With the 2024 Paris Olympic Games in full swing, check out some fun historical facts about the Olympics through the ages.

The Olympic Rings are symbolic of the five continents, and the colors were chosen because at least one of the colors appears on the flags of all competing nations. They represent The Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceana.

The Olympic flame has never gone out, despite its extensive relays around the world.

During the London 2012 Olympics, the Olympic Village required 165,000 towels for two weeks of activity.

Women have been allowed to compete in the Olympics since 1900.

The London 2012 Olympics were the first in which all participating nations sent female athletes.

The London 2012 Olympics were historical because it was the first time women were not barred from a single sport.

Figure skating started out as a Summer Olympics sport.

Only three modern Olympic Games have ever been canceled. They were canceled for World War I (1916) and World War II (1940 and 1944).

Back in ancient times in Olympia, Greece, the Olympics would last five or six months.

The United States has won more than 2,800 medals and no other country has won more than 1,000.

The gold medals are actually made mostly of silver.

The first Olympics mascot was Waldi, a dachshund, at the 1972 Munich Games.

The 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics were the first to ever be held in South America.

Athletes in the ancient Olympic Games competed in the nude.

Photography: Wikimedia Commons | Bgabel