose Bowl. The use of one term over the other has mostly to do with the type of event, the home of the Duke University mens and womens basketball teams would qualify as an arena, but the facility is called Cameron Indoor Stadium. Domed stadiums, which, like arenas, are enclosed but have the larger playing surfaces, such examples of these would be terms such as the arena of war or the arena of love or the political arena. In many fighting games, the stage that opponents are fought in is called an arena. Ice hockey arena Amphitheatre List of indoor arenas by capacity List of stadiums by capacity
10.
Hellinikon Olympic Complex
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The Hellinikon Olympic Complex is situated at Hellinikon on the east coast of Greece south of Athens, approximately 16 kilometres from the Olympic Village. It was built on the site of the former Ellinikon International Airport for the staging of the 2004 Summer Olympics and 2004 Summer Paralympics and it consists of five separate venues. The Indoor arena is an adjacent to the Fencing Hall. It hosted the Basketball preliminary matches and the Handball finals at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, the facility was completed on May 31,2004 and officially opened on July 30,2004. During the 2004 Summer Paralympic Games, the Indoor Arena was the venue for Wheelchair rugby and it has also been the home arena of the Greek basketball club Panionios, and it has also hosted several finals matches of the Greek Cup. The Greek basketball club Panellinios also played European cup home games at the arena, the Olympic Baseball Centre in Athens consists of two Baseball stadiums. It was the site of the Baseball games at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, construction on the facility was completed on February 27,2004, and it was officially opened on August 12,2004, a day before the Opening Ceremonies. During the 2004 Summer Paralympic Games, the Olympic Baseball Centre was the venue for Archery, the site is currently being used to house refugee populations in the current Refugee crisis in Europe. The three camps are currently home to three thousand refugees living in mostly tented accommodation. Hellinikon Indoor Arena @ stadia. gr 2004 Summer Olympics official report, pp.269,291,318,353,395
11.
Hellinikon Fencing Hall
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The Hellinikon Fencing Hall is a multi-purpose indoor sporting arena that is located adjacent to the Hellinikon Olympic Arena, in Hellinikon, Athens, Greece. The venue is part of the Hellinikon Events Hall of the Hellinikon Olympic Complex, the facility was officially opened on July 30,2004. It hosted the matches at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. The facility seated 3,800 for the matches, and 5,000 for the final matches. During the 2004 Summer Paralympic Games, the Fencing Hall was the venue for wheelchair fencing
12.
Athens Olympic Sports Complex
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The Athens Olympic Park, is a sport facilities complex located at Marousi, northeast Athens, Greece. The complex consists of five major venues as well as other sport facilities. The Olympic Athletic Center of Athens has hosted the Mediterranean Games in 1991, the most significant event the Athens Olympic Sports Complex has hosted, was the Olympic Games. OACA was the venue for the Athens Olympic Games in 2004. The complex was revamped for the games under a design produced by the Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava and it is currently used as the home ground of AEK Athens F. C. one of the biggest football clubs in Greece. The Nikos Galis Olympic Indoor Hall was completed in 1995, and was the largest indoor venue in use for sporting events at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens and it is part of the Athens Olympic Sports Complex, in the suburb of Maroussi. The arena was used for gymnastics and trampolining and also hosted the finals of the basketball matches at the games. On May 18 and 20,2006, the Olympic Indoor Hall hosted the 51st Eurovision Song Contest, the Athens Olympic Sports Complex can be reached by Metro, by suburban train, or by direct bus lines [A7,602,550. The table below illustrates how the Athens Olympic Sports Complex facilities are used today,2004 Summer Olympics official report, pp.201,207,227,231,242,273,303,324,329,346,409. Media related to Athens Olympic Sports Complex at Wikimedia Commons Official site Olympic Indoor hall info and pictures at stadia. gr
13.
Ellinikon International Airport
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The grounds of the airport are located 7 kilometres south of Athens, and just west of Glyfada. It was named after the village of Elliniko, now a suburb of Athens, the airport had an official capacity of 11 million passengers per year, but had served 13.5 million passengers per year during its last year of operations. The airport was built in 1938, the Nazis invaded Greece in 1941, and Kalamaki Airfield was used as a Luftwaffe air base during the occupation. After World War II, the Greek government allowed the United States to use the airport from 1945 until 1993, by agreement with Greece, the USAF operated out of the airport for well over four decades. In 1988, Greece decided not to extend the arrangement, the airport was the base of operations by the Greek national carrier Olympic Airways. The airport had two terminals, the West Terminal for Olympic Airways, and the East Terminal for all other carriers, the East Terminal building was designed between 1960 and 1969 by Finnish architect Eero Saarinen. Just before its closure in 2001, the recorded a 15. 6% growth rate over its previous year, serving 13.5 million passengers per year. The airports official capacity was 11 million passengers per year, the last aircraft to depart from Ellinikon was an Olympic Airways Boeing 737 bound for Thessaloníki. The airport is bounded in the west by beaches, in the south by the Glyfada Golf Club and the Ellinikon-Glyfada municipal boundary, in April 2011 the Olympic Airways Museum opened in the West Terminal, including three airplanes that had been parked there since the airports closure. The Athens radar center is based at Ellinikon. Other Olympics-related upgrades to the airport included refitting one of the airports western hangars to become the main Olympic fencing venue, the competition was sponsored by UIA, the Greek Ministry of Environment, and the Organization for the Planning and Environmental Protection of Athens. The project was developed in 2006 and 2007 by this team through two development phases with the planning organizations of Athens. By 2012, government plans to investors and develop the site commercially were eclipsing the proposed park. The 1986 Menahem Golan movie, The Delta Force, used the exterior of the airport in the Athens International Airport scene which one of the Lebanese terrorists exits a taxi. Following is a list of accidents/incidents experienced by aircraft that had Ellinikon either as a destination or as a departure point and it only includes events that occurred at the airport or in its vicinities, and only deadly occurrences and/or hull-losses are listed. 8 December 1969, Olympic Airways Flight 954, a Douglas DC-6 tail number SX-DAE, all 90 passengers and crew on board were killed in the worst aviation disaster ever involving a DC-6. There were 53 people aboard, of whom 36 passengers and the drowned, while 13 passengers. 23 January 1973, A Piaggio P. 136L-2 amphibious plane, tail number SX-BDC, the crash occurred as a result of the reversing of the aileron connecting cables during the installation of a new control column on the plane
14.
2004 Summer Olympics
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10,625 athletes competed, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team officials from 201 countries. There were 301 medal events in 28 different sports, Athens 2004 marked the first time since the 1996 Summer Olympics that all countries with a National Olympic Committee were in attendance. 2004 marked the return of the games to the city where they began, a new medal obverse was introduced at these Games, replacing the design by Giuseppe Cassioli that had been used since the 1928 Games. This rectified the long lasting mistake of using a depiction of the Roman Colosseum rather than a Greek venue, the new design features the Panathenaic Stadium. The cost of the 2004 Athens Summer Games has been cited as a contributor to the Greek government-debt crisis, some of the venues lie vacant and rotting, while others are in use, the Independent newspaper reports as many as 21 out of 22 are unused. The final medal tally was led by the United States, followed by China, several World and Olympics records were broken during the games. Several concerns were raised over the preparations of the Games and these included excessive budget overruns, infrastructural compromise, the games were deemed generally successful with the rising standard of competition amongst nations across the world. Athens was chosen as the host city during the 106th IOC Session held in Lausanne on 5 September 1997, Athens had lost its bid to organize the 1996 Summer Olympics to Atlanta nearly seven years before on 18 September 1990, during the 96th IOC Session in Tokyo. 1996 coincided with the 100th Anniversary of the first modern Olympics, under the direction of Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, Athens pursued another bid, this time for the right to host the Summer Olympics in 2004. After leading all voting rounds, Athens easily defeated Rome in the 5th, cape Town, Stockholm, and Buenos Aires, the three other cities that made the IOC shortlist, were eliminated in prior rounds of voting. Six other cities submitted applications, but their bids were dropped by the IOC in 1996 and these cities were Istanbul, Lille, Rio de Janeiro, San Juan, Seville, Saint Petersburg and Cali. The 2004 Summer Olympic Games cost the Government of Greece €8.954 billion to stage, the Athens 2004 Organizing Committee, responsible for the preparation and organisation of the games, concluded its operations as a company in 2005 with a surplus of €130.6 million. ATHOC contributed €123.6 million of the surplus to the Greek State to cover other related expenditures of the Greek State in organizing of the games, as a result, ATHOC reported in its official published accounts a net profit of €7 million. The State’s contribution to the total ATHOC budget was 8% of its expenditure against an originally anticipated 14%, the overall revenue of ATHOC, including income from tickets, sponsors, broadcasting rights, merchandise sales etc. totalled €2,098.4 million. The largest percentage of income came from broadcasting rights. The overall expenditure of ATHOC was €1,967.8 million. e, the large projects required for the upgrade of the country’s infrastructure, including sports infrastructure, roads, airports, hospitals, power grid etc. This cost, however, is not directly attributable to the organisation of the Games. Such infrastructure projects are considered by all standards as fixed asset investments that stay with the hosting country for decades after the Games
15.
2004 Summer Paralympics
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3,806 athletes from 136 National Paralympic Committees competed. 519 medal events were held in 19 sports, four new events were introduced to the Paralympics in Athens, 5-a-side football for the blind, quads wheelchair tennis, and a womens competition in sitting volleyball and in the judo. A total of 1567 medals were awarded during the Athens games,519 gold,516 silver, china topped the medal count with more gold medals, more silver medals, and more medals overall than any other nation. In the table below, the ranking sorts by the number of medals earned by a nation. Chantal Petitclerc of Canada won five golds and set three records in wheelchair racing, while Swedish shooter Jonas Jacobsson took four gold medals. Frances Béatrice Hess won her nineteenth and twentieth Paralympic gold medals in swimming, swimmer Trischa Zorn of the United States won just one medal, a bronze, but it was her 55th ever Paralympic medal. She retained her position as the most successful Paralympian of all times, the opening ceremony for the 2004 Summer Paralympics took place on September 17,2004. The show started with children passing on knowledge and raising their lights to the sky and this was a reference to Hippocrates, who transferred knowledge to the children. A26 meters tall olive tree symbolising life stood in the middle of the arena, the opening ceremony also featured a performance with human drama, with light and with music, in an allegory about obstacles and limits. The Parade of Delegations was accompanied by the music of French composers Yves Stepping, the music told the legend of Hephaestos, god of fire and son of Zeus and Hera. An athlete from Turkmenistan propelled himself around the stadium by doing somersaults, Greece, the home team, received a strong cheer. After that, fireworks erupted at the stadium, there were 150 local support staff involved and 400 volunteers. The children were from ages 8 to 17, coming from Australia, France, Spain, Greece, the Games were officially declared opened by Greek president Costis Stephanopoulos and Philip Craven, the president of the International Paralympic Committee. They were accompanied by the head of the organizing committee Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, who told the athletes, many of you will leave Athens with medals, but all of you will leave as champions. Phil Craven quoted Democritus in his speech, Two thousand years ago and this holds true for all athletes, but especially for Paralympians. Recognising and cultivating your unique abilities and mastering challenges – you set standards and give expression for people, young and old. The Paralympic flame was lit by Greek athlete Georgios Toptsis, the closing ceremony for the 2004 Summer Paralympics took place on September 28,2004. The artistic and entertainment part of the ceremony will not take place, flags were flown at half mast and a minutes silence was observed
16.
Basketball at the 2004 Summer Olympics
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The tournament was notable for Argentinas upset victory of the heavily-favored United States mens team. In Olympic basketball tournaments,12 teams take part, the host nation automatically receives a berth in the tournament. By winning the two World Championship tournaments in 2002, Yugoslavia, now named Serbia and Montenegro, also put a team into the mens tournament, the remaining 10 spots in each tournament were allocated by the five Olympic zones. Each of these zones held its own tournaments to select its entries in the Olympic tournament, africa was allocated one spot in each of these, Oceania was allocated two apiece, and Europe was allocated three. A National Olympic Committee may enter just one team with 12 players. For the womens tournament, the teams consisted of the runner-up and third place teams from Asia and Europe. Twelve teams are split into two preliminary round groups of six teams each, the top four teams from both groups qualify for the knockout stage. Fifth-placed teams from both groups compete for 9th place in an additional match, sixth-placed teams from both groups compete for 11th place in an additional match. In the quarterfinals, the matchups are as follows, A1 vs. B4, A2 vs. B3, A3 vs. B2 and A4 vs. B1. From the eliminated teams at the quarterfinals, the loser from A1 vs. B4 competes against the loser from B1 vs. A4 for 7th place in an additional match, the remaining two loser teams compete for 5th place in an additional match. The winning teams from the meet in the semifinals as follows, A1/B4 vs. A3/B2. The winning teams from the semifinals contest the gold medal, the losing teams contest the bronze. The womens event involved 12 teams split in two groups, the four best teams from each group advanced to the quarterfinal round. The four best teams from each advanced to the quarterfinal round. Olympics, Mens Basketball Tournament 2004 Olympics, Womens Basketball Tournament 2004 FIBA Olympic basketball website 2004 Olympic Games, Tournament for Men,2004 Olympic Games, Tournament for Women, FIBA Archive
17.
National Basketball Association
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The National Basketball Association is the major mens professional basketball league in North America, and is widely considered to be the premier mens professional basketball league in the world. It has 30 teams, and is a member of USA Basketball. The NBA is one of the four professional sports leagues in the United States. NBA players are the worlds best paid athletes by average annual salary per player, the league was founded in New York City on June 6,1946, as the Basketball Association of America. The league adopted the name National Basketball Association on August 3,1949, the leagues several international as well as individual team offices are directed out of its head offices located in the Olympic Tower at 645 Fifth Avenue in New York City. NBA Entertainment and NBA TV studios are directed out of offices located in Secaucus, the Basketball Association of America was founded in 1946 by owners of the major ice hockey arenas in the Northeastern and Midwestern United States and Canada. On November 1,1946, in Toronto, Canada, the Toronto Huskies hosted the New York Knickerbockers at Maple Leaf Gardens, the first basket was made by Ossie Schectman of the Knickerbockers. During its early years, the quality of play in the BAA was not significantly better than in competing leagues or among leading independent clubs such as the Harlem Globetrotters. For instance, the 1948 ABL finalist Baltimore Bullets moved to the BAA and won that leagues 1948 title, Following the 1948–49 season, the BAA took in the remainder of the NBL, Syracuse, Anderson, Tri-Cities, Sheboygan, Denver, and Waterloo. The new league had seventeen franchises located in a mix of large and small cities, as well as arenas and smaller gymnasiums. The process of contraction saw the leagues smaller-city franchises move to larger cities, the Hawks shifted from the Tri-Cities to Milwaukee in 1951, and then to St. Louis in 1955. The Rochester Royals moved from Rochester, New York, to Cincinnati in 1957, japanese-American Wataru Misaka broke the NBA color barrier in the 1947–48 season when he played for the New York Knicks. He remained the only player in league history prior to the first African-American, Harold Hunter. During this period, the Minneapolis Lakers, led by center George Mikan, won five NBA Championships, to encourage shooting and discourage stalling, the league introduced the 24-second shot clock in 1954. If a team does not attempt to score a goal within 24 seconds of obtaining the ball, play is stopped. In 1957, rookie center Bill Russell joined the Boston Celtics, who already featured guard Bob Cousy and coach Red Auerbach, and went on to lead the club to eleven NBA titles in thirteen seasons. Center Wilt Chamberlain entered the league with the Warriors in 1959 and became a dominant individual star of the 1960s, russells rivalry with Chamberlain became one of the greatest rivalries in the history of American team sports. The 1960s were dominated by the Celtics, led by Russell, Bob Cousy and coach Red Auerbach, Boston won eight straight championships in the NBA from 1959 to 1966
18.
Olympic Airways
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Olympic Airlines, formerly named Olympic Airways for at least four decades, was the flag carrier airline of Greece with their head office in Athens. They operated services to 37 domestic destinations and to 32 destinations world-wide, Olympic Airlines also owned a base at London Heathrow International Airport. By December 2007, the airline employed about 8,500 staff, Olympic Airlines was also accredited by IATA with the IOSA for their safety practices. On 29 September 2009 Olympic Airlines ceased all operations and most flights, Olympic Air, the new airline formed from privatisation, commenced flights. Until the final closure, Olympic Airlines used the temporary code OP for their flights, all Olympic Airlines flights since 29 September 2009 and until the final deadline of 31 December 2009, were operated by Olympic Air on a wet lease basis. The company stayed alive until the deadline of 31 December 2009. Icarus, the first predecessor airline to Olympic, was established in 1930, after just a few months Icarus went bankrupt due to financial problems and limited Greek interest in air transport. At the same time, in 1935, an airline was created. Soon after the World War II, in 1947, three airlines were based in Greece, T. A. E. In 1951 the poor state of the three airlines led to a decision by the Greek state to merge them into a single operator. The new airline operated a fleet of twin-engine Douglas DC-3 airliners on domestic Greek routes until the last example was disposed of in May 1970, a four-engine Douglas DC-4 was acquired in 1950 and this was operated on a route to London. The new airline faced financial problems so the government closed it down in 1955, there was no buyers for the airline so the Greek State bought the company back. In July 1956 the Greek State reached an agreement with Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis for Onassis to purchase the airline, the company flew under the T. A. E. Name until the end of the year and for the first few months of 1957, on 6 April 1957 the company was renamed Olympic Airways. To allay the distrust of air transport by Greeks, Onassis developed the aviation days of 57 scheme, providing short, free flights in a DC-3 to demonstrate the reliability of air travel. Onassis always wanted to be in the cutting-edge of the technology, so in 1959 he signed a deal to buy four de Havilland Comet 4B that in 1960 was Olympics first jet aircraft, that entered service. Olympic and British European Airways created the first codeshare flights, later the expanded their cooperation. When Greek crews had to spend a night in London, British crews would fly the Olympic Comets to BEA destinations, on all BEA and OA Comets, there would be a BEA-OLYMPIC sign
19.
Wheelchair rugby at the 2004 Summer Paralympics
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Wheelchair Rugby at the 2004 Summer Paralympics was staged at the Helliniko Indoor Arena from September 19 to September 25. Teams from eight countries participated in the competition, with a total of 89 athletes taking part, while wheelchair rugby was designated a mixed sport, with both men and women eligible to participate in the competition, no female athletes took part. New Zealands victory in the medal game represented the first time that a country from outside North America had won a Paralympics or World Championships title in the sport. The wheelchair rugby competition in Athens was featured in the 2005 documentary film Murderball, wheelchair rugby players were given a classification based on their upper body function. A committee gave each athlete a 7-level score ranging from 0.5 to 3.5, during the game, the total score of all players on the court for a team cannot exceed 8 points. However, for each player on court, their team gets an extra 0.5 points over the 8 point limit. Eight teams took part in this sport, each team could have up to 12 athletes, but no more than 11 of the team members could be male. Listed below are the eight qualified for the Athens Paralympics. The eight teams were divided into two groups and participated in a single round robin tournament. The top two teams each group went on to compete for 1st through 4th place, while the last two teams from each group competed for 5th through 8th place
20.
Greek Basket League
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The Greek Basket League, often referred to as the Greek Basketball League, Greek A1 Basketball League, or Greek Basketball Championship, is the first tier professional basketball league in Greece. It is run by HEBA, under the authority of the Hellenic Basketball Federation. The league is known as the Stoiximan. gr Greek Basket League for sponsorship reasons. It consists of 14 teams and runs from October to June, with teams playing 26 games each during the season. The first official Greek Basketball Championship was held in the 1927–28 season, the league first held a playoff round in the 1986–87 season. The league has always ranked as one of the top 3-5 level national domestic leagues in European basketball. For further information, see historical European national basketball league rankings, Basketball first came to Greece in the year 1910. By the 1927–28 season, the first official Greek basketball championship began, the league was originally organized by the Hellenic Amateur Athletic Association. There have been four different official championship eras, the first era was the Panhellenic Championship, which lasted from the 1927–28 to 1962–63 seasons, when the champions of every regional district played each other to decide the Greek Champion. The second era started in the 1963–64 season, when the A National Category, in 1969, the Hellenic Basketball Federation took over the duties of overseeing the competition, and did so until the year 1992. The 1988–89 season, marked the first time that Greek Basket League teams were allowed to have foreign players on their rosters. The fourth era of the began in the 1992–93 season. The league was renamed to Greek Basket League, starting with the 2010–11 season. It currently ranks among the best national domestic leagues in the world, such as Liga ACB in Spain, VTB United League, and BSL in Turkey. It has always considered one of the top 3-5 European national domestic leagues under the historical European national basketball league rankings. Also, Aris Thessaloniki, led by Nikos Galis, Panagiotis Giannakis, and Slobodan Lefteris Subotić, was the dominant Greek club, the first five aforementioned clubs, are also the most widely supported by fans in Greece. Despite the championship having been contested 76 times, only nine different clubs have won it so far, the dominating club has always been Panathinaikos, having claimed the championship 34 times. Since the foundation of the Alpha National Category in the 1963–64 season, the main elements of the logo were changed in 2013
21.
Panionios B.C.
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Panionios B. C. known in European competitions as Panionios Athens is the Greek professional basketball club that plays its home games in Nea Smyrni, Athens, Greece. The club is widely known as Πανιώνιος Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Σμύρνης, or Panionios Gymnastikos Syllogos Smyrnis. This is usually abbreviated to the name of Πανιώνιος Γ. Σ. Σ. Panionios B. C. is the department of the Panionios Gymnastic Club that is based in Nea Smyrni. Panionios B. C. has been a club of the top-tier level Greek Basket League. Panionios B. C. has also competed in the European-wide top-tier level EuroLeague, for sponsorship reasons, the club has also been known as Panionios On Telecoms, and Panionios Forthnet. The club is owned by Ion G. Varouxakis. Recent previous owners of the club were Antonis Margetis, and Elias Lianos, some of the well-known players that have played with the club over the years have included, Faidon Matthaiou, Takis Koroneos, Fanis Christodoulou, Boban Janković, P. J. The basketball clubs parent athletic union, the Panionios Gymnastic Club, was founded in 1890, in İzmir, Ottoman Empire, the sporting clubs basketball department was founded in 1919. After the Greek military suffered defeat in the Greco-Turkish War in 1922, the basketball department, Panionios B. C. began participation in the Greek Basket League starting in the 1928–29 season, and finished in second place in the league that year. Panionios B. C. finished in place in the league the next year. Panionios B. C. competed in the top-tier Greek basketball league, in consecutive years, in the 1986–87 season, Panionios played in the championship finals series of the Greek League, losing out to Aris, and their two Greek basketball legends Nikos Galis and Panagiotis Giannakis. In 1991, led by Fanis Christodoulou, the won the Greek Cup title. Panionios also played in the game of the Greek Cup in both 1977 and 1995. This marked the first civil conflict between Greek basketball clubs in European-wide competitions, ever, the club finished in 3rd place in the Greek League in the 1995–96 season, under head coach Dušan Ivković, and thus qualified to the EuroLeague for the 1996–97 season. In the FIBA EuroLeague 1996–97 season, the team was coached by Efthimis Kioumourtzoglou, in the Greek League 2007–08 season, Panionios, led by Ivan Zoroski, Giannis Kalampokis, and charismatic head coach Nenad Marković, finished in 3rd place in the Greek League. They came back from an 0-2 series deficit in the deciding best-of-five league third-place series against Maroussi and that secured the team a place in the EuroLeague competition for the Euroleague 2008–09 season. This marked the clubs first EuroLeague appearance in more than a decade, after the 2014–15 season, Panionios was relegated to the Greek 2nd Division, after 33 consecutive seasons with a presence in the top-tier level Greek Basket League
22.
Panellinios B.C.
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Panellinios B. C. or Panellinios Basket, is a professional basketball club that is located in Athens, Greece. The club was founded in 1929, making it one of the oldest basketball clubs in Europe, the name Panellinios can be translated as Pan-Hellenic in English, and can be interpreted to mean The Greek Nation. So the clubs name can be interpreted to mean The National Basketball Club, the Greek multi-sports club Panathinaikos was founded by Panellinios G. S. athletes. The club was owned by the Greek businessman Minos Kyriakou. The parent athletic club, Panellinios Gymnastikos Syllogos, was founded in Athens in 1891 and it had a team of gymnasts compete at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens. The teams leader was Sotirios Athanasopoulos, members included Nikolaos Andriakopoulos, Petros Persakis, Thomas Xenakis, and 29 others. The team placed out of the three teams in the parallel bars team event, earning a silver medal. In 1929, the athletic associations basketball department, Panellinios B. C, Athens was founded, and that same year the club won the Athens basketball championship. Panellinios has been the top-tier Greek Leagues champion 6 times, in the years 1929,1939,1940,1953,1955, and 1957. The club would have won several more Greek championships during the 1940s. In the early 1950s era, the team was called The Golden Five, or The Fabulous Five and dominated not only Greek basketball, the Panellinios team headlined the Greek 1952 Olympics team. During that era, Panellinios took part in the biggest international tournaments in Europe, the tournaments of the EuroLeague. The club advanced to the final of the 1954 San Remo Tournament, Panellinios then won the 1955 Brussels Tournament, by defeating the Yugoslav League club Red Star Belgrade in the final, by a score of 91-67. Panellinios also won the 1956 San Remo Tournament, by defeating the Italian League club Virtus Bologna, in the inaugural 1958 season, the European 1st-tier level European Champions Cup was formed. By that time, the team of head coach Nikos Nisiotis was coming to the end of The Golden Five era, the club was eliminated from the competition, after losing its series against Steaua SA Bucarest 2 games to 0, by scores of 63-60 and 75-72. The team was led in those years by the great scorer Antonis Christeas, the team stayed in the top Greek basketball division for 23 straight years, starting in 1963, when the league was re-formed into a new format. The club finished third in the top Greek League in both 1970 and 1978, during this era, it was Vassilis Goumas that was the leader of the team. The club also finished as the runner-up in the Greek Cup in 1987, Panellinios also participated in the European 2nd-tier level FIBA European Cup Winners Cup and European 3rd-tier level FIBA Korać Cup competitions several times during the 1970s and 1980s
23.
AEK B.C.
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The club was established in Athens in 1924 by Greek refugees from Constantinople in the wake of the Greco-Turkish War. AEK was the first-ever Greek basketball team, not only to reach a European Cup Final, on April 4,1968, AEK defeated Slavia VŠ Praha by a score of 89-82, in Athens in front of 80,000 fans. They have won the Greek Basket League 8 times, and the Greek Basketball Cup 3 times, the large Greek population of Constantinople, not unlike those of the other Ottoman urban centres, continued its athletic traditions in the form of numerous athletic clubs. These were amongst a dozen Greek-backed clubs that dominated the landscape of the city in the years preceding World War I. After the war, with the influx of mainly French and English soldiers to Constantinople, many of the city participated in regular competition. Taxim, Pera, and Tatavla became the scene of weekly competitions in not only football, but of athletics, cycling, boxing, of the clubs in the city though, football was dominated by Enosis Tataoulon and Hermes. Hermes, one of the popular clubs, was formed in 1875. Forced by the Kemalist regime to change its name to Pera Club in 1923, many of its athletes fled to Greece and settled in Athens, the basketball team of AEK is actually the most successful among A. E. Ks athletic departments. The obvious reason is the successes in general of the Greek basketball, under Konstantinos Karamanlis guidance, AEK won the clubs first Greek championship in 1958. Kostas Dimopoulos, one of the creators of AEK club and footballer of the years, had the idea of creation also a basketball team. His efforts quickly were matched by others who loved with passion this nice sport and he took over, then, the leadership of the department and together with the brothers Simeonidi, Eumenis Athanasiadis and others made the first team. In the beginning they took part in matches with a good impression. After, AEK won the first championship played in Athens, that was organized by the YMCA in 1924, in 1929 the Greek basketball Championship was not conducted and AEK did not played anywhere. In 1930 basketball section was not declared in no organization with the efforts of Kostas Dimopoulos. The section remained in obscurity for years, however in 1949 reappeared. In 1953 AEK took part for the time in the Greek basketball Championship after 1928. In the Championship of 1955 AEK did a run, however missed the final by Panellinios. In 1958 AEK B. C. with player-coach Konstantinos Karamanlis conquered the first Greek Championship defeating Panellinios in final 67-54, postwar, was also founded and worked for a short time and a section of womens basketball
24.
Greek Basketball Cup
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The Greek Basketball Cup or Hellenic Basketball Cup is the top-tier level annual pro basketball national cup competition in Greece. It is organized by the Hellenic Basketball Federation, there were no official Greek Cups, or Greek Cup records, with regards to the tournament before the 1975–76 season. But according to sources, AEK won two unofficial versions of the Greek Cup in the seasons of 1966–67 and 1970–71. The first official Greek Cup took place during the 1975–76 season, from the 1994–95 to 2003–04 seasons, the Final Four format was used. The competition format in recent years includes a total of 30 teams,14 from the top-tier level Greek Basket League, the quarterfinals and onward rounds are played under a single elimination format. 6 clubs have won the Greek Basketball Cup, the 6 clubs that have won the Greek Basketball Cup all come from either the Thessaloniki or Athens urban areas, which are the two largest urban areas in the country of Greece. The Final Four system was introduced in the 1994–95 season, while the last Final Four was held during the 2003-04 season, from 1976 to 1994, the Top Scorer of the Greek Cup Finals was noted, regardless of whether he played on the winning or losing team. Since 1995, an MVP is named at the conclusion of the finals, players that are still active are marked in bold. Players that are active are marked in bold. com AllStar Basket Magazine Official Facebook Page Basketblog. gr
25.
Wayback Machine
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The Internet Archive launched the Wayback Machine in October 2001. It was set up by Brewster Kahle and Bruce Gilliat, and is maintained with content from Alexa Internet, the service enables users to see archived versions of web pages across time, which the archive calls a three dimensional index. Since 1996, the Wayback Machine has been archiving cached pages of websites onto its large cluster of Linux nodes and it revisits sites every few weeks or months and archives a new version. Sites can also be captured on the fly by visitors who enter the sites URL into a search box, the intent is to capture and archive content that otherwise would be lost whenever a site is changed or closed down. The overall vision of the machines creators is to archive the entire Internet, the name Wayback Machine was chosen as a reference to the WABAC machine, a time-traveling device used by the characters Mr. Peabody and Sherman in The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, an animated cartoon. These crawlers also respect the robots exclusion standard for websites whose owners opt for them not to appear in search results or be cached, to overcome inconsistencies in partially cached websites, Archive-It. Information had been kept on digital tape for five years, with Kahle occasionally allowing researchers, when the archive reached its fifth anniversary, it was unveiled and opened to the public in a ceremony at the University of California, Berkeley. Snapshots usually become more than six months after they are archived or, in some cases, even later. The frequency of snapshots is variable, so not all tracked website updates are recorded, Sometimes there are intervals of several weeks or years between snapshots. After August 2008 sites had to be listed on the Open Directory in order to be included. As of 2009, the Wayback Machine contained approximately three petabytes of data and was growing at a rate of 100 terabytes each month, the growth rate reported in 2003 was 12 terabytes/month, the data is stored on PetaBox rack systems manufactured by Capricorn Technologies. In 2009, the Internet Archive migrated its customized storage architecture to Sun Open Storage, in 2011 a new, improved version of the Wayback Machine, with an updated interface and fresher index of archived content, was made available for public testing. The index driving the classic Wayback Machine only has a bit of material past 2008. In January 2013, the company announced a ground-breaking milestone of 240 billion URLs, in October 2013, the company announced the Save a Page feature which allows any Internet user to archive the contents of a URL. This became a threat of abuse by the service for hosting malicious binaries, as of December 2014, the Wayback Machine contained almost nine petabytes of data and was growing at a rate of about 20 terabytes each week. Between October 2013 and March 2015 the websites global Alexa rank changed from 162 to 208, in a 2009 case, Netbula, LLC v. Chordiant Software Inc. defendant Chordiant filed a motion to compel Netbula to disable the robots. Netbula objected to the motion on the ground that defendants were asking to alter Netbulas website, in an October 2004 case, Telewizja Polska USA, Inc. v. Echostar Satellite, No.02 C3293,65 Fed. 673, a litigant attempted to use the Wayback Machine archives as a source of admissible evidence, Telewizja Polska is the provider of TVP Polonia and EchoStar operates the Dish Network
26.
Venues of the 2004 Summer Olympics
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For the 2004 Summer Olympics, a total of thirty-five sports venues were used. Athens hosted the first modern Olympic Games in 1896 that included such as Panathinaiko Stadium. A change in democracy in 1975 resulted in Greeces admission into the European Economic Community in 1979. Athens first bid for the 1996 Summer Olympics as part of the 100th anniversary of the Modern Olympics, seven years later, Athens won the right to host the 2004 Summer Olympics. At the time of the award, 75% of competition and 92% of training venues were available though a construction and renovation program was taken to get the venues ready for the games. Accessibility and environmental issues were taken account in venue design. The marathon course used was the one used for the 1896 Games though it was 2.195 km longer to the marathon not being standardized until 1924. Canoe slaloms venue at Ellinikon was the first using saltwater, having it pumped in from the Aegean Sea, after the Olympics, Markopoulo Olympic Shooting Centre was converted into a police training center while two other venues were converted into entertainment centers. Greece served as home of the Ancient Olympic Games that ran from 776 B. C. to 393 A. D. in Olympia, following the effort of Pierre de Coubertin to revive the Olympic Games, the first modern Olympics took place at Athens in 1896. The main stadium, Panathinaiko, served as host of the athletic, gymnastic, weightlifting, the city of Marathon served the start point for the sport of the same name and the starting and finishing point of cyclings Individual road race. Between the 1896 and 2004 Summer Olympics, Greece underwent a series of events that created political instability in the country, by the 1950s, Greece reemerged as an economic model though a coup détat in April 1967 forced the country into a military junta that lasted until 1974. It would take a back to democracy in 1975 and an entrance into the European Economic Community in 1979 set Greece back to growth. Athens first bid for the Summer Olympics took place in 1986 for the 1996 Olympics and they lost out to eventual winner Atlanta, Georgia in the United States at a 1990 International Olympic Committee meeting in Tokyo. Olympic Stadium in Athens served as host for the European Athletics Championships in 1982 and this venue also served as host for the Mediterranean Games in 1991. In 1995, Athens submitted a bid for the 2004 Summer Olympics which it was awarded in September 1997, a month earlier, Olympic Stadium hosted the World Championships in Athletics. At the time of the bid in 1997, the venues to be used for the 2004 Games were available for 75% of the competition, venue locations were settled between 1998 and 2003. Construction funding started in 1998 with laws passing in 1999 and 2000 to assist this along, a total of 37 contracts were issued for venue construction and renovation involving three different governmental ministries. Monthly reports were issues to the Athens Organizing Committee on venue project status, design drawings were completed by December 2002
27.
Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre
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The Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre is a complex at the Athens Olympic Sports Complex, consisting of two outdoor pools and one indoor pool, that was built for the 1991 Mediterranean Games. It was refurbished and expanded for the 2004 Summer Olympics, the larger of the outdoor pools, which seats 11,500 spectators, hosted swimming and water polo events. The smaller pool, which hosted synchronized swimming, sat 5,300 fans, the indoor pool, which hosted the diving events, sat 6,200 observers. The outdoor pool was the subject of significant controversy during the run-up to the Olympic games, a roof was planned that would have shielded the swimmers from the blazing Athens sun. This feature was scrapped, leaving the athletes and most of the fans without shade during the events. The venue was however, FINA approved, as of August 2015, the outdoor venue is now being used to host swimming programs
28.
Athens Olympic Tennis Centre
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The Athens Olympic Tennis Centre is a grouping of 16 tennis courts at the Athens Olympic Sports Complex, in Marousi, Athens, Greece. Each of the use the DecoTurf cushioned acrylic surface, the same surface as the U. S. Open Grand Slam event. The Main Court, in particular, is large by the standards of major tennis competitions. The centre hosted the matches at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. The centre was completed in February 2004, and officially opened on August 2,2004, list of tennis stadiums by capacity 2004 Summer Olympics official report
29.
Athens Olympic Velodrome
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The Athens Olympic Velodrome is a velodrome stadium that is located in Marousi, Athens, Greece, at the Athens Olympic Sports Complex. The stadium, which seats 5,250 - though only 3,300 seats were publicly available for the 2004 Summer Olympic Games - has distinctive twin roofs. The Olympic Velodrome was originally built in 1991, for the Mediterranean Games and it was extensively refurbished in order to host the track cycling events at the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics. It was redesigned for the 2004 Olympics by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, the track, made of Afzelia wood, is 250 metres long and 7.5 metres wide. Reconstruction of the stadium was completed on May 30,2004, & Athens Olympic Velodrome information at FixedGearFever. com
30.
O.A.C.A. Olympic Indoor Hall
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It is located in the Athens suburb of Marousi. It is considered to be one of the biggest and most modern sports arenas in all of Europe. The arena also contains a training facility, since 2016, it is named after the well-known Greek basketball player Nikos Galis. Nikos Galis Olympic Indoor Hall is notable for its distinctive A-frame roof that features four huge pillars, each of which is 35 meters tall, according to the Greek Ministry of Sports, it is the largest indoor sporting arena of its kind in the world. The arena is constructed in a unique way so that an abundant amount of natural light comes into the arena during the day. The arena seats up to 17,600 for gymnastics events and it seats up to 18,989 for basketball games, which includes 18,500 regular seats for the fans,300 seats for the media members, and 189 seats for VIPs. A large scale arena renovation was completed in 2004, for the 2004 Summer Olympics, the arena was then renovated again in 2016. The arena was used for gymnastics and trampolining, and also hosted the finals of the basketball matches at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Renovation of the building for the Olympics was completed on June 30,2004, the Indoor Hall is the regular home court for the Greek Basket League professional basketball clubs Panathinaikos Athens and AEK Athens. It is also the home court of the Greek National Basketball Team. On December 9,2007, FIBA announced that the Olympic Indoor Hall was selected as the host of the 2008 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament for the 2008 Olympics Basketball Tournament. At the qualifying tournament, hosts and favorites Greece, along with the German and Croatian national basketball teams, qualified for the final 2008 Olympic Basketball Tournament. On May 18 and 20,2006, the Hall hosted the 51st Eurovision Song Contest, there were 15,000 seats available for spectators, both for the semifinal and the grand final. gr
31.
Olympic Stadium (Athens)
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The Olympic Stadium of Athens Spyros Louis is part of the Athens Olympic Sports Complex. It is named after the first modern Olympic marathon race winner in 1896, the stadium hosts one of the biggest sport clubs in Greece, AEK Athens. Located in the area of Marousi in Athens, the stadium was designed in 1979. It was completed in time to host the 1982 European Championships in Athletics and it was inaugurated by the President of Greece, at the time Konstantinos Karamanlis, on 8 September 1982. It was extensively renovated in time for the 2004 Summer Olympics, including a roof designed by Santiago Calatrava, the roof was added atop the sidelines and completed just in time for the opening of the Games. The two giant arcs have a span of 304m and a maximum height of 72m. Also, it has a weight of 19,000 tons with 5,000 polycarbonate panels. The west arc was assembled 72m from its position and the east 65m - both later slid into place. The roof is designed to withstand winds up to 120 km/h, the stadium was then officially re-opened on 30 July 2004. It hosted the events and the football final at the 2004 Summer Olympics. It also hosted the ceremony on 13 August 2004. The turf system consists of grass in modular containers which incorporate irrigation. The Olympic Stadium has been used as home ground in various times by the three big clubs of Athens, Olympiacos, Panathinaikos and AEK Athens. The stadium played host to Amnesty Internationals Human Rights Now, benefit Concert on 3 October 1988. The show was headlined by Sting and Peter Gabriel and also featured Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, Tracy Chapman, Youssou NDour, and George Dalaras. Madonna performed before a crowd of 75,637 at the stadium on 27 September 2008. U2 performed in front of a crowd of 82,662 during their 360° Tour on 3 September 2010, pyx Lax performed also in front of a crowd of about 80,000, during their reunion tour on 13 July 2011. It was the highest attended Greek-band-concert, Bon Jovi performed during their Bon Jovi Live Tour on 20 July 2011
32.
Hellinikon Olympic Hockey Centre
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The Hellinikon Olympic Hockey Centre was the site of the field hockey events at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. Located in the Hellinikon Olympic Complex, the facility consists of two hockey fields, the facility was completed on February 29,2004, and officially opened on August 11,2004, shortly before the beginning of the Games. During the 2004 Summer Paralympics, the Olympic Hockey Centre was the venue for Football 5-a-side, the hockey centre has since fallen into disuse and disrepair. No hockey has played at the centre since the end of the 2004 Olympic Games
33.
Faliro Coastal Zone Olympic Complex
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The Faliro Coastal Zone Olympic Sports Complex is a complex in the coastal zone of Athens, Greece. It consists of two indoor arenas and a volleyball stadium, and it hosted Handball, Taekwondo. The complex is located in Faliro, not far from the port of Piraeus, renovations for the Olympics commenced in April 2002 and were completed on June 30,2004. The new stadium was opened on August 11,2004. The venues current regular seating capacity is 14,940 seats, the Faliro Sports Pavilion Arena is an indoor arena in Palaio Faliro, near Athens, Greece. It was the site of preliminary matches in handball and the competition in the 2004 Summer Olympics at Athens. The arena was completed on December 20,2003 and officially opened on August 12,2004, the arena seats 8,536, though only 5,800 seats were publicly available during the Olympics. The Peace & Friendship Stadium is used by Olympiacos Basketball Club and regularly holds crowds of up to 14,905 fans, especially for Euroleague basketball games. In 2008 it was reported several of the facilities at Faliro have fallen into a state of disrepair, with the venues afflicted by vandalism, graffiti. However, some of the facilities are presently in use or in the process of being converted for post-Olympics use, info and pictures of the Peace and Friendship Stadium at stadia. gr
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Faliro Olympic Beach Volleyball Centre
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The Faliro Olympic Beach Volleyball Centre is a stadium in the Faliro Coastal Zone Olympic Complex that hosted the beach volleyball competition for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. The stadium holds a total of 9,600 individuals, though the public seating capacity was limited to 7,300 during the Olympics. The stadium was opened on August 2,2004, a few weeks before the Olympics. As of August 2014, the venue was in a state of disuse, in May 8,2016 Hellenic Parliament passed law by which Centre was given to Ministry of Justice, Transparency and Human Rights
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Faliro Sports Pavilion Arena
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The Faliro Sports Pavilion Arena which is part of the Faliro Coastal Zone Olympic Complex is an indoor arena in Palaio Faliro, near Athens, Greece. It is nicknamed The Little Peace And Friendship Stadium, due to its similarity in design and close proximity to the Peace and it was the site of the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics preliminary matches of handball, as well as the taekwondo competition. The arena seats 8,536 for handball matches of 2004 Olympics, the arena was completed on December 20,2003, and it officially opened on August 12,2004, shortly before the 2004 Olympics began. In June 2010, the hosted the 7th MAD Video Music Awards, held by Mad TV. The Prodigy had a concert event at the arena. Tiesto performed at the arena, during his Kaleidoscope World Tour, the arena is also known as a long-time venue for Holiday on Ice shows. It also hosted the Greek Legends event by Riot Games, a League of Legends LAN tournament in June 28 and 29,2014. It will host the finals of the League of Legends Greek Championship Season 1 in the 28th and 29 January 2017, co-organized by Riot Games, AST, and inSpot
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Peace and Friendship Stadium
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The Peace and Friendship Stadium, commonly known by its acronym SEF is a multi-purpose indoor arena that is located in Piraeus, on the coastal zone of Attica, Greece. The arena is known for being the home to EuroLeague team Olympiacos. The arena also contains a training facility, the Peace and Friendship Stadium opened in 1985, and its construction cost was €25,000,000 in 1983 prices. It was designed by the architectural firm Thymios Papagiannis and Associates, the arena is built opposite to the Karaiskakis Stadium in Piraeus, located in the western end of the Phaleron Bay, in the coastal zone of Attica. It was inaugurated on February 16,1985, at the first Panhellenic Athletics Indoor Championship, in 1991, the arena won the Golden Award from IAKS, the International Association for Sports and Leisure Facilities. Since the 1991–92 season, the Peace and Friendship Stadium has been the court to Greek League and EuroLeague professional basketball club Olympiacos. The arena was closed from April 2002, to early 2004, for works, at a total cost of €7,300,000. For 2001-02 they moved to the Glyfada Arena, the arenas total capacity varies, depending on the collapsible bleachers used in the lower level, besides its 11,600 permanent seating in the mid and upper levels. The Peace and Friendship Stadium seats up to 14,776 for basketball games, the arena is occasionally used for events like congresses, music concerts, and indoor motocross races. It is also capable to accommodate ice skating events, although it has never used as an ice skating venue. The Scorpions, Phil Collins, Dire Straits, Status Quo, UB40, Gloria Estefan, Deep Purple, and Placebo, are among the artists who have performed at the Peace and Friendship Stadium. Outside the main arena, in the stadium building, there is a 942-seat amphitheater, and various other halls of a total area of 16,048 sqm. The Peace and Friendship Stadium is located in the Neo Faliro area of Piraeus, on the coastal Poseidonos Avenue and it is 2 km away from the port of Piraeus
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Badminton Theater
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The Badminton Theater is a venue utilized for the staging of medium- and large-scale multiplex events. Situated inside the park of Goudi in Athens, Greece. As of 2012, conferences, meetings, presentations and corporate events are held at the venue due to the construction of additional facilities. The venue was built and used for the sport of Badminton during the 2004 Olympic Games. As the venue became further established, the facility was available for leasing, with the management utilizing a public tender process. ABCD acquired the premises for a 20-year timeframe, and subsequently embarked on radical reform, the building was eventually converted into a versatile facility, suitable for medium- and large-scale events. The remodeling work began in the summer of 2006 and was completed in 2007, the post-industrial style of the exterior and the venues large open spaces were the only things that remained intact. The interior was rebuilt to create a modern auditorium, capable of seating 2,430 people, surrounded by foyers. The Badminton Theater has been used in major international theater, dance and television productions. The main areas of Badminton Theater are
