Sports history in America

  • Beginning of baseball

    Beginning of baseball
    Baseball in America started around 1845-1846. There are reports that the New York Knickerbockers first played games in 1845, but the first recorded game was on 19 June 1846.
  • Soccer enters the US

    Soccer enters the US
    Modern soccer entered the US in the 1850s from immigrants from Ireland, Germany, and Italy. Before then, very early versions of the game were being played as early as 1685.
  • American Football creation

    American Football creation
    The first American football game was played on 6 November 1869
  • National League is formed

    National League is formed
    The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or the NL, is founded on 2 February 1876 in New York to replace the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players (NAPBBP). This league still exists today as part of the MLB
  • Beginnings of basketball

    Beginnings of basketball
    Basketball in the US was started in the winter of 1891-1892 at Springfield College in Massachusetts
  • Start of ice hockey

    Start of ice hockey
    The first recorded game of hockey played in the US was in 1893 between Yale University and John Hopkins University. 3 years later, the first ice hockey league was formed.
  • American League is formed

    American League is formed
    The American League was formed on 28 January 1901. It originally started as a minor league called the Western league, then changed its name in 1900, and the year after became the second major league as a competitor to the National League.
  • The MLB is formed

    The MLB is formed
    The MLB was created in 1903 when the American League and National League signed the National Agreement to be together in cooperation. In 2000, the two leagues merged together into a single organisation.
  • First American team to win the Stanley Cup

    First American team to win the Stanley Cup
    The first team from the US to lift the highly-coveted Stanley Cup was the Seattle Metropolitans, beating the Montreal Canadiens in 3 games to 1.
  • Ice hockey becomes professional

    Ice hockey becomes professional
    The NHL was formed on 26 November 1917 in Montreal after its predecessor league, the National Hockey Association (NHA) was permanently suspended. It originally started with four teams and now consists of 32 teams.
  • American Football goes pro

    American Football goes pro
    The NFL was founded on 17 September 1920 in Canton, OH. Now, it is the biggest sport in American history.
  • Jackie Robinson makes history

    Jackie Robinson makes history
    On 15 April 1947, Jackie Robinson broke the MLB colour barrier when he started for the Brooklyn Dodgers. He was the first black player to break the colour barrier since 1884
  • The NBA is founded

    The NBA is founded
    The NBA was founded on 6 June 1946 in New York when the National Basketball League and the Basketball Association of America merged together
  • The first Super Bowl

    The first Super Bowl
    On 15 January 1967, the very first Super Bowl was played in LA between the Chiefs and Packers. Now, the Super Bowl is the biggest sporting event every year in the US.
  • MLS is created

    MLS is created
    The current pro soccer league in the US was created on 17 December 1993 and started play in 1996. Before the MLS, the North American Soccer League (NASL) played from 1968 to 1984.