James Naismith (6 November, 1861–28 November, 1939) is called the ‘Father of the sport of basketball’. He was a Canadian physical instructor and invented the sport in the year 1891. Naismith was born in Ontario and had his education at Presbyterian College and McGill University, Montreal. After his education, he served as the physical instructor at McGill University from 1887 to 1890. While serving at the Springfield College, Massachusetts, he invented the indoor sport of basketball under the guidance of American physical education specialist Luther Halsey Gulick.
Naismith devised the formal rules of the game in 1892. According to the formal rules, the court was of unspecified dimensions. A peach basket was installed at the opposite side of the court. Players had to dribble the soccer ball up and down and put the ball in the peach basket to gain points. Hammock style basket and iron hoops were introduced a year later. A decade later, the open-ended nets were installed that put an end to the practice of manually retrieving the ball. In 1959, Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame was formed, in which he himself was inducted.
