Dr. James Naismith

James Naismith, the inventor of basketball, was born in a house that formerly stood on this lot and spent his boyhood here. He entered McGill University in 1883, where he was active in athletics, and in 1890 graduated in theology from Presbyterian College, Montréal, before enrolling in the International Y.M.C.A. training school, now Springfield College, in Massachusetts. Seeking a competitive team sport that could be played indoors during the winter months, he devised in December 1891 a game played under thirteen basic rules with a ball and two round baskets. He later directed physical education at the University of Kansas for thirty-six years and died at Lawrence, Kansas.

Ontario · Canada