Sports historians have traced roller skating to the early 1800s whenan unknown Dutchman sought to find a warm-weather equivalent to iceskating. He decided to attach wooden disks to shoes; after a shortperiod of refinement, roller skating became a popular pastime in Holland. The sport attained even greater popularity among the NorthAmerican public with the introduction of the steel wheel with ballbearings.

The first female athlete to appear in a Wheaties "Breakfast of Champions" television commercial was Mary Lou Retton, shortly after her gold medal win at the 1984 summer Olympics.

Volleyball was invented in a Holyoke, Massachusetts YMCA in 1895. Its inventor was William George Morgan. The game was first called "mintonette" and was played by hitting a basketball over a rope.

 

Athletic supporters were introduced in 1874 to help bicycle riders as they pedaled over cobblestone roads. The term "jock strap" comes from these early "bicycle jockeys?"    (Source: ILoveBacon.com)

WHAT WAS THE FIRST PUBLICLY TELEVISED SPORTING EVENT?
 It was a Japanese baseball game, broadcast on September 27, 1931. The Ushigome and Awazi Schuciku Higher Elementary Schools battled it out on the Tozuka Baseball Ground, watched by viewers on 8-by-5-inch screens.

Which sort of football discourages kicking the ball?
According to the rules of Gaelic football, players may punch the ball, but the punching motion must be clearly visible to the referee. Players may not pick up the ball off the ground unless they first get their toe under the ball.

Which sport was the first filmed?
Boxing was the first sport to be filmed. Thomas A. Edison filmed a boxing match between Jack Cushing and Mike Leonard in 1894.

Who coined the slogan, "You can't tell the players without a scorecard"?
Baseball's first professional concessionaire, Harry M. Stevens, who used it when he started hawking ballpark programs in Columbus, Ohio, in the 1880s.

WHAT SPORTS PERSONALITY SAID, “THE OPERA AIN'T OVER 'TIL THE FAT LADY SINGS”?
It was not Yogi Berra. Former Washington Bullets coach Dick Motta popularized the saying during the 1978 NBA playoffs, but it was Dan Cook, a television sports announcer and writer for the San Antonio Express-News, who invented it.

WHEN WAS THE FIRST INDIANAPOLIS 500?
The 500-mile race was first held on May 30, 1911, when Ray Harroun won in 6 hours, 42 minutes, 8 seconds. His average speed was 74.59 miles per hour.

Which sport claims the most injuries?
The sport with the largest expenses (medical, legal, and others) due to injuries treated in U.S. emergency rooms in 1995 was bicycling, with costs exceeding $4 billion. More than half a million bicycling injuries were documented. A huge percentage of those injuries were head injuries, which could have been prevented had riders worn protective helmets.

Who developed table tennis?
Table tennis was originally played with balls made from champagne corks and paddles made from cigar-box lids. It was created in the 1880s by James Gibb, a British engineer who wanted an invigorating game he could play indoors when it was raining. Named "Gossima," the game was first marketed with celluloid balls, which replaced Gibb's corks. After the equipment manufacturer renamed the game "Ping-Pong" in 1901, it became a hot seller.