1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:03,640 Speaker 1: Hey, y'all, Eve's here. Today's episode contains not just one, 2 00:00:03,880 --> 00:00:07,080 Speaker 1: but two nuggets of history. Consider it a double feature. 3 00:00:07,400 --> 00:00:12,200 Speaker 1: Enjoy the show. Welcome to this day in History class, 4 00:00:12,600 --> 00:00:16,360 Speaker 1: where we bring you a new tidbit from history every day. 5 00:00:23,560 --> 00:00:30,320 Speaker 1: The day was March eleven in Springfield, Massachusetts, seven students 6 00:00:30,320 --> 00:00:33,600 Speaker 1: and seven teachers played the first public game of basketball 7 00:00:33,960 --> 00:00:38,479 Speaker 1: at the International Young Men's Christian Association Training School or 8 00:00:38,520 --> 00:00:43,040 Speaker 1: what is now Springfield College. An article in the March 9 00:00:43,080 --> 00:00:47,480 Speaker 1: twelfth issue of a Springfield newspaper set the following Over 10 00:00:47,560 --> 00:00:51,520 Speaker 1: two hundred spectators crane their next over the gallery railing 11 00:00:51,600 --> 00:00:54,880 Speaker 1: of the Christian Workers Gymnasium while they watched the game 12 00:00:54,960 --> 00:00:59,680 Speaker 1: of basketball yesterday afternoon between the teachers of the International 13 00:00:59,760 --> 00:01:04,800 Speaker 1: Young Men's Christian Association Training School and the students. At 14 00:01:04,800 --> 00:01:08,039 Speaker 1: the time, James Nay Smith was working as a physical 15 00:01:08,160 --> 00:01:11,160 Speaker 1: education instructor at the y m c A Training school 16 00:01:11,200 --> 00:01:15,480 Speaker 1: in Springfield. The students at the school were confined indoors 17 00:01:15,560 --> 00:01:18,679 Speaker 1: during the cold Massachusetts winter, and they had a lot 18 00:01:18,760 --> 00:01:22,840 Speaker 1: of pent up energy. The calistenics and children's games they 19 00:01:22,880 --> 00:01:25,280 Speaker 1: were playing in class just weren't cutting it for the 20 00:01:25,360 --> 00:01:29,520 Speaker 1: rowdy students, so a teacher challenged nay Smith to create 21 00:01:29,560 --> 00:01:32,680 Speaker 1: a game that could keep students active in the wintertime 22 00:01:32,959 --> 00:01:38,000 Speaker 1: between football and baseball season. Nay Smith drew from the 23 00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:41,800 Speaker 1: games of rugby, lacrosse, and another that combines tag and 24 00:01:41,840 --> 00:01:48,160 Speaker 1: marksmanship called duck on a Rock. So on December nay 25 00:01:48,240 --> 00:01:51,240 Speaker 1: Smith asked his students to play a nine versus nine 26 00:01:51,240 --> 00:01:55,800 Speaker 1: match using a soccer ball and two peak baskets. He 27 00:01:55,960 --> 00:01:58,720 Speaker 1: mounted the peach baskets to the lower rail of the 28 00:01:58,760 --> 00:02:02,320 Speaker 1: gym's balcony, which was about ten ft or three ms 29 00:02:02,520 --> 00:02:05,960 Speaker 1: above the ground. The goal was to throw the ball 30 00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:10,040 Speaker 1: into the opposing team's peach basket. The baskets didn't have 31 00:02:10,160 --> 00:02:12,919 Speaker 1: holes in the bottom, so students in the balcony would 32 00:02:12,960 --> 00:02:15,280 Speaker 1: have to grab the ball out of the basket when 33 00:02:15,280 --> 00:02:19,440 Speaker 1: it went in. But since nay Smith hadn't given the 34 00:02:19,480 --> 00:02:22,880 Speaker 1: students any clear guidelines other than get the ball in 35 00:02:22,919 --> 00:02:27,440 Speaker 1: the basket, the game didn't go so well. He said 36 00:02:27,520 --> 00:02:31,720 Speaker 1: the following in a nineteen thirty nine radio interview. The 37 00:02:31,800 --> 00:02:36,320 Speaker 1: boys began tackling, kicking, and punching in the clinches before 38 00:02:36,320 --> 00:02:38,960 Speaker 1: I could pull them apart. One boy was knocked out. 39 00:02:39,320 --> 00:02:41,760 Speaker 1: Several of them had black eyes, and one had a 40 00:02:41,800 --> 00:02:47,400 Speaker 1: dislocated shoulder. It certainly was murder. But even though the 41 00:02:47,400 --> 00:02:50,800 Speaker 1: game didn't go too smoothly, the students still wanted to 42 00:02:50,800 --> 00:02:54,480 Speaker 1: play again, so Nay Smith wrote thirteen rules for the game. 43 00:02:55,400 --> 00:02:58,520 Speaker 1: His secretary typed the rules on two pages, and he 44 00:02:58,600 --> 00:03:01,520 Speaker 1: hung them up in the gym. I won't tire you 45 00:03:01,560 --> 00:03:04,280 Speaker 1: by going through all of the original rules, but here 46 00:03:04,280 --> 00:03:08,040 Speaker 1: are some. The ball may be thrown or batted in 47 00:03:08,120 --> 00:03:12,520 Speaker 1: any direction with one or both hands. A player cannot 48 00:03:12,600 --> 00:03:15,000 Speaker 1: run the ball, but must throw it from the spot 49 00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:18,040 Speaker 1: where he catches it, though there is leniency for a 50 00:03:18,080 --> 00:03:20,400 Speaker 1: player who catches the ball when running if he tries 51 00:03:20,480 --> 00:03:23,919 Speaker 1: to stop that no running with the ball rule kept 52 00:03:23,919 --> 00:03:27,440 Speaker 1: the players from tackling and hitting each other. Nate Smith 53 00:03:27,480 --> 00:03:31,200 Speaker 1: hadn't invented the game of basketball, which was originally written 54 00:03:31,240 --> 00:03:37,360 Speaker 1: as two words, and in a January article that was 55 00:03:37,400 --> 00:03:40,200 Speaker 1: sent to y m c A s across the United States, 56 00:03:40,640 --> 00:03:44,640 Speaker 1: he listed the rules of the new game. Five days later, 57 00:03:45,000 --> 00:03:48,080 Speaker 1: the first official game of basketball was played at a 58 00:03:48,200 --> 00:03:51,240 Speaker 1: y m c. A gym in Albany, New York, and 59 00:03:51,360 --> 00:03:53,960 Speaker 1: on March eleventh, the first public game was played at 60 00:03:54,000 --> 00:03:56,440 Speaker 1: the y m c A Training School gym in Springfield. 61 00:03:57,360 --> 00:04:02,440 Speaker 1: The sport quickly spread across college campuses. The first intercollegiate 62 00:04:02,440 --> 00:04:07,279 Speaker 1: basketball game was played in eight and the first professional 63 00:04:07,320 --> 00:04:11,880 Speaker 1: basketball league formed three years after that. By around this time, 64 00:04:12,040 --> 00:04:15,600 Speaker 1: teams of five were the norm. In nineteen o one, 65 00:04:16,040 --> 00:04:20,240 Speaker 1: dribbling was introduced, though it wasn't that efficient considering balls 66 00:04:20,279 --> 00:04:25,000 Speaker 1: were still asymmetrical. By nineteen o six, the game used 67 00:04:25,000 --> 00:04:28,839 Speaker 1: nets with holes in the bottom. And today the sport 68 00:04:28,880 --> 00:04:31,159 Speaker 1: looks a lot different than it did at that first 69 00:04:31,160 --> 00:04:35,200 Speaker 1: game in and the rule book is a lot longer. 70 00:04:36,560 --> 00:04:39,839 Speaker 1: I'm Eaves, Jeffcote, and hopefully you know a little more 71 00:04:39,880 --> 00:04:45,120 Speaker 1: about history today than you did yesterday. So here's some 72 00:04:45,120 --> 00:04:48,600 Speaker 1: fun trivia I found while researching this episode. Nate Smith's 73 00:04:48,600 --> 00:04:53,560 Speaker 1: original thirteen rules were purchased at auction in for four 74 00:04:53,680 --> 00:04:59,360 Speaker 1: point three million dollars. Thanks for listening, and we'll see 75 00:04:59,400 --> 00:05:16,280 Speaker 1: you tomorrow. Hi everyone, I'm Eves, and welcome to This 76 00:05:16,400 --> 00:05:19,560 Speaker 1: Day in History Class, a podcast where we rip out 77 00:05:19,560 --> 00:05:29,960 Speaker 1: a page from the history books every day. The day 78 00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:34,200 Speaker 1: was March eleventh, nineteen eighteen. The first case of the 79 00:05:34,240 --> 00:05:38,440 Speaker 1: Spanish flu was reported in the US in nineteen eighteen. 80 00:05:38,600 --> 00:05:42,279 Speaker 1: The H one and one influenza virus caused an extremely 81 00:05:42,320 --> 00:05:45,839 Speaker 1: deadly flu pandemic. It caused at least fifty million deaths 82 00:05:45,880 --> 00:05:48,880 Speaker 1: around the world, making it the deadliest pandemic of the 83 00:05:48,880 --> 00:05:53,200 Speaker 1: twentieth century. On the morning of March eleven, Private Albert 84 00:05:53,240 --> 00:05:55,520 Speaker 1: Kitchel of the U. S Army went to the Camp 85 00:05:55,560 --> 00:05:59,680 Speaker 1: infirmary and Fort Riley, Kansas with a fever. By noon, 86 00:06:00,040 --> 00:06:03,279 Speaker 1: more than one hundred soldiers had also reported symptoms of fever, 87 00:06:03,800 --> 00:06:08,279 Speaker 1: sore throat, and headaches. That number increased exponentially over the 88 00:06:08,320 --> 00:06:11,960 Speaker 1: next week. Many of those soldiers died of pneumonia that spring. 89 00:06:13,120 --> 00:06:15,920 Speaker 1: Their cases are the first known ones of the nineteen 90 00:06:15,960 --> 00:06:19,400 Speaker 1: eighteen flu epidemic. That said, the true origin of the 91 00:06:19,400 --> 00:06:23,359 Speaker 1: Spanish flu is unknown. Army camps and prisons around the 92 00:06:23,400 --> 00:06:26,359 Speaker 1: country began to see cases of the deadly flu, and 93 00:06:26,400 --> 00:06:29,960 Speaker 1: the flu spread to Europe from the US. The illness 94 00:06:30,000 --> 00:06:33,240 Speaker 1: became known as the Spanish influenza because it was first 95 00:06:33,279 --> 00:06:36,600 Speaker 1: officially recognized in Spain, a country that was neutral during 96 00:06:36,640 --> 00:06:39,840 Speaker 1: World War One. That meant that the press was not 97 00:06:39,920 --> 00:06:43,120 Speaker 1: as censored as in other countries, so the Spanish media 98 00:06:43,240 --> 00:06:45,279 Speaker 1: was the first to widely report on the spread of 99 00:06:45,279 --> 00:06:48,839 Speaker 1: the flu. In May of nineteen eighteen. Once the flu 100 00:06:48,960 --> 00:06:51,719 Speaker 1: made it across the globe, the number of cases only 101 00:06:51,720 --> 00:06:56,440 Speaker 1: continued to rise and it spread really fast to Russia, China, 102 00:06:56,600 --> 00:07:01,159 Speaker 1: the Philippines, New Zealand, and places in North Africa. The 103 00:07:01,279 --> 00:07:05,039 Speaker 1: virus traveled along international shipping lanes and it followed the 104 00:07:05,120 --> 00:07:07,720 Speaker 1: massive groups of people who had to travel due to 105 00:07:07,760 --> 00:07:11,240 Speaker 1: the war. The overcrowding that was ubiquitous under the conditions 106 00:07:11,280 --> 00:07:15,280 Speaker 1: of war also helped the flu spread. But even after 107 00:07:15,320 --> 00:07:18,120 Speaker 1: the First World War ended in November of nineteen eighteen, 108 00:07:18,520 --> 00:07:23,040 Speaker 1: the pandemic surged on. In fact, flu cases increased as 109 00:07:23,040 --> 00:07:28,240 Speaker 1: soldiers demobilized and people celebrated the war's end. Industries declined 110 00:07:28,280 --> 00:07:31,720 Speaker 1: in public spaces such as movie theaters and schools shut down. 111 00:07:32,840 --> 00:07:35,680 Speaker 1: The Spanish flu had a super high fatality rate. On 112 00:07:35,760 --> 00:07:38,920 Speaker 1: top of that, the flu was unusually deadly for young adults. 113 00:07:39,280 --> 00:07:42,640 Speaker 1: There was no vaccine for flu infections and no antibiotics 114 00:07:42,680 --> 00:07:46,480 Speaker 1: to treat bacterial infections related to the flu. Though there 115 00:07:46,520 --> 00:07:49,960 Speaker 1: were initiatives to develop a vaccine, those efforts were not 116 00:07:50,080 --> 00:07:54,080 Speaker 1: fruitful since researchers were focused on bacterium, so the flu 117 00:07:54,200 --> 00:07:59,800 Speaker 1: was contained through methods like isolation. Good hygiene, wearing masks, disinfectants, 118 00:07:59,800 --> 00:08:04,040 Speaker 1: and restrictions on public gatherings. Adding to the spread in 119 00:08:04,080 --> 00:08:07,680 Speaker 1: the US was the lack of professional nurses, since many 120 00:08:07,720 --> 00:08:11,800 Speaker 1: were away at military camps and institutions estewed black nurses. 121 00:08:12,840 --> 00:08:14,760 Speaker 1: There were three waves of the H one and one 122 00:08:14,800 --> 00:08:17,800 Speaker 1: flu pandemic, with the last occurring during the winter and 123 00:08:17,840 --> 00:08:22,000 Speaker 1: spring of nineteen nineteen. That last wave subsided by the summer, 124 00:08:22,400 --> 00:08:25,560 Speaker 1: but in the end the virus had infected an estimated 125 00:08:25,760 --> 00:08:30,320 Speaker 1: one third of the world's population. Influenza was first isolated 126 00:08:30,320 --> 00:08:33,240 Speaker 1: in nineteen thirty, showing that the flu is caused by 127 00:08:33,280 --> 00:08:37,200 Speaker 1: a virus rather than a bacterium. Vaccination against the flu 128 00:08:37,320 --> 00:08:40,600 Speaker 1: began in the nineteen thirties, with the vaccine becoming more 129 00:08:40,720 --> 00:08:44,800 Speaker 1: widely available in the following decades. There were around six 130 00:08:45,040 --> 00:08:48,360 Speaker 1: D seventy five thousand deaths due to the nineteen eighteen 131 00:08:48,360 --> 00:08:51,679 Speaker 1: flu pandemic in the United States. Though the virus that 132 00:08:51,720 --> 00:08:55,920 Speaker 1: caused the pandemic has been extensively researched, it's still unclear 133 00:08:55,960 --> 00:08:59,680 Speaker 1: why it was so deadly. H one and one viruses 134 00:09:00,000 --> 00:09:03,400 Speaker 1: instantly related to the nineteen eighteen virus popped back up 135 00:09:03,400 --> 00:09:06,960 Speaker 1: in two thousand and nine, causing another pandemic known as 136 00:09:07,000 --> 00:09:10,840 Speaker 1: the swine flu. I'm Eve Steff Coote and hopefully you 137 00:09:10,880 --> 00:09:14,360 Speaker 1: know a little more about history today than you did yesterday. 138 00:09:14,960 --> 00:09:17,640 Speaker 1: If you have any burning questions or comments, you can 139 00:09:17,679 --> 00:09:20,959 Speaker 1: leave us a note at t d i h C 140 00:09:21,360 --> 00:09:26,600 Speaker 1: Podcast on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram. You can also shoot 141 00:09:26,679 --> 00:09:30,480 Speaker 1: us an email at this Day at I heart media 142 00:09:30,600 --> 00:09:33,920 Speaker 1: dot com. Thanks for listening. I hope to see you 143 00:09:33,960 --> 00:09:44,439 Speaker 1: here again tomorrow. For more podcasts from I Heart Radio, 144 00:09:44,559 --> 00:09:47,120 Speaker 1: visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 145 00:09:47,200 --> 00:09:48,360 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.