Basketball | James Naismith History The Origin of the Game of Basketball 1891 - Springfield, Massachusetts, USA One of the most popular sports in the world, played daily by millions of people had humble beginnings. Basket Ball (as originally spelled); created in 1891 in a Springfield, Massachusetts YMCA gymnasium has grown into a game played worldwide by more than 300 million people. The person responsible for the popular game was Dr. James Naismith (1861-1939). Dr. Naismith was a Canadian-American Physical Education teacher at the School for Christian Workers located in Springfield, Massachusetts. In 1891, under direction from Dr. Luther Gulick, the head of the School, Naismith was given 14 days to create an indoor game. The goal of this directive was to provide a creative and healthy indoor “athletic distraction” for a rowdy class of students during the brutal New England winter. James Naismith Naismith’s invention did not happen quickly. He struggled to come up with a game that met the objectives of his directive. At first he thought to bring outdoor games such as soccer or lacrosse inside.

However, such outdoor games were not feasible due mainly to the small indoor space of the school gymnasium. Running out of time and at the limits of his patience, Naismith recalled a game he played as a child in Canada. Called “duck on a rock”, the game involved tossing rocks at another, larger rock atop a boulder and knocking the rock down. He also remembered observing rugby players throwing a ball into a box in the gymnasium. With creativity now flowing through his mind, Naismith had the idea of attaching boxes high on the wall and having players attempt to throw a ball into the box as a score. Having trouble finding boxes, Naismith used discarded peach baskets from the school cafeteria. Confronted with the problem of constantly needing someone to remove the ball from the basket, Naismith cut out the bottom of the basket, allowing the ball to fall through. It is believed that Naismith drew up the rules of his new game of Basketball in about an hour. Most of these rules still apply today. The game of Basketball became an instant success. The students found the game easy to play and the rules easy to understand.

Moreover, the idea of getting a good exercise workout without having to go outside in the very cold winter was very attractive to the players and the coaches. The fans also liked the idea of not having to go outside in the cold to watch this new and fun game. Basketball became popular very quickly and its popularity spread widely. The graduates of the YMCA school traveled across the country and introduced their new game to people in towns and cities across the land. Naismith and his players disseminated the rules of Basketball freely and the need for an indoor sport by many schools and organizations helped spread the popularity of the game. As Basketball grew in popularity, Naismith did not engage in promotion of the game or push for publicity or self-promotion. His main interest was his career as a physical educator. He embraced recreational sports but was not enamored with the glory of competitive athletics. Naismith was a serious student and he was most proud to have earned four degrees in diverse fields of Religion, Physical Education, Philosophy and Medicine. Naismith never imagined or witnessed the immense popularity and huge financials of Basketball as we know it today.

His biggest reward was when he was sponsored by the National Association of Basketball Coaches to witness his game of Basketball become an official Olympic sport at the 1936 Games held in Berlin. Naismith never earned money or fame for his unique invention during his lifetime. However, after his death in 1939 his many accomplishments and his historic invention of Basketball were widely and enormously acclaimed. Naismith’s name adorns the world’s only Basketball Hall of Fame. Naismith’s legacy includes coaching and launching the first great college Basketball coach, Forrest “Phog” Allen (1885-1974). Allen played for Naismith at the University of Kansas. Allen won 771 games as a coach at the University of Kansas. Many of Allen’s players became popular stars of the game. The most famous was Wilt Chamberlain, who became one of Basketball’s first superstars. During a game in 1962, Chamberlain scored a record 100 points. Professional Basketball In 1898 the first professional basketball league was formed. Players were paid $2.50 for playing home games and $1.25 for road games.

In less than 100 years later, Washington Bullets (now the Washington Wizards) star, Juwan Howard received offers from the Bullets and the Miami Heat for over $100 million for seven seasons. Basketball has grown tremendously and is now played in almost every country throughout the world by millions and millions of people. Dr. James Naismith most certainly would be proud to witness the current success of a simple game that he invented over 100 years ago. The Original 13 Rules of Basket Ball, written by Dr. James Naismith in 1891. Note: Basketball was originally two words and these original rules were published in the Springfield College school newspaper, The Triangle, January 15, 1892. 1. The ball may be thrown in any direction with one or both hands. 2. The ball may be batted in any direction with one or both hands (never with the fist). 3. A player cannot run with the ball. The player must throw it from the spot on which he catches it, allowance to be made for a man who catches the ball when running at a good speed if he tries to stop. 4.

The ball must be held in or between the hands; the arms or body must not be used for holding it. 5. No shouldering, holding, pushing, tripping, or striking in any way the person of an opponent shall be allowed; the first infringement of this rule by any player shall count as a foul, the second shall disqualify him until the next goal is made, or, if there was evident intent to injure the person, for the whole of the game, no substitute allowed. 6. A foul is striking at the ball with the fist, violation of Rules 3, 4, and such as described in Rule 5. 7. If either side makes three consecutive fouls, it shall count a goal for the opponents (consecutive means without the opponents in the mean time making a foul). 8. A goal shall be made when the ball is thrown or batted from the grounds into the basket and stays there, providing those defending the goal do not touch or disturb the goal. If the ball rests on the edges, and the opponent moves the basket, it shall count as a goal. 9. When the ball goes out of bounds, it shall be thrown into the field of play by the person first touching it.

In case of a dispute, the umpire shall throw it straight into the field. The thrower-in is allowed five seconds; if he holds it longer, it shall go to the opponent. If any side persists in delaying the game, the umpire shall call a foul on that side. 10. The umpire shall be judge of the men and shall note the fouls and notify the referee when three consecutive fouls have been made. He shall have power to disqualify men according to Rule 5. 11. The referee shall be judge of the ball and shall decide when the ball is in play, in bounds, to which side it belongs, and shall keep the time. He shall decide when a goal has been made, and keep account of the goals with any other duties that are usually performed by a referee. 12. The time shall be two 15-minute halves, with five minutes' rest between. 13. The side making the most goals in that time shall be declared the winner. In case of a draw, the game may, by agreement of the captains, be continued until another goal is made. James Naismith: the Instructor Who Invented Basketball Share By Mary Bellis Dr.

James Naismith was the Canadian-born physical education instructor who, inspired by a teaching assignment and his own childhood, invented basketball in 1891. Naismith was born in Almonte, Ontario and educated at McGill University and Presbyterian College in Montreal. He was the physical education teacher at McGill University (1887 to 1890) and moved to Springfield, Massachusetts in 1890 to work at the Y.M.C.A. International Training School, which later became Springfield College. Under the direction of American physical-education specialist Luther Halsey Gulick, Naismith was given 14 days to create an indoor game that would provide an "athletic distraction" for a rowdy class through the brutal New England winter. His solution to the problem has become one of the most popular sports in the world, and a multi-billion dollar business. Struggling to develop a game that would work on wooden floors in an enclosed space, Naismith studied sports like American football, soccer, and lacrosse with little success.

continue reading below our video Profile of James Naismith Then he remembered a game he played as a child called "Duck on the Rock" that required players to knock a “duck” off a large boulder by throwing rocks at it. "With this game in mind, I thought that if the goal was horizontal instead of vertical, the players would be compelled to throw the ball in an arc; and force, which made for roughness, would be of no value. A horizontal goal, then, was what I was looking for, and I pictured it in my mind," he said. Naismith called the game Basketball—a nod to the fact that two peach baskets, hung ten feet up in the air, provided the goals. The instructor then wrote up 13 Rules. The first formal rules were devised in 1892. Initially, players dribbled a soccer ball up and down a court of unspecified dimensions. Points were earned by landing the ball in a peach basket. Iron hoops and a hammock-style basket were introduced in 1893. Another decade passed, however, before the innovation of open-ended nets put an end to the practice of manually retrieving the ball from the basket each time a goal was scored. Dr.

Naismith, who became a medical doctor in 1898, was subsequently hired by the University of Kansas that same year. He went on to establish one of collegiate basketball’s most storied programs and served as the Athletic Director and faculty member at the university for nearly 40 years, retiring in 1937. In 1959, James Naismith was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame (called the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame.) 1000+ images about James Naismith on Pinterest | Football, Basketball equipment and James d'arcy Forward November 6, 1961 – The U.S. government issues a stamp honoring the 100th birthday of James Naismith. Dr. James Naismith (November 6, 1861 – November 28, 1939) was a Canadian-American sports coach and innovator. He invented the sport of basketball in 1891 and is often credited with introducing the first football helmet. He wrote the original basketball rulebook, founded the University of Kansas basketball program, and lived to see basketball adopted as an Olympic demonstration sport in 1904.

See More NBA.com - History of Basketball in Canada History of Basketball in Canada Posted Mar 8 2002 2:47PM Share on Facebook The roots of basketball are firmly embedded in Canada. In 1891 the game was invented by Dr. James Naismith, a Canadian who hailed from Almonte, Ontario. Having been given the task of creating a new indoor sports activity while conducting a physical education class at the international YMCA training school in Springfield, Massachusetts, Naismith designed what we now call basketball. The original game involved 13 rules and a peach basket hung ten feet above the floor. Even though it took place in the United States, at least ten of the players who participated in the first-ever game were university students from Quebec. Basketball was invented by Canadian Dr. James Naismith. Basketball played by school and local amateur teams has been part of the Canadian sports scene since the turn of the century. Hoops teams representing Canada have participated in Olympic Games since 1936 and in the World Championships since 1954.

One of the most storied amateur teams in Canadian basketball history is the Edmonton Commercial Graduates (Grad's), a group of Canadian women who dominated the sport in the 1920s, 30s and 40s. Over 25 years, the Grad's played 522 games at home and abroad, against both women's and men's teams. The Grad's accomplished a record-breaking winning streak of 147 games and throughout their basketball tenure won a remarkable 502 times. The National Basketball Association also has origins in Canada. The NBA's first game was played in Toronto over fifty years ago, on November 1, 1946 when the New York Knickerbockers defeated the Toronto Huskies 68-66 at Maple Leaf Gardens. The teams were part of the Basketball Association of America, the forerunner to the NBA. The Toronto Raptors and Vancouver Grizzlies joined the NBA beginning in the 1995-96 season, becoming the first non-U.S. cities to join the league since the Toronto Huskies were one-year members of the BAA. In summer 2001, the Grizzlies relocated from Vancouver to Memphis, Tennessee.

OTHER FEATURES Who invented the sport of basketball? FIBA World Cup Who invented the sport of basketball? While there have been a few conspiracy theories regarding the inventor of basketball, it was Canadian doctor James Naismith who had actually invented the game in America in 1891. Analysis 05 Oct 2015, 16:16 IST Dr. James Naismith used a football and a bucket to test the first game of basketball Most of the sports today are either a combination of other sports or they have an untraceable origin. But same is not the case with the game of Basketball. One of the most popular games around the world and being played by an estimated 300 million people around the globe, basketball has a well-defined origin, an inventor and a story behind the origin. The game was invented by one Dr. James Naismith, teacher of Physical Education at the YMCA – Springfield, Massachusetts, USA. Origins and Rules of the game While at YMCA, Dr. Naismith was given a project by the Head of the Physical Education Department, Dr. L.

Gulick, to come up with a new game which could be played indoors during the winter season so that the pupils could stay active and the track and field runners would stay fit. At the end of two weeks, Dr. Naismith brought two peach baskets to the gymnasium (The baskets did not have their bottoms knocked out) and secured them high on the railings on the two ends of the gymnasium. He thought keeping the baskets at a higher position will reduce the potential risks of injury to the players as the most aggressive game is always near the goal area. The first Basketball game was then played with a soccer ball which was again introduced with the mindset that it is light enough to cause any significant injuries. A set of 13 rules were laid down for the game by Dr. James. Here are the rules, as cited on the Kansas Heritage website. 1. The ball may be thrown in any direction with one or both hands. 2. The ball may be batted in any direction with one or both hands, but never with the fist. 3. A player cannot run with the ball. The player must throw it from the spot on which he catches it, allowance to be made for a man running at good speed. 4.

The ball must be held in or between the hands. The arms or body must not be used for holding it. 5. No shouldering, holding, pushing, striking or tripping in any way of an opponent. The first infringement of this rule by any person shall count as a foul; the second shall disqualify him until the next goal is made or, if there was evident intent to injure the person, for the whole of the game. No substitution shall be allowed. 6. Fouls are striking at the ball with the fist, violations of Rules 3 and 4 and such as described in Rule 5. 7. If either side makes three consecutive fouls it shall count as a goal for the opponents (consecutive means without the opponents in the meantime making a foul). 8. Goal shall be made when the ball is thrown or batted from the ground into the basket and stays there, providing those defending the goal do not touch or disturb the goal. If the ball rests on the edge and the opponents move the basket, it shall count as a goal. 9. When the ball goes out of bounds, it shall be thrown into the field and played by the first person touching it.

In case of dispute the umpire shall throw it straight into the field. The thrower-in is allowed five seconds. If he holds it longer, it shall go to the opponent. If any side persists in delaying the game, the umpire shall call a foul on them. 10. The umpire shall be judge of the men and shall note the fouls and notify the referee when three consecutive fouls have been made. He shall have the power to disqualify men according to Rule 5. 11. The referee shall be the judge of the ball and decide when it is in play in bounds, to which side it belongs, and shall keep the time. He shall decide when a goal has been made and keep account of the goals with any other duties that are usually performed by a referee. 12. The time shall be two 15-minute halves with five minutes’ rest between. 13. The side making the most goals in that time shall be declared the winners. Dr. Naismith and his team ahead of the first game of basketball in 1891 This first game of basketball was played on December 21, 1891.

It was played with 9 players on each team and the final score was 1-0, with the sole basket of the game being scored by William R. Chase from 25 feet away from the basket. Dr. Naismith claims that the game was inspired from the game of “Duck on a Rock”, a very old game in which a duck (a stone) kept on a huge rock or tree stump had to be knocked off by some players from a distance by throwing rocks and a defender had to keep the duck safe from getting knocked off. The game soon spread and became popular in other YMCAs around the world and then spread all over the world. And we know the popularity and the crazy fans the game has earned today. The most interesting part of the early basketball years was that the peach baskets did not have an open bottom so whenever someone would score a basket, the game would be temporarily stopped so that someone would retrieve the ball back using a ladder. Later on however, a small hole was cut out in the bottom so that the ball could be retrieved by poking it with a stick from beneath.

The rules began to be tweaked from the beginning of the game and the iron rims with netting were introduced as early as 1893. But even then, the bottoms were not open and someone had to climb to retrieve the ball or poke it out. After a decade, someone came up with the bright idea of introducing open ended nets so that the ball may just fall through. The Controversy There is a conspiracy theory revolved around the question on who really invented the game. The question popped up in the 1950s claiming that the Director at YMCA New York, Lambert G. Will was the original inventor of the game. The claim is supported with a picture of a basketball dated 1892, which is later than the first game being played but the ball in the picture has 91-92 written on it which states that the team was formed in 1891. However, Lambert G. Will has never claimed to be the founder of the game, though his grandson claims that he suggested most of the major rules of the game to Dr. Naismith while he was creating the game and asked for suggestions.

Conclusion Basketball was thus invented in America, by a Canadian of British origin in 1891. Dr. Naismith later became the first basketball coach at the University of Kansas where he retired as the only coach in the history of the university with a losing record (55-60). Mass Moments: First Game of Basketball Played in Springfield Image Credit ...in 1891, the first game of basketball was played at what is now Springfield College. The game was invented by a Canadian, Dr. James Naismith, a versatile athlete, theologian, and physical education instructor, who envisioned "the time when Christian people would recognize the true value of athletics." He designed basketball to occupy a class of disagreeable male students at the Springfield YMCA, who were bored with the calisthenics and children's games in their gym class. The game attracted players and fans almost immediately. By 1936, basketball was included among the sports at the Olympic Games and is now played in 170 countries. The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame opened in Springfield in 1968. James Naismith was born in 1861 in rural Ontario.

Orphaned at eight, he lived with an uncle, helping with farm work and spending what free time he had with a group of local boys. They wrestled, swung from tree limbs, and played "duck on the rock," a game in which one boy placed a stone on top of a big rock and guarded his "duck" while the others tried to knock it off by throwing stones. This game would later play an important part in the origin of basketball. In 1883 Naismith entered McGill University in Montreal to study philosophy and theology. He was an active participant in college sports, playing soccer, rugby, lacrosse, and football (British rugby), never missing a game, even though football was thought to be "a tool of the devil," not proper for a "theolog." During one particularly competitive game of football, Naismith had an epiphany that would change the direction of his life. He later remembered that the player next to him "encountered some difficulty, and losing his temper, made some remarks that, though forceful, are unprintable." Composing himself, the player whispered an apology.

The incident made such an impression on Naismith that he became committed to the idea that physical training could be a means of spreading Christianity. After graduating from McGill in 1887, Naismith earned a graduate degree in theology. Seeking to combine his athletic talent with his calling to the ministry, he learned that the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) was developing "physical training programs to supplement interests in Bible study, education and social welfare." The School for Christian Workers (later the International YMCA Training School, now Springfield College) in Springfield, Massachusetts, was the site of the first course offered for YMCA physical directors. Naismith enrolled in the training school for the 1890-1891 academic year. He stayed on to teach boxing, wrestling, swimming, and canoeing. Midway through the term, the faculty encountered a problem with a class of men who were preparing to be YMCA administrators.

They were required to take an hour of gym class every day; when the weather turned cold, they were "increasingly bored and irritated by the winter regimen of calisthenics, gymnastics, and children's games such as Prisoner's Base." "What this generation wanted," wrote Naismith, who at 30 was about the same age as the discontented students, "was pleasure and thrill rather than physical benefits." The head of the department assigned Naismith to "the class of incorrigibles." Naismith first tried modifying football, soccer, and lacrosse for indoor play but found that the results were "either too tame or too rough." He began to devise an entirely new indoor ball game. There could be no tackling on a hard gym floor, so the alternative to running with the ball would be to pass it. The scoring system drew on "duck on the rock." In that game, the best players threw the rock in an arc so that it bounced near the duck even if it did not actually hit it. This allowed another turn rather than elimination.

Naismith also came up with the idea of a "horizontal goal." He mounted a box at either end of the floor well above the players' heads, so even the best defense could be overcome. Each time the ball entered the box, it would count as a goal. On December 21, 1891, Naismith nailed a peach basket to the lower rail of the balcony, ten feet off the floor, at either end of the gym. He posted a typed list of 13 rules on the bulletin board and selected two men to be the captains. After they chose sides, Naismith tossed a soccer ball up between the two centers. As he later wrote, "it was the start of the first basketball game and the finish of the trouble with that class." Within weeks, some 200 people were coming to the Springfield Y to watch the daily noontime games. When the students returned home for Christmas vacation, they took the game with them. Basketball quickly spread throughout the U.S. It was not long before international students ensured the popularity of the new game overseas. Cylindrical wire baskets soon replaced the peach boxes, and in 1894 basketballs were introduced.

Three years later, the teams were fixed at five men each, and the first professional league  the six-team National Basketball League  was formed. High schools and amateur athletic clubs embraced the game, and in 1905 the National Collegiate Athletic Association formally recognized it as a permanent winter sport. James Naismith left Springfield in 1895 to become the physical director of the Denver YMCA. Always an avid student, he earned a medical degree from Gross Medical College in 1898. He did not practice medicine but spent the next 39 years as professor of physical education and chapel director at the University of Kansas. He coached the basketball team there for nine seasons. During World War I, he served for 19 months with a YMCA unit in France. James Naismith died on November 29, 1939, at the age of 78. Sources A Brief History of Basketball a Game Invented by Dr. James Naismith | Kibin A Brief History of Basketball a Game Invented by Dr. James Naismith Sign Up & Access Essays Already a member? Login here Pages: 2 This preview is partially blurred. Sign up to view the full document.

Sign Up & Access Essays Already a member? Login here End of preview Upgrade to view the full document This is an unformatted preview.

Sign up to view the full document End of preview Upgrade to view the full document History of Basketball Dr James Naismith is known world-wide as the inventor of basketball He was born in 1861 in Ramsay township near Almonte Ontario Canada The concept of basketball was born from his school days in the area where he played a simple childs game known as duck-on-a-rock outside his one-room schoolhouse The game involved attempting to knock a duck off the top of a large rock by tossing another rock at it Naismith went on to attend McGill University in Montreal Quebec Canada After serving as McGills Athletic Director he moved on to the YMCA Training School in Springfield Massachusetts USA in 1891 where the sport of basketball was born In Springfield Naismith was faced with the problem of finding a sport that was suitable for play inside during the Massachusetts winter for the students at the School for Christian Workers Naismith wanted to create a game of skill for the students instead of one that relied solely on strength He needed a game that could be played indoors in a relatively small space The first game was played with a soccer ball and two peach baskets used as goals Naismith devised a set of thirteen rules of basketball 1The ball may be thrown in any direction

 with one or both hands 2The ball may be batted in any direction with one or both hands but never with the fist 3A player cannot run with the ball The player must throw it from the spot on which he catches it allowance to be made for a man running at good speed 4The ball must be held in or between the hands The arms or body must not be used for holding it 5No shouldering holding pushing striking or tripping in any way of an opponent The @Kibin is a lifesaver for my essay right now!!

- Sandra Slivka, student @ UC Berkeley Wow, this is the best essay help I've ever received! - Camvu Pham, student @ U of M If I'd known about @Kibin in college, I would have gotten much more sleep - Jen Soust, alumni @ UCLA YMCA International - World Alliance of YMCAs: Basketball : a YMCA Invention Mr. and Mrs. Naismith Tackling, a popularcomponent of football, was a problem in Naismith's mind, he could see the carnage that would result indoors on wooden floors. "But why was tackling necessary," he reasoned, "It was because the men were allowed to run with the ball, and it was necessary to stop them.

With these facts in mind, I sat erect at my desk and said aloud: 'If he can't run with the ball, we don't have to tackle, and if we don't have to tackle, the roughness will be eliminated.' I can still recall how I snapped my fingers and shouted, 'I've got it!'He then concluded that a game must have an objective, and there must be some kind of goals, but he eliminated the goal used in soccer, lacrosse and hockey and turned instead to a game he played as a child called "Duck on the Rock." "With this game in mind, I thought that if the goal was horizontal instead of vertical, the players would be compelled to throw the ball in an arc; and force, which made for roughness, would be of no value. A horizontal goal, then, was what I was looking for, and I pictured it in my mind. I would place a box at either end of the floor, and each time the ball entered the box it would count as a goal. There was one thing, however, that I had overlooked.

If nine men formed a defense around the goal, it would be impossible for the ball to enter it; but if I placed the goal above the players' heads, this type of defense would be useless." He settled on a toss-up between two players as a way to start the game after considering several alternatives. Naismith was ready to try the new game with the class and set down on a scratch pad the first set of 13 rules in less than an hour. A stenographer typed them up. He asked the building superintendent to fetch two boxes about eighteen inches square. "No, I haven't any boxes," replied the superintendent, "but I'll tell you what I do have. I have two old peach baskets down in the store room, if they will do you any good." A few minutes later, baskets tucked under his arm and a few nails and a hammer in hand, Naismith tacked the baskets to the lower rail of the balcony, one at either end of the gym, posted the rules on the gym bulletin board and lay in waiting for his class of "incorrigibles." Naismith recalls, "The first member of the class to arrive was Frank Mahan.

he gazed at me for an instant, and then looked toward the other end of the gym. Perhaps I was nervous, because his exclamation sounded like a death knell as the said "Huh! another new game!"' There were eighteen men in the class and Naismith promised them that if this game proved to be a failure he would not try any more experiments on them. They went over the rules, divided the group into two teams of nine players each and tossed up the first basketball in history. The date was December 21, 1891. The first basketball team, consisting of nine players and their coach, on the steps of Springfield College Gymnasium in 1891. Back row: John G. Thompson, New Glasgow, N.S.; Eugene S. Libby, Redlands, Cal.; Edwin P. Ruggles, Milton, Mass.; William R. Chase, New Bedford, Mass.; T. Duncan Patton, Montreal, Que. Centre: Frank Mahan, Memphis, Tenn.; James Naismith, Almonte, Ont. Front row: F. G. Macdonald, Pictou, N.S.; Wm. H.

Davis, Holyoke, Mass.; Lyman W. Archibald, Truro, N.S. The game was a success from the first toss-up onward and word spread that Naismith's class was having fun. Within a few days the class attracted a gallery. Teachers from a nearby girls school watched the game and took it away with them to organize the first girls' basketball team. Frank Mahan suggested the game be given a name, and he and Naismith settled on "basketball". In those earlier days of the game it was reported as "an uproarious game accompanied by much yelling and undignified cheering". In that respect it has changed little through the ages. "When the first game had ended", says Naismith, "I felt that I could now go to Kr. Gulick and tell him that I had accomplished the two seemingly impossible tasks that he had assigned to me; namely, to interest the class in physical exercise and to invent a new game." Naismith continued to control the development of the game and its rules for five years. he left Springfield for Denver to become the physical education director for the YMCA in that city and to study for his medical doctorate.

On his graduation the University of Kansas was seeking an athletic coach and a director for their 650 seat chapel which students attended every morning. He was ideally prepared for the post and was recommended to the University as "..inventor of basketball, medical doctor, Presbyterian minister, teetotaler, all-round athlete, non-smoker, and owner of a vocabulary without cuss words." Dr. Naismith and his wife attended the Olympic Games in 1936 when basketball became one of the Olympic events. He died in 1939 at age 78 (Article taken from YMCA Canada Y Triangle : by Donald S. McCuaig) History | FIBA Europe The Rules History of basketball in Europe – timeline Basketball was invented by Dr. James Naismith, a teacher at the Springfield YMCA in Massachusetts, USA in 1891. Naismith was given the task by his superior Dr. Gulick of coming up with a sport that could be played indoors during the winter months, as the students were bored with gymnastics and minor games. Naismith's aim was to invent a ball game which would not involve tackling and keep physical contact to a minimum.

Inspired by a childhood game called "duck on a rock", Naismith came up with the idea of having an elevated goal to place more emphasis on skill rather than mere force. He found 2 peach baskets, which the school's caretaker nailed to the walls of the YMCA gym, wrote the original 13 rules and basketball was born. The game of basketball as we know it today has developed significantly since Naismith first introduced it in Springfield. Here is an overview of the key events in European basketball since 1891 and the creation of FIBA in 1932: 1891 – Dr.

James Naismith creates the game of basketball at the YMCA in Springfield, Massachusetts 1893 – The first game of basketball is played in Europe, at the YMCA in Paris, France 1909 – The Russian club Mayak plays against a visiting YMCA team, probably the first international game since the creation of the fledgling sport 1932 - The 'Fédération Internationale de Basketball Amateur', short FIBA is founded in Geneva, Switzerland with the following 8 national federations as founding members: Argentina, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Portugal, Romania, Switzerland and Czechoslovakia 1935 – The first European Championship takes place in Geneva, Switzerland. The winners are Latvia. 1936 – Basketball is introduced as an official sport at the Berlin Olympics 1956 – The FIBA World and European Headquarters move from Geneva to Munich, Germany 1957 – The first FIBA European Club Competition, the Men’s Champion Clubs is created. ASK Riga are the first champions 1958 – A womens’ competition follows suit and the European Cup for Women’s Champion clubs is formed.

Slavia Sofia defeat Dynamo Moscow in the final 1959 – The World Championship for Women is held in Europe for the first time and the home team Soviet Union win the title 1967 – The Soviet Union men’s national team emulates the success of the women, winning the World Championships in Montevideo, Uruguay, the first European team to win a world title 1970 – The World Championship for Men comes to Europe for the first time, to Yugoslavia. Hosts Yugoslavia defeat the Soviet Union in the final to become World Champions for the first time 1972 – The Soviet Union become the first team to defeat the USA in the Olympics, winning the gold medal in Munich, Germany 1976 – The Soviet Union women’s national team wins the inaugural Olympic basketball tournament 1980 – European teams fill the podium at the Olympic Games in Moscow, which are boycotted by the USA. Yugoslavia win gold, Italy silver and the Soviet Union bronze 1991 – The Soviet Union and former Yugoslavia both collapse. The Soviet Union Women's team enters its last competition, the European Championship for Women. They win the title, their 17th in a row.

It is also their 21st gold in 22 tries 1992 - the first former Soviet state to win a medal in basketball are Lithuania, who stun the basketball World at the Olympic Games in Barcelona to win a bronze medal. They are even surpassed by a team from former Yugoslavia: Croatia win the silver medal 1995 – Yugoslavia return to FIBA competitions after sanctions 1998 – Yugoslavia win the World Championship 2001 – FIBA World moves to Geneva, Switzerland. FIBA Europe becomes an independent FIBA Zone Commission and the headquarters moves to Widenmayerstrasse 18 in Munich 2002 – Yugoslavia win a second consecutive World Championship and become the first European team to defeat a USA team consisting of NBA players. Spain also beat the USA in the competition 2004 - Italy come out as the best European team at the Olympic Games in Athens, claiming a silver medal 2006 - At the World Championship in Japan, Spain claim the third consecutive World Championship title for Europe 2009 - the 2006 World Champions Spain claim their first ever EuroBasket title in Poland.

Later that year, FIBA Europe move into their new home, their own building in Ismaningerstraße 21, Munich, Germany 2010 - with home-court advantage on their side, Turkey clinch a silver medal at the World Championship. Lithuania complete a good tournament from a European perspective with a bronze medal 2012 - Spain are almost at the top, but cannot overcome a dominant USA team, finishing with the second consecutive Olympic silver medal. Russia take the bronze medal

Question: Which ball game was invented by Dr James Naismith in Massachusetts USA  in 1891?
Answer: Basketball