Dr. James Naismith, a Canadian physical education teacher in Springfield, Massachusetts, was given the assignment to come up with an indoor sport to keep athletes running up and down the floor through the harsh winter days. The violent nature of football was weighing heavy on the nation’s conscience, as well as Naismith’s.
On Dec. 21, 1891, he lowered two railings on opposite sides of a gym, hung peach baskets off them and instructed his students to play the first-ever game of basketball. But it immediately devolved into a tackling, kicking and punching frenzy. From there, the original rules of basketball included fouls and disallowed running with the ball.