Basketball was invented in December 1891 by James W. Naismith (1861-1939) of
Canada, who was then an instructor at the International YMCA Training School in
Springfield, Massachusetts, now Springfield College. The game was invented when
Naismith was charged with developing an indoor game to keep his students in
shape during the cold New England winter. Originally, basketball was played with
peach baskets, and an attendant on a ladder retrieved the ball after a made
basket. Naismith formulated 13 rules of the game, the majority of which still
form the basics of the modern game.
Although primarily developed in the United States, basketball had spread
internationally by the 1930s. After the foundation of the International
Basketball Federation 1932 in Geneva, Switzerland.