The present Doodle celebrates Canadian-American physical educator, professor, doctor, and coach Dr. James Naismith, who invented the sport of basketball in 1891.

On this day of the next year, Naismith declared the new game and its unique standards in the pages of “The Triangle,” a Springfield College school paper. From its humble beginnings in a school gymnasium, the game has developed into a international colossus played in more than 200 nations today.

James Naismith was born on November 6, 1861, close to the town of Almonte in Ontario, Canada. He acquired a four year certification in physical schooling from McGill University, and in 1890 accepted a position as a teacher at the YMCA International Training College in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Here, he was entrusted to build up an indoor game that could possess students during the unforgiving New England winters. With two peach crates, a soccer ball, and only ten principles, the round of “basket ball” was born.

Introduced with Naismith’s group on December 21, 1891, the game at first highlighted groups of nine players and consolidated components of outdoor sports, for example, American football, soccer, and field hockey.

In spite of introductory wariness, the game detonated in notoriety throughout the next years, and in 1936, basketball made its Olympic debut in Berlin, Germany. In all honesty the game’s author—James Naismith—lost the ball for the tip to initiate the first game.

Naismith imagined basketball as a path for all students to better themselves physically and mentally. The game was presented in when schools were segregated, however Naismith considered everybody to be somebody with potential for the game.

In the course of his life, he found a way to help basketball contact more youngsters, and it has since advanced into a worldwide wonder that crosses racial and gender barriers.

In 1959, the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame was consolidated in Springfield, Massachusetts, and this mecca of basketball history carries on Naismith’s heritage right up ’til today.

Here’s to Dr. James Naismith—thank you for making one of the world’s number one pastimes!