December 21
From Hoopedia
Celebrating basketball's 108th anniversary today!
- 1891 - On the Winter Solstice, students in Dr. James Naismith's physical education class at the International YMCA Training School are introduced to a new game: basket ball. The game is played with nine on a side, as the original rules did not stipulate a specific number of players per side. The final score is 1-0.
- 1923 - Wat Misaka, a Japanese-American who was the first non-white to play in an NBA game, is born in Ogden, Utah.
- 1944 - Hall of Famer Earl "The Pearl" Monroe is born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
- 1951 - Philadelphia Warrior Paul Arizin plays 63 minutes in a triple-overtime game against the Minneapolis Lakers, establishing an NBA record that would stand for almost 40 years.
- 1978 - Jackie Stiles, the only NCAA Division I women's player to score more than 1,000 points in a season, is born in Kansas City, Kansas.
- 1981 - Cincinnati final subdues Bradley, 75-73, in seven overtimes. It is the longest NCAA Division I men's game in history.
- 1984 - Georgeann Wells of West Virginia becomes the first woman to dunk the ball in a collegiate game.
