Questions tagged [sports]

For history of sports, sport events, famous sportsmen, and influence of sports and recreation on history.

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What factor decided which chariot race faction Byzantines supported?

According to this Wikipedia article there were four very passionate factions of chariot race supporters labeled the blues, greens, reds and whites. As a person that has once been a young man that was ...
John Strachan's user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
5k views

Were families allowed to watch boys swim naked at the YMCA before the 70s?

from Minneapolis Tribune, 1950 as cited in Medium And does "families" mean female siblings would have been allowed to watch or was it just the parents? I found American High Schools Mandated ...
Max's user avatar
  • 29
1 vote
2 answers
225 views

Was there ever a type of powered model car/vehicle racing, where the cars were in no way controlled, and were all on the one single shared track?

Question Was there ever a type of powered model car/vehicle racing, where the cars were in no way controlled, and were all on the one single shared track ? Approximately two or 3 years ago, I found a ...
infomtn's user avatar
  • 111
9 votes
1 answer
326 views

Did Pele spark a 48-hour ceasefire during the Nigerian Civil War?

According to Wikipedia there was a 48-hour ceasefire during the Nigerian Civil War sparked by Pele. Wikipedia, Santos In 1969, the two factions involved in the Nigerian Civil War agreed to a 48-hour ...
John Strachan's user avatar
12 votes
2 answers
3k views

Why are baseball pitches that miss the strike zone called "balls"?

Many baseball terms have clear origin stories, such as "strike", which originally meant to actually swing or strike the bat at the ball. (The non-swinging strike didn't come about until ...
isherwood's user avatar
  • 231
14 votes
1 answer
2k views

What kind of football was played in 645 Japan?

In the book History of Japan by Richard Mason, the author states in chapter 3: In the year 645, opponents of the Soga leaders struck back. The final coup was preceded by careful preparations that ...
Dylan Russell's user avatar
9 votes
1 answer
276 views

What is the connection between the rise of modern football in the UK and the shortening of the work week?

I remember hearing something on Revisionist History that alluded to the rise of modern football in the UK in connection to the shortening of the industrial work week. From what I can recall the ...
Mou某's user avatar
  • 1,191
13 votes
1 answer
653 views

When did podium girls first appear?

This is a question related to competitive cycling, as well as to competitive car racing. I am interested in the political and social aspects, but I would gently ask to leave them out from the specific ...
EarlGrey's user avatar
  • 181
7 votes
0 answers
2k views

Was the peak of the NBA aka popularity of basketball in 90's ( or including 80's ) "as I consider" or just my "Old days were good"?

I always wonder and argue with young boys in my country if today's so called superstar Lebron James remained nothing but a role player had he played in 90's or the 80's because back then there was ...
user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
553 views

Did soldiers and/or athletes of ancient times perform any kind of stretch or warmup exercises?

There are some 'time travel' stories where the protagonist, hailing from a modern age, does stretches and warmup exercises (calisthenics, radio, etc) and the natives have no idea what that is. There'...
Mindwin Remember Monica's user avatar
8 votes
2 answers
1k views

When was the first recorded example of a race competition in human history?

Individuals in a race compete with another or others to see who is fastest. But when the race competition was invented? It is reported that races were popular in the ancient Olympic games. Is this the ...
user38777's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
6k views

Did a sumo referee ever actually commit ritual suicide over a reversed decision?

The sport of Sumo wrestling has picked up quite a few traditions during its long history. One of these traditions is that the tate-gyoji, the two most senior referees, wear a knife. This knife ...
Haem's user avatar
  • 149
7 votes
1 answer
3k views

What was the impact of Fischer vs. Spassky 1972 on the relationship between the USA and the Soviet Union?

In 1948, the Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE) organized the first Chess World Championship after WW2. Its winner was Mikhail Botvinnik. Further Chess World Champions were Vasily Smyslov, ...
Indiana Jenna's user avatar
3 votes
0 answers
399 views

Was Frisbee criticized in the Soviet Union?

In the U.S. of the 1950s, the Space Age and molded plastic flying discs (Frisbees) were both novel. New materials and a supposed resemblance to UFOs made this linkage irresistible for early disc ...
Aaron Brick's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
240 views

Why did Americans stop calling the Olympic basketball team the "Dream Team"?

Was it because of the decline of the popularity of the NBA or the retirement of Michael Jordan, the living legend the GOAT? I am just curious. Since the "prior research" was requited, I would like to ...
user avatar
9 votes
2 answers
1k views

Aside from Henry VIII, did a king ever take part in a joust as an unknown knight (incognito)?

The unknown knight would seem to belong in the realm of fiction - witness Gareth in Le Morte d'Arthur and Wilfred in Ivanhoe, among others - but incognito knights fighting in jousts or melees were not ...
Lars Bosteen's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
5k views

How were knee injuries treated in Ancient Greece?

Today knee injuries, for example ACL tears*, are a pretty common injury, especially with fighters (Judo, Wrestling, BJJ, MMA, …). Since the Greeks practiced a lot of wrestling and pankration, knee ...
coconut's user avatar
  • 153
8 votes
2 answers
903 views

Why didn't Asian teams participate in the 1950 World Cup?

The Fourth World Cup was held in Brazil in 1950. It has the distinction of being the first World Cup held after a 12-year hiatus for World War II. It also has the distinction of being the only World ...
T.E.D.'s user avatar
  • 119k
26 votes
1 answer
7k views

Did classical Romans wear any sort of swimwear?

Say that a classical Roman decided they wanted to go for a swim in a lake or at a beach, and they expected other people to be able to see them. Would they have worn some sort of swimwear or gone nude? ...
Thunderforge's user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
1k views

When was the last bull & bear fight in California?

In 1700s and 1800s California, a popular form of entertainment was a fight to the death between a bull and a grizzly bear, either tied together or tied to a post. (This practice may have been Horace ...
Aaron Brick's user avatar
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0 votes
1 answer
191 views

Why do people in Melbourne Victoria Australia get a public holiday for a horse race

Every year on the first tuesday of novemember there is a public holiday for the Melbourne Cup the arcticle in wikipedia explains when it became a public holiday but not why. As early as 1865, Cup ...
user1605665's user avatar
3 votes
0 answers
473 views

Is there a story for how striking and fielding games started in Spain?

I have done some research to find the origins of striking and fielding games in Spain and have found that Gilli-Danda and Basque Pelota are the oldest forms of striking and fielding games played in ...
Lorem Ipsum's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
250 views

Why was the US table tennis team sent to communist China even after a difference in ideology? [closed]

The USA had an embargo in place with China, due to having fought the Chinese in Korea during the Korean war. For 20 years no American set foot in PRC territory. At last though, the American table ...
Mansha Mannan Ul Haque's user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
1k views

Did any black athletes other than Jesse Owens win any medals in the 1936 Berlin Olympics?

When looking over the famous 1936 Berlin Olympics, I found out that Hitler did not snub Jesse Owens, but did other Olympic winners (though I don't doubt that Jesse would've been snubbed by him in the ...
Jacob Blaustein's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
138 views

1950s, UK-Soviet sporting event

I'm trying to find some details about an event that my father has a vague memory of. I'm sorry this is quite vague. It was an international event happening in about the 1950s. It was a sporting ...
John's user avatar
  • 143
31 votes
2 answers
6k views

Why do the horses on this vase have too many legs?

Why do the horses have too many legs? They appear to have an extra set, why is this?
tox123's user avatar
  • 737
4 votes
1 answer
684 views

Why have North and South Korea stopped marching together at the Olympics?

In the 2000 Sydney Olympics, we saw the teams of North and South Korea marching together. This was repeated for the 2004 and 2006 (Winter) Olympics. This didn't happen in 2008 (and we can understand ...
hawkeye's user avatar
  • 2,219
0 votes
1 answer
106 views

Trying to identify this famous person. Young Johnny Unitas?

I was told by a friend that it looked like a young Johnny Unitas
Topia's user avatar
  • 3
6 votes
3 answers
1k views

Why did the Australian IOC deny that Peter Norman was excluded from the 1972 Olympics for supporting racial equality?

There was an Australian Sprinter Peter Norman who came second in the 1968 Olympics. Peter Norman known for his support of John Carlos and Tommie Smith when they made their famous raised-fist gesture ...
hawkeye's user avatar
  • 2,219
12 votes
1 answer
1k views

What are the ancient origins of the Medicine Ball?

Seeing this question about the oldest known exercise equipment, I remembered a scene from I, Claudius when Tiberius is working out with a medicine ball, so I thought that might be a good candidate. I ...
two sheds's user avatar
  • 18.3k
2 votes
0 answers
156 views

Why were so many currently successful football (soccer) teams founded around the year 1900? [closed]

e.g. Manchester United, Real Madrid, Juventus, Bayern München.
The curious football guy's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
268 views

Are there any incidents of war / brutalities because of Football match other than the famous one between El Salvador and Honduras?

We all know that football is most popular game all over the world, And it has emotional big touch to it. There are many weird incidents happened because of this wonderful game, I am looking for ...
Pramod Nikam's user avatar
13 votes
3 answers
767 views

What is Poosball, an early 1900s women's team sport?

My girlfriend recently showed me a 1908 yearbook in which several women are marked as playing "Poos-ball" or "Poosball." An internet search for this reveals mostly misspellings of &...
curious_monkeydragon's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
169 views

Have Paralympics been the specific target of boycotts?

Prior to Sochi, have countries completely or partially boycotted Paralympic games as a political protest in and of itself, without it being the follow-on of the Olympics being boycotted? Non-example: ...
Golden Cuy's user avatar
  • 2,201
5 votes
2 answers
2k views

The evolution of glove handness in falconry

I was led to believe that falconers (in Europe?) always used a glove on the left hand to handle birds of prey. However, this image show Mongol with birds on their right hands. So, how has the the ...
Sardathrion - against SE abuse's user avatar
8 votes
1 answer
2k views

What rules of the ancient Roman game 'Harpastum' are known?

I have heard of the ancient Roman game known as Harpastum. What rules of this games are known? I have two particular principal points of interest, how were points scored and what happened (i.e. was ...
Bogdanovist's user avatar
9 votes
2 answers
21k views

Why have major sporting events been held every 4 years?

Many major sporting events are held every 4 years such as the Olympics, Football World Cup, UEFA European Championship, Rugby World Cup, etc. I've had a look around and I've yet to find an answer ...
Kobunite's user avatar
  • 4,800
7 votes
1 answer
1k views

Who won the wrestling match between Lincoln and Jack Armstrong?

According to a site whose name is "Muscles of Iron", the above picture shows Lincoln after taking down “champion” Jack Armstrong at the general store in New Salem, 1831. On the page where the picture ...
user avatar
9 votes
1 answer
297 views

Was there a state in history where influence of sport fans on politics was greater than in medieval Byzantine Empire?

It is known that sport fans played a prominent role in Byzantine politics. Initially there were four teams: the greens, the reds, the whites and the blues. But later the reds and the whites were ...
Anixx's user avatar
  • 32.7k
19 votes
3 answers
9k views

What came before the Zamboni?

The Zamboni machine has become one of many people's favorite parts of Ice Hockey. Technically this device is called an ice resurfacer, but everyone just calls it a "Zamboni" after the inventer. Frank ...
T.E.D.'s user avatar
  • 119k
28 votes
2 answers
10k views

What is the origin of the "wheat and chessboard" legend?

The "wheat and chessboard" fable describes a geometric problem that is often quoted in stories about the invention of chess. According to Wikipedia, the main theme of the fable is: When the creator ...
yannis's user avatar
  • 14.9k
9 votes
3 answers
2k views

Why was cricket's popularity in USA a casualty of Civil War?

"Cricket was by far the biggest sport [in the USA] in this period," Tim Lockley, an expert in American history at Warwick University, told the Guardian in 1999. "Then the civil war started in 1861, ...
DVK's user avatar
  • 17.7k
12 votes
3 answers
13k views

What is the oldest known international sporting event?

We know that modern Olympics are very popular international sporting events. What is the earliest known (documented) instance of an international sporting event? Let us define an international sports ...
md nth's user avatar
  • 1,652
10 votes
1 answer
279 views

What are Kottabos players holding in their left hand?

What are these Kottabos players holding in their left hand? It is seen in a lot of similar pictures. It is as if the player refills the kylix from it. Is it a skyphos? Any info on this?
nic's user avatar
  • 2,538
3 votes
1 answer
508 views

Why is Musselburgh considered the first golf course, when St. Andrews was where golf was first played?

As the title states, Musselburgh Links is widely considered to be the first golf course, but it's also widely acknowledged that the game was invented at St. Andrews. This disparity doesn't quite make ...
acolyte's user avatar
  • 139
15 votes
1 answer
488 views

What was done to improve the safety of jousts after the death of Henry II?

While jousting in a tournament to celebrate his daughter's marriage in 1559, France's Henry II received a splinter in the eye, and died not long afterwards. According to Wikipedia, this marked the ...
lins314159's user avatar
  • 4,579
21 votes
3 answers
5k views

Why did baseball become more popular than cricket in the USA?

Recently I started reading a very interesting comic about high school baseball. I found that baseball shares so many similarities with cricket. So I tried to look for some information regarding the ...
kartshan's user avatar
  • 700