The history of sports dates back at most 3,000 years. Sports often included preparation for war and training as a hunter. That is why many early games featured the throwing and striking of spears, stakes and rocks and one-on-one sparring.

In 776 BC, the Ancient Greeks introduced formal sport to the world by introducing the Olympic Games. This included events such as wrestling, jumping, foot and chariot races and throwing javelins and discus. These are just a few of the most popular sports today.

Games using Bats and Balls: Baseball, Softball, and Cricket

• CricketThe origins of cricket were in south-east England in the late 16th century. By the 18th century it was the national game and had made inroads in other countries in the 19th- and 20th centuries. In 1853, the prototype for modern cricket bat had a willow handle and a cane handle. These were then layered with rubber strips, tied with twine, and covered with another layer to form a grip. (The longest game of cricket was played over nine days in 1939.
• Baseball: The first baseball field that we know as the modern-day game of baseball was invented by Alexander Cartwright (1820-1892), New York. Cartwright, along with his New York Knickerbocker Base Ball Club, created the first rules that would become the standard for modern baseball.
• Softener:George Hancock (a Chicago Board of Trade reporter) invented softball. This form of indoor baseball was first played in cold winter days at the Farragut Boat Club.

Other sports details:

• Toe wrestling rules
• Bandy
• Discus throw rules
• Paddleball

Basketball

In 1892, the first official rules for basketball were created. Initial rules required that players move a soccerball up and down a court of unknown dimensions. The ball was placed in a basket and scored points. 1893 saw the introduction of iron hoops as well as a hammock-style basket. However, it was another decade before open-ended nets were invented. They made it possible to automatically retrieve the ball from the basket when a goal was scored. Converse All Stars, the first shoes designed specifically for basketball, were introduced in 1917. Legendary player Chuck Taylor became a brand ambassador in 1920s.

Rugby, American Football

• Rugby:Rugby's origins can be traced back more than 2000 years to a Roman sport calledHarpastum(from the Greek word for "seize". The ball was not propelled by the foot like soccer. Instead, it was carried in the arms. The modern game of soccer was born in 1749 in Rugby in Warwickshire. It was developed in England at a new school that had been built in Rugby. The eight-acre land on which the game was developed was known as "The Close." In rugby's earliest days, there were no rules. The ball was kicked and not carried. The games could last five days, and more than 200 students were involved. William Webb Ellis, a 1823 player, was the first person to pick up the ball from the ground and run with it. This was the birth of modern soccer as we know it today.
• Football American football is a descendant both of soccer and rugby. Princeton and Rutgers fought what was then called the first college football.Game on November 6, 1869. The game didn't take root until 1879 when Walter Camp (a Yale University coach and player) created the rules. AAA player William (Pudge) Heffelfinger, a member of the Allegheny Athletic Association, was paid $500 to take part in a game pitting the Allegheny Athletic Association against the Pittsburgh Athletic Club. Heffelfinger became the first professional football player.

 Golf

The game Golf comes from a game which originated in Scotland's Kingdom of Fife in the 15th Century. There were many similar games across Europe at the time, such as swatting rocks with sticks around predetermined courses. However, the game that we know and love was invented in Scotland.

• In the middle of the fifteenth century, soccer and golf experienced a significant setback. As Scotland was preparing to defend its borders against English invasions, the popularity of the games was believed to have led to men abandoning other useful pursuits like archery or swordsmanship. The official ban on soccer and golf in Scotland was lifted in 1457. The Treaty of Glasgow signed the Treaty of Glasgow lifting the ban.
• In the 16th Century, King Charles I introduced golf to England. Mary Queen Of Scots, a Frenchwoman, introduced the game back to France in the 16th. (It is possible that the word "caddie" comes from the French cadets who accompanied Mary while she played.
• The 1552 first mention of golf at Scotland's most renowned golf course, St Andrews. In the next year, the clergy permitted public access to these links.
• Leith, near Edinburgh, was the first place to publish rules. It was also where the first international golf match took place in 1682. A team of George Patterson and George Patterson played for Scotland.
• In 1754, the St Andrews Society of Golfers (St Andrews Society of Golfers) was established. It was based on rules set by Leith for its annual competition.
• Stroke play was established in 1759.
• In 1764, the 18-hole first course (now standard) were constructed.
• St Andrews opened the first women's club golf course in the world, which was inaugurated in 1895.

Check more:

• Baseball variants
• Javelin throw rules
• Arm wrestling history
• Ringball rules