When the first national wheelchair games were held on this date in 1957, 75 individuals paralyzed from the chest down from the U.S. and Canada competed. The games, held at Adelphi College, Garden City, N.Y., included the 60-yard dash, javelin throwing, table tennis, and other team and individual events. Three years later the first paralympics were held in Rome and have been held every four years since. At the last games in 2000, some 4,000 athletes from 125 countries competed in everything from archery to basketball, cycling and fencing.

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