history of Basketball

Most sports develop over time out of games that people begin to play informally. Not so with basketball. Basketball history shows that it has the distinction of being an intentionally invented game. In 1891, James Naismith was assigned to create an indoor activity for students at the YMCA Training School in Springfield, Mass. The students, who were training to be P.E. teachers, were understandably bored doing nothing but calisthenics and gymnastics during those long New England winters. They longed for action and competition.

Dr. Naismith combined elements of outdoor games like soccer and lacrosse with the concept of a game he’d played in childhood, Duck on a Rock. To win Duck on Rock, players threw stones to hit a target placed on top of a large boulder. A ball and an elevated goal—those are the simple ingredients of the sport that now has players and rabid fans in nearly every part of the world.

Basketball History at 1-0

Naismith’s class played the first game of basket ball (two words) using a soccer ball and two peach baskets nailed to a balcony railing ten feet above the floor. The class of 18 was divided into two teams of nine players.       The gym they played in was just 50 feet by 35 feet (modern courts are 94 feet x 54 feet). The final score of that first ever basketball game was 1-0. William Chase scored the lone goal from 25 feet—a half-court shot in that small gym. Now that’s the kind of fact that will someday help you win a basketball history sports trivia contest.

Naismith had just 13 rules for basket ball (see box), which he carefully typed on two pages. The game had to stop after each goal so the referee could climb a ladder and retrieve the ball from the basket. Fortunately, those early games were very low scoring affairs.

The Original 13 Rules of Basketball

As written by Dr. James Naismith

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 a fist).
3. A player cannot run with the ball. The player must throw it from the spot on which he catches it, allowance to made for a man who catches the ball when running if he tries to stop.
4. The ball must be held by the hands. The arms or body must not be used for holding it.
5. No shouldering, holding, pushing, tipping, or striking in any way the person of an opponent shall be allowed; the first infringement of this rule y 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 as 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 base key 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. He has a right to hold it unmolested for five seconds. 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 the side.
10. The umpire shall be the 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 account of the goals, with any other duties that are usually performed by the referee.
12. The time shall be two fifteen minute halves, with five minutes’ rest between.
13. The side making the most goals in the in that time shall be declared the winner. In the case of a draw, the game my, by agreement of the captains, be continued until another goal is made.

The Game Catches On

If you want a new game to catch on, teach it to a room full of future P.E. teachers who are getting ready to head home for Christmas break. Naismith’s students took basketball back to their hometown gyms. That original class included students from Canada and Japan as well as the United States and the game quickly spread. Just two months after the game was invented, teams from different YMCA’s met for the first competitive game. The Central YMCA and the Armory Hill YMCA played to 2-2 tie. Tuck that in your sports trivia file.

Women also got in on the action. Senda Bereson Abbott read about basketball in the newspaper and introduced it to women at Smith College. By 1894, Smith’s annual spring game between the freshman and the sophomores was attended by more than 1,000 women waving violet and yellow banners. The Sunday Boston Globe covered the game and reported that when the sophomores won 13-7, fans hoisted the captain on their        shoulders and celebrated in the streets of Northampton.
Five is Enough and Other Early Changes

Initially, there was no limit on the number of people who could play in a basketball game. Some historians report that more than 50 people at a time played in some early games. This made for some very rough basketball that looked a lot like a Rugby scrum. By 1900, it was agreed that five members per side was enough on the court at one time.

Jump balls were the most common play in the early years of basketball. The jump was used after every basket and often after the ball went out of bounds. Between all of the center jumps and having to retrieve the ball from the basket, the game was much slower than the modern version. In the 1930s, rule changes eliminated the jump ball after each basket. Fans everywhere cheered.

Early baskets had no backboards so forget about rebounding. Wooden backboards were added in 1896 to prevent fans in the balcony from interfering with the ball. And about the basket—it soon become clear that climbing a ladder after every goal was a huge hassle. Open rims eventually replaced baskets. Nets were added to slow the ball down and help officials determine if the ball had actually gone through the rim. Thus, the swish was born.

Because basketball was often played on dance floors and in social halls, wire cages were placed around the court to protect spectators who sat in chairs surrounding the court. (Think of how hockey boards surround a rink.) These wire cages caused numerous cuts and scrapes. Players rejoiced with the wire was replaced with rope netting. To this day, basketball players are still referred to as “cagers.”

Pro Basketball is Born

Even though Dr. Naismith had intended basketball to be a non-contact game of finesse rather than brute strength, early basketball games were very physical. In fact, some YMCAs determined the sport was too rough to be played in their facilities. This led to the start of pro basketball.

In 1896, a team in Trenton, New Jersey, couldn’t play at the local Y. They decided to rent a Masonic Hall for        a game, charge admission and to split whatever proceeds were left. Each player made $15. The captain of the winning team made $16. There were no salary caps that we know if in those days.

The first pro league was formed in formed in 1898. Many leagues came and went during the next 50 years. Players often played for more than one team in more than one league depending on who was paying the most money. This was the age of barnstorming—traveling around the country and being paid to play against local teams. 

It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad March

Shortly after basketball was invented, colleges were quick to form teams and challenge nearby schools to games. Ivy League schools like Yale, Harvard, Cornell and Princeton formed some of the earliest college leagues. In 1937, a group of basketball writers in New York decided to stage a tournament and name a national collegiate basketball champion. The first National Invitation Tournament was held in Madison Square Garden in 1938. Temple became the first national champion. A group of coaches felt the national tournament should be more centralized. They started their own tournament in 1939. The NCAA took over this tournament started by the coaches and it eventually grew into what we know today as March Madness—one        of the major sporting events of the year in the United States.

 Basketball Goes to the Olympics

In 1904, Basketball was a demonstration sport at the Olympics in St. Louis. It would be another eight Olympics before basketball would become medal sport. In the 1936 Berlin Olympics, 21 teams competed for the gold medal. The United States defeated Canada 19-8 in a championship game played outside on a muddy clay field. This was the beginning of US dominance in Olympic basketball.

An International Game

Basketball is truly an international game. In the early years, the game spread to the corners of the world through YMCAs and service men. The Fédération Internationale de Basketball Amateur (FIBA) was formed by eight nations in 1932. Today, FIBA oversees international competition involving 212 national basketball federations. FIBA estimates that 450 million people play basketball at some level.

A Game for the Ages
For more than century, men and women of all ages and nationalities have been playing basketball. The game has become a favorite of fans who feverishly follow their favorite college, pro and national teams. The game remains very close to the original version created by Dr. Naismith in 1891. Who would have imagined that the        simple idea of putting a ball through an elevated hoop would impact everything from shoe styles to the way we spend the month of March.

history of baseball

Today a multi-billion dollar industry, Baseball has come a long way from its crude and humble beginnings in the fields of 19th century America. More than a game, Baseball remains an inseparable part of the American heritage and an intrinsic part of our national psyche. For many of us, notions of team, fair play, and athletic excellence first occurred on a red clay diamond cut from a grassy field. Referred to as "America's Pastime" since 1856, Baseball today is played by men and women of all ages and skill levels all around the world. Despite its recurrent scandals and woes, Baseball remains synonymous with the best that America has to offer.

19th Century Baseball: The Beginning

Contrary to popular belief, Baseball was not invented by a single individual, but evolved from various European "bat and ball" games. Russia had a version of Baseball called Lapta, which dates back to the fourteenth century. It consisted of two teams (five to ten members) with a pitcher and batter. The ball would be thrown to the batter who would attempt to hit it with a short stick and then run to the opposite side and back before being hit by the ball.

Cricket and Rounders

England has played Cricket and Rounders for several centuries. The first recorded cricket match took place in Sussex, England in 1697. Cricket is played in a large open circular field and has two sides of eleven players that attempt to "put out" a "batsman" who tries to prevent a ball thrown by a "bowler" from knocking over "bails" placed on "wickets," or three upright sticks. If the batsman makes contact with the ball, he runs to the opposite side of the "pitch" and continues running back and forth until the ball is retrieved by the opposing team.
Rounders, which shares more technical similarities to Baseball, dates back to Tudor times in England. This game consisted of two teams, six to fifteen players, including a pitcher, batter, "bowling square," "hitting square" and four posts, similar to bases used in Baseball. Each player had to bat in each "inning" and the game lasted two innings. The pitcher tossed the ball to the batter who attempted to hit it. If contact was made the batter ran to the first post. Points were awarded depending on what post was reached by the batter and the manner in which the post was reached.

Town Ball

Germany played a game called Schlagball, which was similar to Rounders. The ball was tossed by the "bowler" to the "striker," who struck it with a club and attempted to complete the circuit of bases without being hit by the ball. Americans played a version of Rounders called "Town Ball," which dates back to the early 1800's. In this game, the first team to score one hundred "talleys" won the game. In 1858 the rules were  formalized as the "Rules of the Massachusetts Game of Town Ball."

“Base Ball”

Occasionally, early 19th century American newspapers would mention games listed as "Bass-Ball," "Base," "Base Ball," "Base-Ball," "Goal Ball" and "Town Ball." The first known printed record of a game that was slightly different from Rounders and resembled a game closer to Baseball, is from an 1829 book called The Boy's Own Book, in which the game is referred to as "Round Ball," "Base" and "Goal Ball." A crude field diagram was included with specific locations for four stones or stakes (bases), that were arranged in a diamond. The article described how to "make an out" as well as how to get "home." The word "party" was used to describe a team, and the team at bat was called the "in-party." Each party pitched to themselves, bases were run in a clockwise direction and players could be put out by swinging and missing three pitched balls or by being hit with the ball while moving between bases.

The Olympic Base Ball Club of Philadelphia

Perhaps the first town ball club to adopt a constitution was the Olympic Ball Club of Philadelphia, founded in 1833. It was formed by combining two associations of Town Ball players. One of the Town Ball associations may have begun play in the spring of 1831, in Camden, NJ on Market Street. The original group included only four players, playing "Cat Ball," but eventually the number of players increased and the Saturday afternoon gathering usually included between fifteen to twenty players. With the increased interest the game changed to Town Ball and then to Base Ball. The other association called itself the Olympic Ball Club, favored Town Ball and played on Wednesdays. As they did not meet as regularly as the group in Camden, some of the members of the Olympic Ball Club began playing in Camden. Ultimately a match was proposed and played between the two associations. No record of this match exists, but the two groups did eventually combine into one and played on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The constitution was first published in 1838 and consisted of 15 Articles. Duties of the Board of Directors, Members, and Captains were described. Practice days and a fine structure were also outlined.
Canada claims the first recorded account of a baseball game, which occurred in Beechville, Ontario on June 4, 1838, described in a detailed letter written by Dr. Adam E. Ford, but not published until 38 years later on May 5, 1886, in a magazine called Sporting Life. In this letter, the game was described as having five bases or "byes," base lines twenty-one yards in length and the distance from the pitcher to the home bye was fifteen yards. Innings determined the length of the game as opposed to playing to a specific number of runs. Fairly and unfairly pitched balls were described and techniques mentioned for the pitcher to make it difficult for the "knocker" to hit the ball. The differences between "fair and" "no-hit" balls were described and each side was given three outs per inning.

The earliest known newspaper account of a Baseball game in the United States was published on September 11, 1845, in the New York Morning News, which announced a game that occurred the previous day. The first recorded Baseball game was played on October 6, 1845 at Elysian Fields, in Hoboken, New Jersey by fourteen members of the New York Knickerbockers Club. One team may have been captained by Alexander  Cartwright and the other by club president Duncan Curry. Curry's team won 11–8 in three innings. Between October 6 and November 18, 1845, the Knickerbockers may have played as many as fourteen more intra-squad games.

Cartwright and the Knickerbockers

Alexander Joy Cartwright (1820–1892) is often referred to as "The Father of Baseball" for his role in organizing a group of ballplayers whom he exercised with since 1842 into one of Baseball's first known teams, the New York Knickerbockers. On September 23, 1845, by virtue of its constitution and by-laws, the Knickerbocker Base Ball Club was officially formed. Cartwright scribed twenty rules, which were published and became known as the "20 Original Rules of Baseball" or the "Knickerbocker Rules." The team's first elected officers were: Duncan Curry, President; William Wheaton, Vice President; and William Tucker, Secretary/Treasurer. Curry, Wheaton and Tucker comprised the Knickerbocker Committee on By-Laws and their names appeared on the signed by-laws document that contained the rules.
The new rules changed Baseball in a number of ways—further differentiating it from Town Ball—three strikes to a batter, three outs to an inning, tags and force-outs in lieu of hitting a runner with a thrown ball, and the addition of an umpire. The 1845 rules also established the idea of "fair" and "foul" territory. Previously, the batter could run the bases any time he hit the ball, as in cricket. The Knickerbocker version of the game became known as the "New York Game" distinguishing it from "Town Ball" and "The Massachusetts Game."
Early on the Knickerbockers moved from the Murray Hill section of Manhattan to Hoboken, New Jersey to play their games at Elysian Fields. What is often referred to as the first recorded game played under the Knickerbocker Rules (now believed to be yet another intra-squad game), took place on June 19, 1846, when the Knickerbockers lost to the New York Baseball Club (aka "the New York Nine") 23–1 in four innings. The winning team was comprised mainly of Knickerbocker players. Cartwright umpired the contest and enforced a six-cent fine, payable on the spot, for swearing.
A team called a “Picked Nine” or “The (blank) Nine,” most often referred to a team of players put together for that day or for a specific game. These players were not necessarily part of the same club.

Daniel "Doc" Adams

Daniel "Doc" Adams (1814–1899) was elected President of the Knickerbockers in 1846. Two years later he headed the Committee to Revise the Constitution and By-Laws with Cartwright serving under him. Cartwright left New York on March 1, 1849, for the California Gold Rush and eventually ended up in Hawaii.
Adams has been credited with "inventing" the 'short-fielder' or 'shortstop' position in 1849 or 1850. The position evolved because the baseballs used, handmade by Adams, were light and could not be thrown far. A non-base-tending player was needed to retrieve balls from the outfielders and return them to the pitcher.
Under Adams’ presidency (1846–1862), the Knickerbocker Club became the model upon which all early clubs were organized. So dominant was the Knickerbocker Club during the 1840's and 1850's, that they transformed Elysian Fields in Hoboken, New Jersey into the first great center of Baseball activity in the United States.

The First Base Ball Convention

Considered by some to be the true "Father of Baseball," "Doc" Adams was elected president of the first Base Ball Convention in 1857. He also headed the Committee on Rules and Regulations that year, which instituted the following rules: nine equal innings for a full game, five equal innings for a complete game, 30 yard distance between the four bases, the pitching distance should be 45 feet and he also stated that nine men should comprise a team.
With the rules better defined and with the success of the 1857 convention, the game became increasingly popular. Subsequent conventions attracted more teams. The Civil War caused membership to decrease but helped introduce the game to southern parts of the United States. The membership of the National Association of Base Ball Players increased to more than 300 members in 1867.

Doc Adams' Legacy

Adams was elected as Chairman of the Committee on Rules and Regulations during the March 1858 Base Ball Convention in which the National Association of Base Ball Players was formed. He resigned in 1862 and  two years later the bound rule which he fought since 1857 was abolished. He also resigned from the Knickerbockers in 1862 and played in his last base ball game in September 1875 in an "old-timers" match arranged by formed Knickerbocker James Whyte Davis. Adams died on January 3, 1899.
Under Adams' presidency (1846-1862), the Knickerbocker Club became the model upon which all early clubs were organized. So dominant was the Knickerbocker Club during the 1840's and 1850's, that they transformed Elysian Fields in Hoboken, New Jersey into the first great center of Baseball activity in the United States.

In 1934 an old and fragile baseball was discovered in the attic of a farmhouse in Fly Creek, NY, about three miles from Cooperstown. It was purchased for $5.00 by Stephan C. Clark, a Cooperstown, New York resident. He had gained considerable wealth due to his association with the Singer Sewing Machine Company and he had the original idea to display the ball along with other baseball items. The ball was believed to have once belonged to Abner Graves(!). It was therefore assumed that Doubleday himself must have at some time actually touched the "magic" ball, and it became known as the "Doubleday Baseball."
The building that Clark chose to house his collection is now the Cooperstown Village Offices. The exhibit was a tremendous success. He soon received the backing of the National and American League presidents, Ford Frick and William Harridge as well as the Commissioner of Baseball, Kenesaw Mountain Landis. Clark began to receive numerous items as the news spread. Frick proposed that Cooperstown house the “Hall of Fame.” The first group was elected in January of 1936 and the Cooperstown, N.Y. building was dedicated on June 12, 1939, to mark “Baseball's (dubious) Centennial Year.”

history of Hockey

The history of hockey is almost as messy as some of the fights on the ice of pro hockey rinks. Some historians trace the game back to hurley, an Irish field game that was played year round with a ball and a stick. Other historians say the game derived from Lacrosse and other field games played by the Micmac Indians in Nova Scotia. Yet another school of thought says hockey developed in Northern Europe were field hockey was played on frozen lakes in the winter. This eventually developed into the English game of bandy.

Did you get all of that? Before we argue about who is correct and send the others to the penalty box, let’s just agree that hockey was probably influenced by several earlier stick and ball games. We’ll then pick up the history of the sport in the mid 19th Century.

O Canada
Canada is without argument the homeland of modern hockey. British soldiers stationed at Hallifax and Kingston played the first recorded hockey games in the mid 1850s. In the early 1870s students at Montreal’s McGill University drew up the first known set of ice hockey rules. These rules established the use of the puck rather than a ball and set the number of players per side at nine. The puck used by these early McGill players was square rather than round.

The first amateur hockey league was organized in Kingston, Ontario in 1880. During the next decade ice hockey quickly became popular in Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and other Canadian cities. By the end of 1893, there were more than 100 hockey clubs in Montreal alone. About that same time, the first hockey games in the United States were played at Yale and John Hopkins Universities.

The Oldest Trophy in North American Sports
Ice hockey had become such a phenomenon in Canada that in 1893, the Governor General of Canada donated a permanent trophy to be presented to the best hockey team. The Governor General’s name was Lord Stanley of Preston and the silver bowl inlaid with gold that he donated became known as the Stanley Cup. The original cup cost $48.57 and is now mounted on a large base to allow room to inscribe the names of winning teams. Today, the trophy is insured for $75,000.

The Stanley Cup is the oldest prize that North American Athletes vie for. It has been awarded each year since 1893 with the exception of 1919 when the competition was stopped by an influenza outbreak among the Seattle Metropolitan. The Montreal Amateur Athletic Association team won the first two Stanley Cup competitions.

From Amateur Game to Professional Sport
The beginning of the 20th Century brought a new dimension to ice hockey—the professional player. The first professional league formed in 1904 in the United States. The Pro Hockey League was started in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and lasted three years. In 1909, the National Hockey Association was founded in Montreal. Beginning in 1912, professional teams were allowed to compete for the Stanley Cup.

Other pro leagues came in went in the years prior to World War I. The war disrupted hockey organizations and in 1917, a new professional league was formed with five Canadian teams:

The Montreal Wanderers
The Montreal Canadiens
The Ottawa Senators
The Quebec Bulldogs
The Toronto Arenas

The new league was christened the National Hockey League. The first US team to become part of the league was the Boston Bruins who joined in 1924. Today, the NHL has 30 teams from Canada and the United States.

Changes in the Game
Modern ice hockey has changed little from the original rules established in the 1870s. The biggest changes have been in the number of players and the development of equipment.

By the mid 1890s, the number of players on the ice for each team had dropped from nine to seven. This changed reportedly happened by accident. A team showed up two men short for a game at the Montreal Winter Carnival. The other team agreed to play with just seven men. The players found they preferred the smaller squads and the change soon became standard. When the NHA formed in 1909, it used six-man sides. The NHL adopted this number at its inception.

Netting was first added to hockey goals in the early 1900s to stop the puck and show that the puck had actually passed between the goal posts.

What’s the Well-Equipped Hockey Player Wearing this Season?
Today’s hockey players from the junior leagues to the NHL wear layers of protective padding from their shin guards to their helmets. Early hockey players wore very little padding. Goalies were, not surprisingly, the first players to wear pads. Goalies originally used cricket pads to protect their shins and knees. Other players began to wear shin pads and gloves to protect themselves from flailing sticks and flying pucks. Many players stuffed newspapers under their pads for extra protection.

Jacques Plante of the Montreal Canadiens was the first goalie to wear anything to guard his face. In 1959, he wore a mask to cover a cheek that had been struck by a puck. The following season, Plante began wearing a facemask full time when he was in the net. Other goalies began wearing masks but it would be 14 years before all NFL goals protected their faces.



Helmets were not part of hockey gear until the 1970s. Before that time, only players with head injuries wore headgear. In 1979, the NHL began requiring that all players new to the league wear helmets. Players who were already in the league were allowed to play bare headed. The last NHL pro to play without a helmet was Craig MacTavish of the Edmonton Oilers who retired in 1997.



Not Just a North American Game
Ice Hockey is not just a North American Sport. In the early 1900s, leagues were playing hockey in Britain and parts of Europe. In 1910, Britain won the first European Ice Hockey Championships.



The 1920 Olympics in Antwerp Belgium became the first to include and ice hockey competition. Canada won the first four Olympic gold medals in the sport. In 1930, the first ice hockey world championships were played. The championships are now played every year except when the Olympics are held.

After World War II hockey took hold in the Soviet Union and the Russians became a force to reckon with on the ice. The Russians won their first Olympic ice hockey gold in 1956, just a decade after the game became an organized sport in their country.

Women in Ice Hockey
Women have been playing ice hockey nearly as long as men. The first recorded women’s hockey game was played in 1889 in Ottawa. Women’s hockey leagues thrived in Canada through the 1930s. After World War II, interest in the women’s game declined until the 1960s. In the 1980s, women’s hockey experienced a growth spurt.

The first women’s world championships were played in 1990. The National Collegiate Athletic Association added women’s hockey as a sanctioned sport in 1993 and women’s ice hockey made its Olympic debut in 1998. The US team won the first gold medal.

history of volleyball

The history of volleyball is closely linked to that of another popular court game. In fact, just eight miles and four years separate the historic development of volleyball and its cousin basketball.

A Game for the (Middle) Ages
In 1895, William G. Morgan was the education director as the Holyoke, Massachusetts, YMCA. Four years earlier, his colleague James Naismith had invented the game of basketball just down the road at the Springfield                                        YMCA. Naismith’s game was catching on quickly but there was a drawback. Not everyone could keep up with the fast pace of basketball—and that was even before the fast break was created. Morgan needed a game that could be enjoyed by middle-aged men.

Morgan conceived a court game he originally called mintonette. He chose the name because his new sport was related to badminton. Mintonette was played on a court divided by a six-foot, six-inch net. Teams volleyed the ball back and forth across the net until one team missed. The first competitive game of volleyball was played July 7, 1896.

Things They Are a Changing…Quickly
Changes were immediately made to Morgan’s game. One of the first changes was the name itself. Alfred Halstead is credited with renaming the sport with the descriptive words “volley ball.” (Can you imagine Karch Kiraly playing for a gold medal in Olympic beach mintonette?) The number of players on each team also was limited. Originally, a team was allowed to have as many players as it could fit into its half of a 50- by 25-foot court. The number of players was set at nine per side and later reduced to six. Rotating players to various positions on the court has been part of the game from the beginning.

The number of times a team could touch the ball before it went over the net was eventually established at three. The first rules allowed an unlimited number of hits. The earliest games in Morgan’s gym were played with the rubber bladder from inside a basketball. Spalding made the first official volleyball in 1896. By 1900, the standard shape and weight of the ball were almost identical to those used today.

The height of the net was raised to make play more challenging. Today, the net is just under eight feet for men’s competition (2.43 meters) and just over seven feet (2.24 meters) for women’s. Under the original rules of volleyball, a team had to score 21 points to win a game. In 1917, that number was reduced to 15.

Giving the Game Away
YMCA workers took the game from Holyoke to US missionary schools in Asia. The game became very popular in the East as was played in the Oriental Games as early as 1913. Volleyball also caught on in Russia. When regular international competition began in the 1950s, Russia was the dominant team. During the World War I, United States troops introduced volleyball in Europe.

You know a sport has really arrived when official governing bodies are established. For volleyball, this happened in 1928 when the United States Volleyball Association was formed. The organization later became USA Volleyball. The Fédération Internationale de Volley-ball (FIVB) was founded in 1947. In 1949, the first men’s world championship tournament took place in Prague, Czechoslovakia.

Not Just for Middle-Aged Men
It quickly became apparent that volleyball had appeal far beyond the middle-aged men it was originally introduced to. Colleges and high schools began to adopt the sport for both men and women. Volleyball became the competitive fall sport for girls. The first US national volleyball championships for women were played in 1949, 54 years after women began competing in the game. The first international championships for                                      women were played in 1952 in Moscow. 

The NCAA added a women’s volleyball championship in 1981. USC won the first women’s collegiate title.

The first men’s NCAA volleyball championship was played in 1970. UCLA won six of the first seven men’s volleyball titles.  

From the Gym to the Sand
In the 1940s, another style of volleyball was developing up and down the California coast. Teams of two or four players would square off on sand volleyball courts. Young and old players would form impromptu competitions on the beach. Spectators would often gather to watch the volleyball matches. Before long, the best teams were traveling up and down the coast to play in beach volleyball tournaments. The first two-man volleyball tournament was held at State Beach, California in 1943. 

In 1965, The California Beach Volleyball Association was founded. It was responsible for standardizing the rules of the beach and for organizing official tournaments. By 1976, the very best players on the beach were competing for prize money as professionals. Male players formed the AVP, the Association of Volleyball Professionals, in 1983. Women beach volleyball players formed their own association in 1986.

When former college and Olympic indoor volleyball stars began playing on the beach the sport became even more popular. Beach volleyball spread from California to Florida and then to other states—even to some that don’t have beaches. In some areas, beach volleyball is played indoors in arenas filled with sand. By 1993, beach volleyball had become so popular in the United States, that tournaments were broadcast on national television.

In 1987, two-men beach volleyball teams competed in the first world championships. The first two-women’s world championships were played in 1993. Four-player beach teams became popular in the 1990s.

Volleyball Goes for the Gold
Today, men’s and women’s competition in both indoor and beach volleyball are part of the Olympic games. Indoor volleyball became an Olympic sport in 1964. The host team, Japan, won the women’s gold medal. In the first four women’s Olympic volleyball competitions, Japan and the Soviet Union met in the finals. The Soviets prevailed in 1968 and 1972. Japan won again in 1972.

In the men’s medal competition, the Soviet Union has been dominant. After winning gold at the first Olympic volleyball competition, the Soviet men won a medal in each of the next five Olympics they competed in—three golds, one silver and one bronze. The US men’s team won back-to-back gold medals in 1984 and 1988.

Beach Volleyball became on Olympic sport at the 1996 Atlanta games. The US, Brazil and Australia have been the teams to beat on Olympic sand.

A Game for the Best
Hardly anyone watching the fast, powerful sport of modern volleyball would recognize it as a game originally designed as a less-strenuous form of recreation for middle-aged men. Today, some of the world’s very best athletes are digging, setting and spiking the ball in gyms and on beaches throughout the world. 

Leonardo Da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci (April 15, 1452 – May 2, 1519) was a celebrated Italian Renaissance architect, musician, inventor, engineer, sculptor and painter. He has been described as the archetype of the "Renaissance man" and as a universal genius. Leonardo is well known for his masterly paintings, such as The Last Supper and Mona Lisa. He is also known for his many inventions that were conceived well before their time but of which few were constructed in his lifetime. In addition, he helped advance the study of anatomy, astronomy, and civil engineering.

Life His life was described in Giorgio Vasari's biography Vite. Leonardo was born in Anchiano, near Vinci, Italy. He was an illegitimate child. His father Ser Piero da Vinci was a young lawyer and his mother, Caterina, was a peasant girl. It has been suggested that Caterina was a Middle Eastern slave owned by Piero, but the evidence is scant. This was before modern naming conventions developed in Europe. Therefore, his full name was "Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci", which means "Leonardo, son of Piero, from Vinci". Leonardo himself simply signed his works "Leonardo" or "Io, Leonardo" ("I, Leonardo"). Most authorities therefore refer to his works as "Leonardos", not "da Vincis". Presumably he did not use his father's name because of his illegitimate status. Leonardo grew up with his father in Florence. He was a vegetarian throughout his life. He became an apprentice to painter Andrea del Verrocchio about 1466. Later, he became an independent painter in Florence. In 1476 he was anonymously accused of homosexual contact with a 17-year-old model, Jacopo Saltarelli, a notorious prostitute. He was charged, along with three other young men, with homosexual conduct. However, he was acquitted because of lack of evidence. For a time Leonardo and the others were under the watchful eye of Florence's "Officers of the Night" — a kind of Renaissance vice squad. That Leonardo was homosexual is generally accepted. His longest-running relationship was with a beautiful delinquent Gian Giacomo Caprotti da Oreno, whom he nicknamed Salai (Little Devil), who entered his household at the age of 10. Leonardo supported Salai for twenty five years, and he left Salai half his vineyard in his will. From 1478 to 1499 Leonardo worked for Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan and maintained his own workshop with apprentices there. Seventy tons of bronze that had been set aside for Leonardo's "Gran Cavallo" horse statue were cast into weapons for the Duke in an attempt save Milan from the French under Charles VIII in 1495 — see also Italian Wars. When the French returned under Louis XII in 1498, Milan fell without a fight, overthrowing Sforza. Leonardo stayed in Milan for a time, until one morning he found French archers using his life-size clay model for the "Gran Cavallo" for target practice. He left with his servant and assistant Salai (a.k.a. Gian Giacomo Caprotti) and his friend (and inventor of double-entry bookkeeping) Luca Pacioli for Mantua, moving on after 2 months for Venice, then moving again to Florence at the end of April 1500. In Florence he entered the services of Cesare Borgia (also called "Duca Valentino" and son of Pope Alexander VI) as a military architect and engineer. In 1506 he returned to Milan, now in the hands of Maximilian Sforza after Swiss mercenaries drove out the French. In 1507 Leonardo met a 15 year old aristocrat of great personal beauty, Count Francesco Melzi. Melzi became his pupil, life companion, and heir. From 1513 to 1516 he lived in Rome, where painters like Raphael and Michelangelo were active at the time; he did not have much contact with these artists, however. In 1515 Francis I of France retook Milan, and Leonardo was commissioned to make a centrepiece (of a mechanical lion) for the peace talks in Bologna between the French king and Pope Leo X, where he must have first met the king. In 1516, he entered Francis' service, being given the use of the manor house Clos Lucé next to the king's residence at the Royal Chateau at Amboise, and receiving a generous pension. The king became a close friend. He died in Cloux, France in 1519. According to his wish, 60 beggars followed his casket. He was buried in the Chapel of Saint-Hubert in the castle of Amboise. Leonardo had a great number of friends, some of whom were: Fazio Cardano — mathematician, jurist Giovanni Francesco Melzi — painter, pupil Girolamo Melzi — Captain in Milanese militia Giovanni Francesco Rustici Cesare Borgia — warrior Niccolo Machiavelli — writer Andrea da Ferrara Franchinus Gaffurius — music theorist, composer Francesco Nani — Brother in the Franciscan Order in Brescia Iacomo Andrea — architect and author Fra Luca Bartolomeo de Pacioli — Franciscan father Galeazzo da Sanseverino — Commanded ducal army of Milan, singer Ginevra dei Benci Atalante Miglioretti — singer, artist, actor Tomasso Masini da Peretola a.k.a. Zoroastro — student of alchemy, occultist Benedetto Dei — writer Art Leonardo is well known for the masterful paintings attributed to him, such as Last Supper (Ultima Cena or Cenacolo, in Milan), painted in 1498, and the Mona Lisa (also known as La Gioconda, now at the Louvre in Paris), painted in 1503–1506. There is significant debate however, whether da Vinci himself painted the Mona Lisa, or whether it was primarily the work of his students. Only seventeen of his paintings, and none of his statues survive. Of these paintings, only Ginevra de' Benci is in the Western Hemisphere. Leonardo often planned grandiose paintings with many drawings and sketches, only to leave the projects unfinished. In 1481 he was commissioned to paint the altarpiece "The Adoration of the Magi". After extensive, ambitious plans and many drawings, the painting was left unfinished and Leonardo left for Milan. He there spent many years making plans and models for a monumental seven-metre (24-foot) high horse statue in bronze ("Gran Cavallo"), to be erected in Milan. Because of war with France, the project was never finished. Based on private initiative, a similar statue was completed according to some of his plans in 1999 in New York, given to Milan and erected there. The Hunt Museum in Limerick, Ireland has a small bronze horse, thought to be the work of an apprentice from Leonardo's original design. Back in Florence, he was commissioned for a large public mural, the "Battle of Anghiari"; his rival Michelangelo was to                paint the opposite wall. After producing a fantastic variety of studies in preparation for the work, he left the city, with the mural unfinished due to technical difficulties. List of paintingsAnnunciation (1475-1480) Uffizi, Florence, Italy Ginevra de' Benci (~1475) National Gallery of Art, Washington DC, U.S. The Benois Madonna (1478-1480) Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg, Russia The Virgin with Flowers (1478-1481) Alte Pinakothek, Munich, Germany Adoration of the Magi (1481) Uffizi, Florence, Italy Cecilia Gallerani with an Ermine (1488-90) Czartoryski Museum, Krakow, Poland A Musician (~1490), Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, Milan, Italy Madonna Litta (1490-91) The Hermitage, St. Petersburg, Russia La Belle Ferronière (1495-1498) Louvre, Paris, France Last Supper (1498) Convent of Sta. Maria delle Grazie, Milan, Italy The Madonna of the Rocks (1483-86) Louvre, Paris, France The Madonna of the Rocks aka The Virgin of the Rocks (1508) National Gallery, London, England Leda and the Swan (1508) Galleria Borghese, Rome, Italy Mona Lisa or La Gioconda Louvre, Paris, France The Virgin and Child with St. Anne (~1510) Louvre, Paris, France St. John the Baptist (~1514) Louvre, Paris, France Bacchus (1515) Louvre, Paris, France Science and engineering Perhaps even more impressive than his artistic work are his studies in science and engineering, recorded in notebooks comprising some 13,000 pages of notes and drawings, which fuse art and science. He was left-handed and used mirror writing throughout his life. Explainable by fact that it is easier to pull a quill pen than to push it; by using mirror-writing, the left-handed writer is able to pull the pen from right to left. His approach to science was an observatory one: he tried to understand a phenomenon by describing and depicting it in utmost detail, and did not emphasize experiments or theoretical explanations. Throughout his life, he planned a grand encyclopedia based on detailed drawings of everything. Since he lacked formal education in Latin and mathematics, Leonardo the scientist was mostly ignored by contemporary scholars. He participated in autopsies and produced many extremely detailed anatomical drawings, planning a comprehensive work of human and comparative anatomy. Around the year 1490, he produced a study in his sketchbook of the Canon of Proportions as described in recently rediscovered writings of the Roman architect Vitruvius. The study, called the Vitruvian Man, is one of his most well-known works.