History of Springfield, Massachusetts role in the first-ever automobile accident. Today, the city of Springfield is known worldwide as the birthplace of the sport of basketball. In 1891, James Naismith, a theology graduate, invented the sport of basketball at the YMCA International Training School – now known as Springfield College – to fill-in the gap between the football and baseball seasons. The first game of basketball ever played took place in the Mason Square district of Springfield. (The game's score was 1 – 0). As of 2011, the exact spot where the first game took place is memorialized by an illuminated monument. The first
Dr. J.O. and Catherine Ball House Dr. J.O. and Catherine Ball House The Dr. J.O. and Catherine Ball House is a historic building located in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, United States. In 1892 this was one of three houses designed by George F. Barber's mail-order architectural firm that was being built in town, and it was the most elaborate of the three. The house is an enlargement of Barber's more expensive plans for design no. 33 from his 1891 book. The 2½-story frame Queen Anne features an irregular plan, a brick-faced limestone foundation, and an octagonal tower with an ogee shaped roof. The circular window on the