A four-year Cultural Olympiad was part of the London 2012 Games. It culminated with the Olympic Games Opening Ceremony on July 27, 2012, kicking off a 60-day festival of sport and culture across the United Kingdom as the Olympic and Paralympic spirit traversed the globe once more. The closing ceremony was held on August 12, 2012. The Olympic Games are an annual event that take place every four years. The first modern Olympic Games were held in 1896 in Athens, Greece. The latest games were held in Tokyo, Japan. The London Olympics were the second consecutive Summer Olympics to be held in Europe after Paris in 1924. They were also the second consecutive Olympics not to be held in America; Los Angeles hosted in 1932 but there was no World War II interruption this time around. The Olympic Games are an international sporting event where countries compete in a variety of sports categories. In total, the London 2012 Organizing Committee received 7,913 applications from 145 countries to participate in the games. The number of countries participating in the games is the most ever. Of these countries, 172 officially qualified for at least one sport while another 34 nations had "invited" athletes (they did not have to accept the invitation) - a record number of countries participating in the Olympics. The host country, Britain, did not qualify itself for any events but can enter any number of athletes it chooses.