Okay, so you the know the game Basketball but, do you know its history? Well, if not, then you should find this interesting.

Basketball was invented in 1891 by a Canadian physical education instructor Dr. James Naismith (1861-1939) in an effort to keep students at the Springfield Y.M.C.A - now Springfield College - in Massachusetts occupied in the winter. Students at the time had to stay in door during winter and were usually bored throughout this season. He was then faced with the problem of finding a sport that was suitable for students to play indoors.

To solve this problem, he nailed two peach baskets to the balcony at either end of the gym and came up with 13 rules for the game (1892). He then formed two teams with nine players on a side. The goal of the was for each team to dribbled a soccer ball on the court (of unspecified dimensions) and try to get the ball into the other team’s peach basket. Thus, Basketball was officially invented. Iron hoops and a hammock-style basket were then introduced in 1893.

The world ruling body, the federation Internationale de Basketball Amateur, was formed in 1932, and basketball became an Olympic sport in 1936 for men and 1976 for women. The world championships were first staged in 1950 for the men and in 1953 for women. The National Basketball League (NBL) was formed in 1937 and the Basketball Association of America (BAA), was formed in the summer of 1946. The two merged in 1949 to form the National Basketball Association (N.B.A). This Association attracts the best players in the world.

Dr. James Naismith died in Lawrence, Kansas, in 1939, just three years after his game became an official Olympic sport at the 1936 Games in Berlin. In 1959, he was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame (called the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame.)

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