Sunday, 29 June 2014

Sport Origins

Sport Origins

Who invented Baseball?

Baseball is a much older game than you think. Medieval manuscripts show games with bats, while a game called baseball appears in a picture published in London in 1744. Baseball is also mentioned in Jane Austen's novel Northanger Abbey, which she began writing in 1798. The game of rounders was first described 30 years later, and this or a similar game was known by the British settlers in America. Abner Doubleday is sometimes said to have invented baseball in 1839, but Alexander Joy Cartwright Jr drew up the games rules in 1845. He founded the first team, the knickerbocker Base Ball Club of New York.

When did basketball Start?

The inspiration for basketball have been from the Aztec game ollamalitzli and other ball and hoop game splayed by South American peoples. The modern game was invented  in 1891 by Canadian physical education teacher Dr James A Naismith at the international YMCA college Springfield, Massachusetts. He wanted to find a game that could be played indoor during winter. Peach baskets were orginally used as goals, players have to climb a ladder to fetch the ball after scoring. Then someone hit on the idea of removing the bottom! The baskets were soon replaced by metallic rings with netting.

Saturday, 28 June 2014

Sports Facts

Most watched sporting Event

The 2000 Olympics Games in Sydney was the most watched sporting event ever on television, with 3.7 billion viewers worldwide. 1,159,249 tickets for watching the events live were sold out.

Marathon Sprint!

If an athlete can run a marathon as the same rate as a 100 m sprint, he would finish in 43 minutes. In reality no one has run a marathon in under 2 hours


sports facts

Most Competitors

  • The Boston Marathon centenary race in 1996 attracted a record 38,706 competitors, the most ever for a marathon.
  • The Athens Olympics games (2004) had 11,099 competitors, the most of any Olympics
  • The World's biggest road race is the 12 km Bay to Breakers race in San Francisco, USA. It has been held every year since 1912. The 1988 race had a record 78,769 official entries, but the total number of people taking part was probably about 110,000 many of them in fancy dress.
  • In 1929 the grand national horse race had a record 66 runners, but only 9 reached the finish line.

Tuesday, 24 June 2014

Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain

Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain

Modern Wonders

The Guggenheim was built in 1997 to the design of Canadian born architect Frank Gehry. It houses a collection of modern art in a striking, ultra modern setting. The structure combines limestone blocks of varied shapes, curved sections covered in panels of titanium and large areas of glass.




Channel Tunnel,England/France

Channel Tunnel, England/France

Modern Wonders

Work on the second longest underwater rail canal in the world began in 1987. It took seven years and 15000 workers to create the 50.45 km tunnel which opened in 1994. The tunnel links Folkestone in England to Sangatte, France.






Sunday, 22 June 2014

Kansai International Airport, Japan

Kansai International Airport, Japan

Modern Wonders

The airport was opened in 1994. It stands on 4 into 1.2 km island which is entirely man made. It was built with 48000 huge blocks, made from the earth excavated by flattening three mountains, and designed to withstand typhoons and earthquaqes. Its terminal building was designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano.



Modern Wonders

Deltawerken flood barrier, Netherlands

Modern Wonders

After a disastrous flood in 1953, Engineer Johan Van Veen designed the Delta Project, or Deltawerken. This is a series of interconnected dams that forms a movable sea barrier while preserving the habitat and the sea life within it.