When was baseball invented?

Answer 1

Earliest known reference of Baseball from England is in a 1744 publication, A Little Pretty Pocket-Book by John Newbery. It contains a wood-cut illustration of boys playing "baseball" (showing a similar set-up to the modern game) and a rhymed description of the game. Also, a British letter dating from 1748 by Lady Hervey describes how the then Prince of Wales diverted his time playing baseball. The English author Jane Austen specifically mentions the game of baseball in her novel, Northanger Abbey, being played by the protagonist, Catherine Moreland.

The English lawyer William Bray recorded a game of baseball on Easter Monday 1755 in Guidlford, Surrey, England; Bray's diary was verified authentic in September 2008.

By 1796 the rules of the English game were well enough established to earn a mention in German scholar Johann Gutmuts book on popular pastimes, that described "Englische Base-ball" involving a contest between two teams, in which "the batter has three attempts to hit the ball while at the home plate"; only one out was required to retire a side. These rules pre-date any American by over 50 years.

The first recorded baseball contest took place in 1846. Cartwright's Knickerbockers lost to the New York Baseball Club in a game at the Elysian Fields, in Hoboken, New Jersey.

The first openly professional team suited up in 1869 but men were being paid under the table or by other methods long before that. The first successful professional league, National Association, began in 1871. The first widely recognized major league was the National League in 1876.

Answer 2

1567 by bob sheferman

Answer 3

17,100s