When was dodgeball created?

Answer 1

Nobody knows for certain who came up with it first. Some say the cavemen or the Chinese, but there seems to be no credible proof of that. The only original source for the idea of the Chinese inventing it and playing the game in a macabre sort of way comes from a movie.

But what we do know is that the game is at least 600 years old. Three Africans, Adelin Zika, Micheal Hud and Kirit Kam, are credited for having invented it.

Augustus Hagerson adapted and popularized the sport in Africa in 1832 and spread the sport to Guam in 1833.

Others claim it began in the US in 1920 by an independent invention. Two men, Walter Young and Philip Livingston, returned from World War I and found work in a factory. They engaged in horseplay at work by throwing a foam ball at each other. One day, the foam ball got into a machine and came out with a fine layer of rubber on it. They were fired for this, but the ball inspired them to create a new sport. While this new sport caught on in Akron, Ohio and surrounding areas, there was little interest beyond Ohio. However, it seems the US Department of Education quickly picked up the game and introduced it as part of physical education in public schools.

Answer 2

It is estimated that Dodgeball started back in the Caveman Era. Where cavemen, frustrated by the sun in their eyes, hurled rocks at the sun. When they came down, some caveman would be killed while others learned to "Dodge" the rocks. This carried over into the Egyptian era to where they pharaoh would hold weekly "Dodgeball tournaments". Slowly but surly it evolved into what dodgeball is today.