Started in small-town Williamsport, PA, as a pastime for boys, Little League's popularity exploded after WWII as hundreds of leagues started up and the Little League World Series became a major event.
Like the bicycle, the marathon, and the roller-skating crazes that came before it, the pickleball (sometimes “pickle-ball” in newspapers) craze is sweeping the nation. Though it has elements of ping-pong, tennis, and badminton, it is a unique sport of its own. According to USA Pickleball’s website, three neighbors “Congressman Joel Pritchard, Barney McCallum, and Bill Bell …
Althea Gibson dominated women's tennis in the 1950s, winning titles at all of the major tournaments. But as the first African American woman to win those events, and in some cases, the first to be allowed to play in them, the road was rough.