It's finally here: the 2024 Paris Olympics officially kicks off on Friday, July 26, but before the world can get wowed by all of those athletic feats in the pool, on the track and across the gymnastics mat, you can learn about one of the most shocking moments in all of Olympics history: the 1996 terrorist attack that took place at the Atlanta-set Summer Games in Centennial Park. That crime is at the center of the two-hour special edition of CNN's How It Really Happened series airing tonight.
On Saturday, July 27, 1996, domestic terrorist Eric Rudolph planted three pipe bombs to detonate in the "town square" of the Summer Olympics. The blast directly killed one person and injured 111 others; another person later died of a heart attack.
