It was William Morgan, a physical education teacher in an American university.

In 1892, one of his colleagues invented basketball, but he found this new sport too physically intense for most people to play.

So he thought up another game, which didn’t involve physical contact with opponents, to make the game playable by all, even the elderly.

This game was a mix of basketball, baseball, tennis and handball and in 1895, he created Mintonette.