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Posted by: Patrick Hastings
On Thanksgiving Day in 1876, Princeton met Yale in Hoboken, NJ for the first football game played under the new rules agreed by the Intercollegiate Football Association. As innovations in the rules gradually shaped a distinctly American game, the tradition of playing and watching football on Thanksgiving spread across the United States.
Posted in: 19th Century, American History, Seasonal, Sports and Games
Posted by: Patrick Hastings
As our nation prepares to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States, the Library of Congress is producing a series of short films that present items from our collections related to American history and culture. Check out the latest films in the series!
Posted in: 18th Century, 19th Century, 20th Century, American History, Children's Literature, Education Outreach, History of the Book, Literature, Sports and Games, Thomas Jefferson, Women in Book History, Women's Stories
Posted by: Patrick Hastings
Because the game of baseball emerged and developed concurrent to the rise of cheap, mass-produced reading material, the Library has many printed artifacts from the mid-1800s that document the evolution and popularization of America's favorite pastime.
Posted in: 19th Century, Sports and Games, Uncategorized
Posted by: Amanda Zimmerman
During the 19th century in both England and America, physical fitness became an important aspect of structured health and education programs. In 1880, recognizing the public's growing interest in the use of dumbbells and clubs, New York City champion strongman Guss Hill (1858 – 1937) made his publishing debut with an early exercise book.
Posted in: 18th Century, 19th Century, Sports and Games
Posted by: Amanda Zimmerman
In creating Consider the Consequences! authors Doris Webster (1885-1967) and Mary Alden Hopkins (1876-1960) were toying with a new idea: write a book that provided readers with narrative options. The result was the first choice-based novel ever printed as well as the precursor to the Choose Your Own Adventure book series that would become popular later in the 20th century.
Posted in: 20th Century, Publishing, Sports and Games, Women in Book History, Women's Stories