Bemis heard about the new sport at Springfield and tried it out with his students at Geneva in 1892. The first college to play the game was either Geneva College (Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania) or the University of Iowa. By 1948–49, when the laceless molded ball was made official, the size had been set at 30 inches (76 cm). It was laced, measured close to 32 inches (81 cm), or about 4 inches (10 cm) larger than the soccer ball, in circumference, and weighed less than 20 ounces (567 grams).
In 1894 the first basketball was marketed. Fan-shaped backboards were made legal in 1940–41.Ī soccer ball (football) was used for the first two years. In 1920–21 the backboards were moved 2 feet (0.6 metre), and in 1939–40 4 feet, in from the end lines to reduce frequent stepping out-of-bounds. Glass backboards were legalized by the professionals in 1908–09 and by colleges in 1909–10. Soon after, wooden backboards proved more suitable.
In 1895–96 the points for making a basket (goal, or field goal) were reduced from three to two, and the points for making a free throw (shot uncontested from a line in front of the basket after a foul had been committed) were reduced from three to one.īaskets were frequently attached to balconies, making it easy for spectators behind a basket to lean over the railings and deflect the ball to favour one side and hinder the other in 1895 teams were urged to provide a 4-by-6-foot (1.2-by-1.8-metre) screen for the purpose of eliminating interference. Nets open at the bottom were adopted in 1912–13. Originally a ladder, then a pole, and finally a chain fastened to the bottom of the net was used to retrieve a ball after a goal had been scored.
of Providence, Rhode Island, marketed a hoop of iron with a hammock style of basket. In 1903 it was ruled that all boundary lines must be straight. The courts often were of irregular shape with occasional obstructions such as pillars, stairways, or offices that interfered with play.
Originally, players wore one of three styles of uniforms: knee-length football trousers jersey tights, as commonly worn by wrestlers or short padded pants, forerunners of today’s uniforms, plus knee guards. The banishment of the game induced many members to terminate their YMCA membership and to hire halls to play the game, thus paving the way to the professionalization of the sport. While basketball helped swell the membership of YMCAs because of the availability of their gyms, within five years the game was outlawed by various associations because gyms that had been occupied by classes of 50 or 60 members were now monopolized by only 10 to 18 players. Basketball was introduced in France in 1893, in England in 1894, in Australia, China, and India soon thereafter, and in Japan in 1900. Since Naismith and five of his original players were Canadians, it is not surprising that Canada was the first country outside the United States to play the game. Courtesy of the Basketball Hall of Fame, Springfield, Massachusetts, U.S. Players shooting into a closed-bottom peach basket in an outdoor game of basketball, 1892. SpaceNext50 Britannica presents SpaceNext50, From the race to the Moon to space stewardship, we explore a wide range of subjects that feed our curiosity about space!.Learn about the major environmental problems facing our planet and what can be done about them! Saving Earth Britannica Presents Earth’s To-Do List for the 21st Century.Britannica Beyond We’ve created a new place where questions are at the center of learning.
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