Short answers, pulled from the story.
Pierre de Coubertin convened a congress in Paris on the 23rd of June 1894 to establish the International Olympic Committee. This meeting birthed the modern Summer Olympic movement after centuries of dormant ancient traditions.
A Greek water carrier named Spiridon Louis won the marathon race in 2 hours, 58 minutes and 50 seconds during the 1896 Athens Games. His victory sparked wild celebrations inside the Panathenaic Stadium which held about 100,000 spectators for the opening ceremony.
The United States has hosted four times while Great Britain and France each hosted three times. Australia Germany Greece Japan and Sweden have all hosted twice with no African nation ever hosting the event.
Sixty-six nations including the United States boycotted the 1980 Moscow Games following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Eighty nations participated in that event representing the smallest field since 1956.
Female athletes officially competed for the first time in the 1900 Paris Games with twenty-two women participating. They entered five sports including croquet golf sailing and tennis before gaining entry into track and field athletics during the 1928 Amsterdam Games.