1.
Antwerp
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Antwerp is a city in Belgium, the capital of Antwerp province in the region of Flanders. With a population of 510,610, it is the most populous city proper in Belgium and its metropolitan area houses around 1,200,000 people, which is second behind Brussels. Antwerp is on the River Scheldt, linked to the North Sea by the Westerschelde estuary, the Port of Antwerp is one of the biggest in the world, ranking second in Europe and within the top 20 globally. Antwerp has long been an important city in the Low Countries, the inhabitants of Antwerp are nicknamed Sinjoren, after the Spanish honorific señor or French seigneur, lord, referring to the Spanish noblemen who ruled the city in the 17th century. The city hosted the 1920 Summer Olympics, according to folklore, notably celebrated by a statue in front of the town hall, the city got its name from a legend about a giant called Antigoon who lived near the Scheldt river. He exacted a toll from passing boatmen, and for those who refused, he severed one of their hands, eventually the giant was killed by a young hero named Silvius Brabo, who cut off the giants own hand and flung it into the river. Hence the name Antwerpen, from Dutch hand werpen, akin to Old English hand and wearpan, a longstanding theory is that the name originated in the Gallo-Roman period and comes from the Latin antverpia. Antverpia would come from Ante Verpia, indicating land that forms by deposition in the curve of a river. Note that the river Scheldt, before a period between 600 and 750, followed a different track. This must have coincided roughly with the current ringway south of the city, however, many historians think it unlikely that there was a large settlement which would be named Antverpia, but more something like an outpost with a river crossing. However, John Lothrop Motley argues, and so do a lot of Dutch etymologists and historians, aan t werp is also possible. This warp is a hill or a river deposit, high enough to remain dry at high tide. Another word for werp is pol hence polders, historical Antwerp allegedly had its origins in a Gallo-Roman vicus. Excavations carried out in the oldest section near the Scheldt, 1952–1961, produced pottery shards, the earliest mention of Antwerp dates from the 4th century. In the 4th century, Antwerp was first named, having been settled by the Germanic Franks, the name was reputed to have been derived from anda and werpum. The Merovingian Antwerp was evangelized by Saint Amand in the 7th century, at the end of the 10th century, the Scheldt became the boundary of the Holy Roman Empire. Antwerp became a margraviate in 980, by the German emperor Otto I, in the 11th century Godfrey of Bouillon was for some years known as the marquis of Antwerp. In the 12th century, Norbert of Xanten established a community of his Premonstratensian canons at St. Michaels Abbey at Caloes
2.
Belgium
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Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a sovereign state in Western Europe bordered by France, the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, and the North Sea. It is a small, densely populated country which covers an area of 30,528 square kilometres and has a population of about 11 million people. Additionally, there is a group of German-speakers who live in the East Cantons located around the High Fens area. Historically, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg were known as the Low Countries, the region was called Belgica in Latin, after the Roman province of Gallia Belgica. From the end of the Middle Ages until the 17th century, today, Belgium is a federal constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. It is divided into three regions and three communities, that exist next to each other and its two largest regions are the Dutch-speaking region of Flanders in the north and the French-speaking southern region of Wallonia. The Brussels-Capital Region is a bilingual enclave within the Flemish Region. A German-speaking Community exists in eastern Wallonia, Belgiums linguistic diversity and related political conflicts are reflected in its political history and complex system of governance, made up of six different governments. Upon its independence, declared in 1830, Belgium participated in the Industrial Revolution and, during the course of the 20th century, possessed a number of colonies in Africa. This continuing antagonism has led to several far-reaching reforms, resulting in a transition from a unitary to a federal arrangement during the period from 1970 to 1993. Belgium is also a member of the Eurozone, NATO, OECD and WTO. Its capital, Brussels, hosts several of the EUs official seats as well as the headquarters of major international organizations such as NATO. Belgium is also a part of the Schengen Area, Belgium is a developed country, with an advanced high-income economy and is categorized as very high in the Human Development Index. A gradual immigration by Germanic Frankish tribes during the 5th century brought the area under the rule of the Merovingian kings, a gradual shift of power during the 8th century led the kingdom of the Franks to evolve into the Carolingian Empire. Many of these fiefdoms were united in the Burgundian Netherlands of the 14th and 15th centuries, the Eighty Years War divided the Low Countries into the northern United Provinces and the Southern Netherlands. The latter were ruled successively by the Spanish and the Austrian Habsburgs and this was the theatre of most Franco-Spanish and Franco-Austrian wars during the 17th and 18th centuries. The reunification of the Low Countries as the United Kingdom of the Netherlands occurred at the dissolution of the First French Empire in 1815, although the franchise was initially restricted, universal suffrage for men was introduced after the general strike of 1893 and for women in 1949. The main political parties of the 19th century were the Catholic Party, French was originally the single official language adopted by the nobility and the bourgeoisie
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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
4.
1920 Summer Olympics
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The 1920 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event in 1920 in Antwerp, Belgium. No fixed host city was proposed at the time, the 1916 Summer Olympics, to be held in Berlin, capital of the German Empire, were cancelled due to World War I. Hungary, Germany, Austria, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire were banned from competing in the Games, Germany did not return to Olympic competition until 1928 and instead hosted a series of games called Deutsche Kampfspiele, starting with the Winter edition of 1922. The Sailing events were held in Ostend, Belgium, and two in Amsterdam, Netherlands, no fixed host city was proposed at the time. The organising committee was created on 9 August 1913, Beerschot V. A. C. and Nicolaas Jan Cupérus, president of the Belgian Gymnastics Federation. The first action of the committee was to send a letter to the IOC in Paris. On 13 September 1913, Pierre de Coubertin, president of the IOC, in 1914, a 109-page brochure was created to promote the idea of Antwerp as a host city for the Olympics, Aurons-nous la VIIème Olympiade à Anvers. It was sent to all IOC members and was used during the 6th Olympic Congress in Paris in 1914, where the candidacies of Amsterdam, Antwerp, Budapest, and Rome were discussed. Despite a slight preference at the time for Budapest, no choice was made. In 1915, Lyon made a bid for the 1920 games, the support for Belgium by cousin country France, then the leading country of the IOC, also meant that Amsterdam, and Budapest, in an enemy state, made no chance for the 1920 games against Antwerp. New candidacies from American cities did not have that disadvantage and bids were received from Cleveland, Philadelphia, and Atlanta, but shortly after the armistice in November 1918, the IOC decided to give Antwerp the first choice, if they still wanted to host the 1920 Games. An executive committee was established on 17 April 1919, with Henri de Baillet-Latour as chairman and Alfred Verdyck, seven commissions were created, to deal with finances, accommodation, press relations, propaganda, schedules, transport, and festivities. Finances and scheduling proved to be the two hardest parts to tackle, the program of events only was published in February 1920, between 23 and 30 April 1920, an ice hockey tournament marked the early start of the Games. Held in the Palais de Glace or Ice Palace in Antwerp, it was the first time that ice hockey was an Olympic sport. The first stone of the new Olympic Stadium at Beerschot was laid on 4 July 1919 by Jan De Vos, mayor of Antwerp, and inaugurated less than a year later on 23 May 1920 with a gymnastics demonstration. The nautical stadium or Stade Nautique dAntwerp was built at the end of the Jan Van Rijswijcklaan, other events, like shooting, boxing, and equestrian sports, were held at pre-existing locations in and around Antwerp and as far away as Ostend. These Olympics were the first in which the Olympic Oath was voiced, the first in which doves were released to symbolize peace, the USA won 41 gold,27 silver, and 27 bronze medals, the most won by any of the 29 nations attending. Sweden, Great Britain, Finland, and Belgium rounded out the five most successful medal-winning nations, the Games also featured a week of winter sports, with figure skating appearing for the first time since the 1908 Olympics, and ice hockey making its Olympic debut
5.
Equestrian at the 1920 Summer Olympics
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The equestrian events at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp included eventing, show jumping, vaulting and dressage. The competitions were held from September 6,1920, to September 12,1920, although there were 72 riders competing, many rode in more than one event, with 87 entries total. Vaulting was also held, its one appearance at an Olympic Games, with only Belgium, France, the requirements for the dressage test remained the same as for the 1912 Games. Team dressage medals were not distributed, the show jumping competition held both its individual and team competitions on the same day, and riders in the team event could not compete for an individual medal. Therefore,10 riders total could be sent for the competition, although only Italy. The eventing competition removed the dressage test for the 1920 Games, the cross-country test proved to be challenging, with 12 of the 25 horses contesting the course finishing with time faults, and 13 finishing with faults at obstacles. A total of 72 riders from 8 nations competed at the Antwerp Games, Belgium Finland France Italy Netherlands Norway Sweden United States Olympic Medal Winners
6.
Football at the 1920 Summer Olympics
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The football at the 1920 Summer Olympics, was one of the 154 events at the 1920 Summer Olympics, held in Antwerp. It was the time association football was on the Olympic schedule. The tournament was contested by 14 teams, with host country Belgium winning the gold medal, Spain won silver, while the Netherlands won the bronze medal. 14 teams entered the competition which was organized on a knockout basis,12 teams entered the first round, with the 6 winners joining the host nation and France, in the quarter-finals. Perhaps the most far-reaching of the results was that which saw Norway defeat Great Britain in the first round, the British delegation were concerned with the rise in professional opponents within the international game. Whatever the reason or excuse, thinly-veiled professionalism was rampant, ironically Norway were not a professional side. The complaint was, however, clearly addressed at a growing trend within the game, Czechoslovakia, participating in their first international tournament, cruised to the final, inflicting heavy defeats on Yugoslavia, Norway, and France. Belgium beat a talented Spain and then the Netherlands on their way to the final, Belgium won the gold medal by default after Czechoslovakia walked off in protest during the final, unhappy with the performance of the English referee, John Lewis. The Bergvall System was used to determine second and third places, the beaten quarter-finalists played-off, Spain emerged triumphant overcoming Sweden 2-1 and Italy 2-0. Ordinarily, Spain would then have played the beaten finalists, Spain thus advanced straight to the silver medal match against the Netherlands, beaten in the semi-finals by gold medallists Belgium. The final was highly controversial and remains the only occasion in which an international final has had to have been abandoned, Belgium was awarded the gold medal by default after Czechoslovakia walked off the field in the 40th minute of the final when Czech left-back Karel Steiner was ejected. Knight, who had allowed a contentious second Belgian goal in the 28th minute that Henri Larnoe had converted, the Czechs protested the result of the final. Their protests, translated from the original French, were as follows,1 and we were allocated an English linesman, which is in contradiction with the rules which state that each participating nation has the right to one of both linesman. This violation of the rules was prejudicial to us during the game, because the English linesman was not impartial, immediately after the game we brought this notice to the attention of M. Rodolphe Seeldrayers. The majority of the decisions of the referee Mr. Lewis were wrong, also both Belgian goals were the result of incorrect decisions of the referee and we seek a rigorous investigation on that point. During the match, Belgian soldiers were introduced to the crowd until they circled the pitch, czechoslovakias protests were dismissed, and they were disqualified from the tournament
7.
Gymnastics at the 1920 Summer Olympics
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The competition of gymnastics at the 1920 Summer Olympics was held from Monday, August 23 to Friday, August 27,1920 at the Beerschot Stadium in Antwerp. Four events were contested and only men were allowed to compete, sports-reference Official report of the 1920 Olympic Games De Wael Wudarski databaseOlympics various books by Kamper/Mallon and others
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