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.
Security guard Richard Jewell had discovered the bomb before detonation, notified the Georgia Bureau of Investigation officers, and cleared out spectators with help from fellow security guards. But "as a manhunt gets called, security guard Richard Jewell gets falsely accused by the authorities and the media," reads the official synopsis. (If his story sounds familiar, it served as the subject of the 2019 Clint Eastwood-directed film Richard Jewell.)
With part one airing at 9pm Eastern Time on CNN and part two to follow at 10pm, the special episode of How It Really Happened "features interviews with former special agents and journalists who were on scene at the time of the Centennial Park bombing and investigated the case," per the network. "It also features interviews with friends and the attorney of falsely accused suspect Richard Jewell."
To tune into tonight's two-hour special as it airs, you will need access to CNN. The cable news network is available on most traditional cable TV providers, as well as live TV streaming services like Hulu with Live TV, Sling TV and YouTube TV. Both parts of the "Atlanta Olympic Bombing" episode will also be available on demand to pay-TV subscribers on CNN.com and CNN connected TV and mobile apps beginning Monday, May 20. Past episodes of How it Really Happened are available to stream on demand now with a Max subscription.
CNN's How It Really Happened "delves deeply into some of the most notorious crimes, mysteries, trials, and celebrity tragedies of our time" and has already taken on topics like the 1912 Titanic sinking, the post-9/11 anthrax attacks and, speaking of the Olympics, the Oscar Pistorius murder case.
