A popular medieval children game had them aiming their rocks to knock a larger one off a pedestal – usually a larger rock or a tree stump – and then rushing to retrieve their rock. “Duck on a rock,” as it was called, survived well into the 19th century. James Naismith, a Canadian-born physical education teacher remembered the game well enough to create an indoor adaptation, something to keep the kids of his YMCA Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts, moving during the long and harsh New England winters.

On this day, December 15, in 1891, James Naismith organized his first game of “basket ball.” Elevated peach baskets were installed in the playing room, and two opposing teams of nine players each would pass a soccer ball around to try and put it through the other team’s basket.

Naismith created the original 13 rules for basketball, which said nothing about dribbling: the ball would be passed from the spot where it was caught, with provisions made “for a man running at good speed.” Two fifteen-minute halves comprised the game, with a five-minute intermission for rest. And after every basket, the referee would throw the ball in the air up for grabs – a rule that made it into the early professional basketball leagues.