- published: 27 Sep 2015
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The 1996 Summer Olympics, known officially as the Games of the XXVI Olympiad and unofficially as the Centennial Olympics, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Atlanta, United States, from July 19 to August 4, 1996. A total of 10,320 athletes from 197 National Olympic Committees (a record at the time) competed in 26 sports. Atlanta became the fifth American city to host the Olympic Games and the third to hold a Summer Olympic Games.
Atlanta, considered a long-shot, was awarded the Games over five competitors on September 18, 1990, defeating Athens, Greece, in the final round of voting. Preparations for the Olympics began immediately, lasted more than six years, and had an economic impact of at least $5.14 billion. A record 197 nations, all current IOC member nations, took part in the Games, comprising 10,318 athletes. Over two million visitors came to Atlanta, and approximately 3.5 billion people around the world watched part of the games on television. Though the 1996 Olympics were criticized for over-commercialization and inefficiency, and marred by the tragedy of the Centennial Olympic Park bombing, they were a financial success and have had a profound effect on the city in the years that have followed.
Atlanta ( /ətˈlæntə/, stressed /ætˈlæntə/, locally /ætˈlænə/) is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia with a 2010 population of 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest in the U.S. It is a major component of a growing southeastern megalopolis known as the Piedmont Atlantic Megaregion. Atlanta is the county seat of Fulton County, and a small portion of the city extends eastward into DeKalb County.
Atlanta began as a settlement located at the terminus of a railroad line, and it was incorporated in 1845. Today, the city is a major business city and the primary transportation hub of the Southeastern United States (via highway, railroad, and air), with Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport being the world's busiest airport since 1998. The World Cities Study Group at Loughborough University rated Atlanta as an "alpha(-) world city." With a gross domestic product of US$270 billion, Atlanta's economy ranks 15th among world cities and sixth in the nation. The city is a center for services, finance, information technology, government, and higher education. Metro Atlanta contains the country's third largest concentration of Fortune 500 companies, and is the world headquarters of The Coca-Cola Company, Turner Broadcasting, The Home Depot, AT&T Mobility, UPS, and Delta Air Lines. As of 2010, Atlanta is the seventh most visited city in the United States, with over 35 million visitors per year.
Far, where dawn never ends
Away, are echoes the old lady sings
Crying that years
Years I've been trapped in this cave
Inside, a candle consumed by its flame
And all of the repenting words aside
I desire to hurt you
Desert the world you belong to
In the forest where I lay
My hungry heart
My mellow mind
All my thoughts
They're weak in kind
They're dreams
Red is the mountain of mice
Rotten on the hour of demise
The pile, it resembles a crown
And every roaring squel
Is shame in disguise
Coming clear
And all that you wished for
Is becoming right now
Still it stays, in troubling ways
The ire
Far, where dawn never ends
Away, the old lady sings
For years I've been trapped in this cave