On this day in 1924, the first ever Winter Olympics took off in Chamonix, France. Germany planned a Winter Olympics to precede the 1916 Berlin Summer Games, but due to the outbreak of World War I, this was cancelled.

At the end of the competition, Norway won the unofficial team competition with 17 medals. The Norwegians managed to wine all but one of the 9 skiing medals.

Of the nearly 300 athletes, only 13 were women, and they only competed in the figure-skating events

The Second Winter Olympics in 1928 took place in St Moritz in Switzerland.