YMCA Naismith invented basketball in Springfield in 1891, William Morgan, an instructor at the YMCA in nearby Holyoke, Mass., wanted to create a game for older gentlemen which had less physical contact. He borrowed a tennis net, raised it 6 feet, 6 inches above the floor, and invented the game of "Mintonette," which could be played by a group of any number and involved volleying a large ball over the net. An observer wisely suggested that a better name for the new sport might be "volleyball." This originally genteel sport bears little resemblance to the lively co-ed games now played at
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