On this day in history, July 20, 1968, the first Special Olympics International Games were held in Chicago, organized by Eunice Kennedy Shriver, sister of President John F. Kennedy.
Throughout the 1950s and early 1960s, Kennedy Shriver decided to take action when she noticed the unjust treatment of people who developed and learned more slowly or differently because of cognitive issues out of their control, noted the Chicago Sun-Times.
In her opening remarks, Kennedy Shriver said,"Children with intellectual disabilities can be exceptional athletes and … through sports they can realize their potential for growth," according to National Geographic. The inaugural games were organized by Illinois Supreme Court Justice Anne McGlone Burke, who was then a 23-year-old physical education teacher with the Chicago Park District, and Eunice Kennedy Shriver and the Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation, according to the Chicago History Museum.
That's where she created programs for young people with intellectual disabilities, said National Geographic
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