2012 will be the third time London has hosted the Olympics, making it the first city to reach this landmark.
1908
The first London Olympics were in 1908 and were held at White City stadium (also known as The Great Stadium). The Games were going to be held in Naples but Mount Vesuvius erupted in April 1906 so they were transferred to London.
White City was completed in just 10 months by George Wimpey at a cost of £60,000. The stadium is considered the first modern-seater stadium, designed to seat 68,000 with a full capacity of 130,000 including standing. It was later used for various sporting events such as the 1934 British Empire (Commonweath) Games, before being demolished in 1985.
1948
The 1948 Games were known as the `Austerity Games' due to the economic climate and post-war rationing. No new venues or Olympic village were built. The aquatic events were held in the Empire Pool building, now Wembley Arena.
Built for the British Empire Games in 1933-4, the Empire Pool was a purpose built Olympic sized swimming pool and, at the time of construction, had the largest span reinforced concrete roof. Owen Williams was both engineer and architect, having already been engineer for Wembley Stadium and other structures built for the British Empire Exhibition in 1924.
Read more about London and the Olympics
For a more detailed account of the 1908 and 1948 games, see The British Olympics: Britain's Olympic heritage, 1612-2012. Polley, M. Swindon: English Heritage, 2011.
The ICE Library has also compiled a list of relevant publications and online content relating to the Olympic and Paralympic Games. For more information, please contact library@ice.org.uk