Timeline of United States inventions (1890–1945) net. Each team tries to score points against one another by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. William G. Morgan invented the sport first known as "Mintonnette" in 1895 while studying at a YMCA in Holyoke, Massachusetts. It was later renamed volleyball by Alfred S. Halstead. 1897 Cotton candy Cotton candy is a soft confection made from sugar that is heated and spun into slim threads that look like a mass of cotton. It was co-invented in 1897 by William Morrison and John C. Wharton, candy-makers from Nashville, Tennessee. 1897 Muffler A muffler is a
YMCA 1891 James Naismith, a Canadian American, invented basketball while studying at the YMCA International Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts (later to be named Springfield College). Naismith had been asked to invent a new game in an attempt to interest pupils in physical exercise. The game had to be interesting, easy to learn, and easy to play indoors in winter. Such an activity was needed both by the Training School and by YMCAs across the country. Naismith and his wife attended the 1936 Summer Olympics when basketball was one of the Olympic events. In 1895 William G. Morgan from the YMCA