Overview of Modern Sporting History

Baseball, from its origins in 1840s in northeastern United States to the institution of the National, and later American Leagues, making up what is today known as Major League Baseball.

Basketball, the brainchild of Dr. James Naismith, created in the 1890s, it developed as much through colleges as it did through professional teams and leagues, with the modern National Basketball Association emerging around 1950.

American Football, which existed in various forms mostly across the college ranks in the 1800s before Walter Camp, at Yale University, began to help establish rules that made the game appear much as it does today. Football’s evolution primarily took place in college, as college football was far more popular than its professional counterpart until the late 1950s, when the National Football League became the dominant force in American football.

Ice Hockey, whose history is traced to Canada as early as the 1810s, though scholars debate its origin. The modern sport emerged in the late 1800s in Montreal, with the National Hockey League forming in 1917. Hockey is another sport in which early development took place as much in college as it did in professional leagues.

Motor Racing, whose origin is difficult to trace. Racing motorized vehicles actually began more with motorized bicycles or tricycles than cars, though not by many years. Car racing began to emerge at the very end of the 19th century, leading into the development of tracks built for car racing in the first decade of the 1900s, first in Britain in 1907, then later in the U.S., most famously with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1909. There are an extremely wide variety of motor racing, between the more famous Formula One and NASCAR to rally cars, touring cars and sports cars.

Association Football, or Soccer, widely considered the world’s most popular sport, traces it modern roots back to the standardization of the rules of the sport in England in the mid-1800s, leading to the creation of the Football Association in London in 1863. The current governing body in international soccer is the Fédération Internationale de Football Association, or FIFA, which was formed in 1904.

Tennis, one of the oldest of the modern sports, goes back as far as the 1500s, though the true modern game of “lawn tennis” goes back to the 1870s. The game primarily grew out of England, including the first Wimbledon Championships in 1877. The International Lawn Tennis Federation, now known simply as the International Tennis Federation, the sport’s governing body, was founded in 1913, composed of 13 national tennis associations.

The Modern Olympics, growing out of the ancient tradition, resurfaced under the direction of the International Olympic Committee in Athens in 1896. The Olympic s have been held every four years since, missing only 1916, 1940 and 1944 due to world wars. The original Olympiad allowed only men to compete; women were added four years later, in Paris in 1900.

The Winter Olympics, which initially developed alongside the Modern Summer Olympics, were first held in Chamonix, France, in 1924, the same year as the Paris Summer Games. The Winter Games were separated from the Summer Games for the first time in 1994, when the Winter Olympics were held in Lillehammer, Norway, followed two years later by the Summer Games in Atlanta, USA. The original games had 9 sports, while the most recent Winter Olympics in Vancouver had 15.

Golf, whose origins are widely disputed, with various historians tracing it back to a variety of different stick and ball games throughout European history. However, most agree the modern game of golf originated in Scotland in the 15th century. Golf spread globally throughout the 19th century, though almost entirely in locations controlled by the British Empire. The Professional Golfers Association of America, today the governing body of golf via its 41 PGA sections worldwide and the world’s largest working sports organization, was formed in 1916.

Rugby football, which is popularly believed to have been formed by William Web Ellis in 1823 at Rugby School in England, after he simply picked up the ball and ran with it. Scholars now say this is probably apocryphal, though the modern sport did likely form around the area at the same time. The Rugby Football Union, the sport’s governing body, was formed in London in 1871.

Boxing, whose history dates back to Ancient Greece, and became the modern sport we know today primarily in 1867, when the Marquees of Queensbury published a code of rules which still primarily govern the game today. The National Boxing Association, which later became the World Boxing Association, was formed in 1921. There are today 4 organizations recognized as governors of the sport: the WBA, the International Boxing Federation, the World Boxing Organization and the World Boxing Council.

Cricket, another sport whose origins are murky at best, though the modern game began to emerge in the 1770s. The first test match, which is a cricket match played between two countries, was in 1877, played between Australia and England. The International Cricket Council, the governing body of the sport, was founded in 1909, then called the Imperial Cricket Council and consisting only of England, South Africa and Australia. The organization today consists of 10 full members.