The equestrian events took place in Stockholm in June 1956, due to Australia's strict quarantine laws on equestrianism, and the other Olympic events took place in Melbourne later in the year, between late November and early December.
[13] Because of Australia's strict quarantine laws on horses, the International Olympic Committee in Athens in May 1954 selected the host of the 1912 Games to run the equestrian events.
[17] Night football took place in 1879 while the first scoreboard in the world was erected in 1881 at the Cricket Ground along with sightboards and a telephone.
[17] Australia's first athletics championships were held at the Cricket Ground in 1893 with Edwin Flack winning the one mile event.
[18] Lacrosse made its debut at the Cricket Ground in 1907 when Australia played Canada.
[17] During World War II in 1942-45, the Grounds were used as staging areas for Allied troops.
[21] During the Great Influenza Epidemic of 1919, the Exhibition Building was commandeered for medical usage.
[17] The football final had an attendance of 104,700 spectators where the Soviet Union defeated Yugoslavia 4-1.
[17] The Olympic Park hosted aquatics, football, field hockey, and track cycling events during the 1956 Summer Games.
[17] The Olympic Flame returned to the Grounds on 30 July 2000 during the torch relay for the 2000 Summer Olympics, for the first time since the 1956 Games,[17] and the Cricket Ground served as host for several football preliminary matches during the Sydney Games.