The Invention of Basketball

Although basketball is now a very popular and complicated game, its beginnings were rather humble. In 1891, James Naismith, a Canadian-American sports teacher invented this simple sport. In New England winters, it was difficult to manage classes since coldness kept students indoors. To confront the lack of activities, James was challenged to create a sport that would stimulate athletic interactions. So, James came up with three key ideas: first, the ball was made soft and big, to prevent injuries; second, to decrease the amount of violent contacts like those in football, passing was the only way to transfer the ball; third, the goal was placed out of reach to encourage exercise. With these in mind, he created thirteen basic rules of basketball and nailed two peach baskets to opposite sides of a gymnasium, around 10 feet off the floor. The first basketball court was born.