Atlanta

===1996 Summer Olympic games===
[[File:JO Atlanta 1996 - Drapeau.jpg|thumb|The Olympic flag waves in the 1996 Summer Olympic games.|alt=]]
Atlanta was selected as the site for the [[1996 Summer Olympic Games]]. Following the [[Bids for the 1996 Summer Olympics|announcement]], the city government undertook several major construction projects to improve Atlanta's parks, sporting venues, and transportation infrastructure; however, for the first time, none of the $1.7&nbsp;billion cost of the games was governmentally funded. While the games experienced transportation and accommodation problems and, despite extra security precautions, there was the [[Centennial Olympic Park bombing]],<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Olympic Games Atlanta, Georgia, U.S., 1996|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica online|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica|url=https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-249564/Olympic-Games|access-date=January 2, 2008}}</ref> the spectacle was a watershed event in Atlanta's history. For the first time in Olympic history, every one of the record 197 national Olympic committees invited to compete sent athletes, sending more than 10,000 contestants participating in a record 271 events. The related projects such as [[Atlanta's Olympic Legacy Program]] and civic effort initiated a fundamental transformation of the city in the following decade.<ref name="nytimes1"/>