On this day in 1861, James Naismith was born. Thirty years later, he’d invent basketball, watching as it spread into a national phenomenon throughout his life. Born in Canada, Naismith became known as a talented athlete while enrolled at McGill University in Montreal, playing football, lacrosse, rugby, soccer, and gymnastics.
He was a 30-year-old physical education teacher at the International YMCA Training School (now Springfield College) in Springfield, Mass., when he created “basket ball” as a game to be played in between the football and baseball seasons. He wrote and developed the 13 original rules, and even nailed up peach baskets that would eventually become the netted hoops used now.
Naismith was rather private and focused on his role as an educator both with the YMCA school and, later, the University of Kansas. He had more interest in sports as recreational activities that built community than as competitive endeavors.
In the closing years of his life, Naismith saw the sport’s entrance into public life really come to fruition. In 1936, he went to the Summer Olympics in Berlin and watched as his creation became an official Olympic sport. In March 1939, the first NCAA basketball tournament was held, eight months before Naismith’s death at 78.
You can read more about the sport’s creation, and Naismith, at the Springfield College website.
