Basketball was created by James Naismith, a Canadian-American physical education instructor. He invented the game in December 1891 while teaching at the International YMCA Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts. Naismith developed the original thirteen rules of the game and designed it as an indoor activity to keep athletes in shape during winter. The first game used peach baskets as goals, and the sport quickly spread through YMCA networks and beyond, becoming one of the most popular sports worldwide.