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On this day - 6 July

Historical items of interest as featured in the papers of the day.

Image of the newspaper page from Daily Mirror 06/07/1912

King Gustav V opens 1912 Olympics

Daily Mirror 06/07/1912

King Gustav V of Sweden officially opened the 5th Olympic Games on July 6th 1912. Some sports started prior to the official opening but the majority of the events were held within a month of the official opening ceremony.

The 1912 Olympic Games were the last games to feature solid gold medals for winners and the first games to have an official team from an Asian nation with Japan participating. It was also the first games to introduce electric timing in the athletics and the first time the decathlon, new pentathlon, women's swimming and women's diving were on the program.

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