First Author: Alex and Allison

History of Badminton

Badminton was a game that began in ancient times and has continued to thrive and evolve over time. 

• The Chinese were the first to play a game related to badminton that used a shuttle in the 5th Century ^[1]
• Five centuries later a game appeared in Greece, China, Japan and India called Battledore and Shuttlecock 
  • Battledore refers to the raquet and the game was played by trying to keep the shuttlecock in the air

• During the 16th century the Europeans began playing the game and when the Soldiers brought back word of the way the game was played in India in the 1860's with a net then the Europeans began playing with a net as well.

• Badminton was launched in 1873 at the Badminton House, Gloucestershire owned by the Duke of Beaufort. 

• The Duke of Beaufont had a party in 1877 and declared the game played at his party "the Badminton game" ^[2]

• Since the Duke brought it into popularity the game has since grown into a popular that has organizations and clubs devoted to the game
  • The Bath Badminton Club- founded in 1877
  • Thomas Cup (Men's Tournament)
  • Uber Cup (Women's Tournament)

• The Badminton Association of England published the first set of rules in 1893 launched badminton in a house called "Dunbar" at 6 Waverley Grove, Portsmouth, England on September 13th.
• In 1899, the first badminton competition in the world took place, called The All England Badminton Championships.^[3]

• In 1934, the Badminton World Federation (BWF) was founded by Canada, Denmark, England, France, the Netherlands, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland, and Wales. India joined in 1936. Presently, the BWF regulates badminton internationally.^[4]

• Badminton was officially recognized as an Olympic sport during the 1992 games.

Pictures:

http://72.232.229.42/thumb/3/39/Battledore-and-shuttlecock.jpg/280px-Battledore-and-shuttlecock.jpg

http://www.buckleybc.org.uk/images/history-pic.jpg

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.ittf.com/museum/images/evolution/sambucus2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.ittf.com/museum/history.html&usg=__aGkZnlt0v9SFkybPSpdxDAXR4hI=&h=596&w=600&sz=268&hl=en&start=3&tbnid=PVE1iBl1iG2YwM:&tbnh=134&tbnw=135&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dancient%2Bbadminton%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.tacticsport.com/enweb/images/about_badminton_img/badminton_poster.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.tacticsport.com/enweb/history.html&usg=__7EWyibDcW8RN14Q_eENRJ8TvbBw=&h=300&w=183&sz=8&hl=en&start=215&tbnid=C1fCpDheBZb1OM:&tbnh=116&tbnw=71&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dancient%2Bbadminton%26start%3D200%26gbv%3D2%26ndsp%3D20%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/archive/d/df/20060223174003!Battledore_-_Youthful_Sports.png

http://www.flags.net/fullindex.htm