Marathon, Greece Marathon, Greece Marathon (Demotic Greek: Μαραθώνας, "Marathónas"; Attic/Katharevousa: , "Marathṓn") is a town in Greece and the site of the battle of Marathon in 490 BCE, in which the heavily outnumbered Athenian army defeated the Persians. Legend has it that Pheidippides, a Greek herald at the battle, was sent running from Marathon to Athens to announce the victory, which is how the marathon running race was conceived in modern times. The name "Marathon" () comes from the herb fennel, called "marathon" () or "marathos" () in Ancient Greek, so "Marathon" literally means "a place full of fennels". It is believed
Battle of Athens (1941) Battle of Athens (1941) The Battle of Athens (also known as the Battle of Piraeus harbor) on 20 April 1941 was a dog-fighting air battle over Athens fought for half an hour between the RAF and the Luftwaffe towards the end of the Battle of Greece. Marmaduke Pattle died in the battle in which Roald Dahl also fought; he describes it in his second autobiography, "Going Solo" and in the short story 'Katina' which can be found in the book "The Great Automatic Grammatizator and Other Stories". A somewhat different account of this battle together with citations will be found