On December 1, 1891, Canadian physical education teacher James Naismith invented a new game, which later became one of the most popular in the world.

Naismith worked at the YMCA school in Springfield, Massachusetts. In the winter, the state often experienced severe frosts, and the head of the physical education department, Luther Gulick, asked Naismith to come up with something to keep students occupied during this time.

Naismith originally wanted to host a football match, but the venue was too small for that.

Finally, the teacher recalled how, as a student, he practiced throwing accuracy in American football by throwing the ball into a box on the floor.

This was the starting point. In the gym, two peach boxes were nailed to a height of three meters. The players were asked to hit these boxes with the ball. It was forbidden to move with the ball; you just had to pass it to each other and throw it into the box.

One of the students, Frank Mahan, suggested naming the new game after the inventor, but Naismith refused. As a result, the game was called “basket ball”.

On January 15, 1892, Naismith wrote the rules of the game, which he published in the school wall newspaper. The first basketball match took place on December 21, 1891.