Stamata Revithi inspiration from Pheidippides, who, according to legend, ran the distance from Marathon to Athens to announce the Greek victory over Persia at the Battle of Marathon, and died immediately after giving his message. En route to Athens, Revithi encountered a male runner along the road. He gave her money and advised her to run the marathon to become famous, and, consequently, earn money or more easily find a job. After this discussion Revithi decided to run the race: she had enjoyed long-distance running as a child, and believed she could beat the male competitors. The 1896 Olympic Games were the
Battle of Athens (1861) demise of this river port. The state of Missouri maintains Battle of Athens State Historic Site in the ghost town of Athens. Battle of Athens (1861) The Battle of Athens was an American Civil War skirmish that took place in northeast Missouri in 1861 near present Revere and southeast Iowa along the Des Moines River across from Croton (3 miles southeast of Farmington). The Union victory has the distinction of being the most northerly of Civil War Battles fought west of the Mississippi, and also of being the only such battle fought along the Iowa border. As Brigadier General Nathaniel