What nationality was Dr. James Naismith, the inventor of basketball?

James Naismith (November 6, 1861 – November 28, 1939) was a Canadian-American physical educator, physician, chaplain, sports coach and innovator. He invented the game of basketball at age 30 in 1891. He wrote the original basketball rule book and founded the University of Kansas basketball program. Naismith lived to see basketball adopted as an Olympic demonstration sport in 1904 and as an official event at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin.

Naismith was born in 1861 in Almonte (now part of Mississippi Mills), Ontario, Canada. Although described as a slight figure, standing 5 foot 10 ½ and listed at 178 pounds, he was a talented and versatile athlete, representing McGill University in North American football, lacrosse, rugby, soccer and gymnastics. Naismith earned a BA in Physical Education (1888) and a Diploma at the Presbyterian College in Montreal (1890). He taught physical education and became the first McGill director of athletics, but then left Montreal to become a physical education teacher at the YMCA International Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts.

The first game of "Basket Ball" was played in December 1891. In a handwritten report, Naismith described the circumstances of the inaugural match; in contrast to modern basketball, the players played nine versus nine, handled a soccer ball, not a basketball, and instead of shooting at two hoops, the goals were a pair of peach baskets.