Where was basketball invented?

Basketball was invented in Springfield, Mass., at a YMCA training school in December 1891 by Dr. James Naismith. Dr. Naismith, an instructor at the school, was looking for an athletic distraction for students while confined indoors during the cold New England winter.

The first public match took place in 1892 and from there the game spread quickly through YMCAs worldwide. The first men's intercollegiate match was played in 1895 followed by the first women’s match a year later. The first professional league was founded in 1898. The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, the sport's foremost historic organization, is in Springfield, Mass.