The year was 1920. The Summer Olympics were being held in Belgium in the city of Antwerp.  At the end of the Olympic Games, the flag suddenly went missing.

Fast-forward to 1997 and 101 year old bronze medalist Hal Haig Prieste, who won his medal in 1920 for platform diving, was being interviewed at a U.S. Olympic Committee dinner.  During the interview, the reporter happened to mention the missing flag to Prieste, who then shocked everyone by stating, “I can help you with that.  It’s in my suitcase.”

Prieste went on to reveal that he had been dared by fellow diver Duke Kahanamoku to climb the flag pole and steal the flag, which he did.  He then folded it and put it in the bottom of his suitcases, where it remained some 77 years until he decided to reveal he had it at the dinner.  His reason for finally revealing he had it?  “I thought I ain’t going to be around much longer – it’s no good in a suitcase… I won’t be able to hang it up in my room.”

Prieste returned the flag to the IOC three years later during the 2000 Olympics.  It was in reasonably good shape, thanks to the fact that it had stayed protected all those years in the bottom of his suitcase.  The only real damage to it was that the edge was a little tattered from when he tore it off the flag pole.  The Olympic Committee went about restoring the flag and put it on display in the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland.  They also gave Prieste a plaque thanking him for “donating” the flag that he had stolen from them all those years ago.

Bonus Facts:

• Besides being an Olympian, Prieste also was one of the Keystone Cops (a group of incompetent cops featured in various silent films).  All total, he appeared in 25 films, including some with Charlie Chaplin.  He also found work on Broadway, in a traveling circus as a comedian, and later in a traveling ice skating show, Ice Follies.
• On his way to the Olympics in 1920, Prieste stated that the ship he was on was full of mostly caskets, which were being sent over to Europe to be used to return the bodies of American soldiers killed during WWI that hadn’t been sent back yet.
• Despite the fact that the 1924 Olympic flag that replaced the original Antwerp flag first flew in Pairs, it was still called the “Antwerp Flag” and was used until 1988 when it was retired at the Seoul games.  It was also used for the Winter Olympics until 1952 when a separate flag for the Winter Games was made.
• Up until 1994 (and beginning in 1924), the Winter Olympics were held a few months before the Summer Olympics.  In 1994, it was decided to change this so that the two events would be two years apart.
• The Olympic Games have been more or less played like clockwork since their modern inception, with the exceptions being in 1916, 1940, and 1944, due to WWI and WWII.
• Up until the year 2000 (going back to 192 , the front of Olympic medals would always include the image of the goddess of victory, Nike, holding a winner’s crown in her right hand and a palm in her left.  The backside of the medals then changed based on who was hosting the games that year.  After 2004, this changed to Nike flying into the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens.
• In the 1908 Olympics, you could compete in the noble and ancient sport of Motor Boating…

Silver is the white stallion that belonged to the famous Lone Ranger. Whenever the Lone Ranger mounts Silver, he shouts, “Hi-yo, Silver! Away!” According to the episode “The Legend of Silver”, the Lone Ranger saves Silver’s life from an enraged buffalo and, in gratitude, Silver chooses to give up his wild life to carry him.

 However, in another episode, the Lone Ranger, in a surge of conscience, decided to release Silver back to the wild. The episode ends with Silver returning, bringing along a companion who becomes Tonto’s horse, Scout.

 White Cloud, the main horse who played Silver, was personally picked by Clayton Moore, the actor who played Lone Ranger, from the ranch stock at the Hugh Hooker horse ranch in 1949 for use on the show just prior to the series launch. The white stallion Clayton decided on was a very large mount that stood a strong 17 hands tall and presented a very majestic image. White Cloud was said to be 12 years old at the time, well trained and gentle.

When the US Army landed in Normandy, among the equipment brought ashore was 3 complete Coca Cola bottling plants.

Coca-Cola CEO Robert Woodruff made a point of supporting US troops so metal cans were introduced to meet their needs. In 1941, when the United States entered the war, Woodruff decided that Coca Cola's place was near the front line.

The Class of 1944 of the U.S. Military at West Point graduated on 6 June, 1944. Among the graduates was John Eisenhower, son of Overlord's Supreme Commander General Dwight D. Eisenhower (Class of 1915).

Later waves of infantry attacked the beaches of Normandy equipped with TOY WOODEN RIFLES. The Army had run out of real weapons and the soldiers were instructed to "find" weapons that were expected to be "Lying unused on the beach".

General George Patton commanded a fake Army, the First Army Group (FUSAG). It's mission was to deceive the Germans into thinking that Cherbough France was the target of the invasion. The plan worked. Even as the Overlord forces secured the beachhead and moved inland, Hitler kept  divisions in reserve thinking that Normandy was a diversion and Cherbourg was the primary target.

One the day of the invasion, German General Erwin Rommel, Commander of was attending his wife's birthday party.

The Battleship U.S.S. Nevada (BB36)was torpedoed, bombed and run aground during the attack on Pearl Harbor. She was the only battleship that got underway that day under command of Lieutenant Commander Francis J. Thomas. On D day she supported Utah Beach with naval gun fire.