Not every sports name is as simple as football

What is “tennis”? Few people know what the names of these sports mean

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Some sports' names are self-explanatory. Even if you've never seen a game of basketball, the word itself suggests it involves a ball and a basket, right? If you've never seen a game of baseball, you'd probably guess it has something to do with a ball and bases. But other sports have names that don’t offer any obvious clues. Where does the word chess come from? Or badminton? Read on to find out what the names of these ten sports actually mean!

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We'll start our list with an ancient sport first recorded over 2,000 years ago, when the Romans played a ball game known as harpastum, a term derived from the Greek word meaning "to seize."

While the sport has taken many forms in different places over time, the version we know today is said to have originated at a school in Rugby, in eastern Warwickshire. In 1823, a pupil named William Webb Ellis, while playing football, broke the rules by picking up the ball and running with it.

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The word tennis is believed to have originated from players calling out the Middle English word tenetz!, which itself comes from the Old French tenez, meaning "hold," "receive," or "take."

In the 1870s, a Welsh army officer patented a game called sphairistike, the Greek word for "ball." He formalized the rules and standardized a tennis set that included racquets, balls, posts, and a net. Although the name sphairistike never caught on, the new game flourished under the simpler name tennis.

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While many people believe that golf was invented by the Scots, modern theories suggest it may have actually originated in the Netherlands. As for the name itself, the most widely accepted etymology is that golf comes into English via the Scots word gouf, which is derived from the Middle Dutch word colf, meaning "stick," "club," or "bat." Another theory is that golf comes from the Scots word goulf, meaning "to strike" or "cuff," which may also trace back to the same Dutch root, colf.

The game is thought to have started in the Netherlands before being brought by Dutch sailors to the east coast of Scotland, where it eventually evolved into the game we know today.

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The world’s second most popular sport after soccer, cricket has been around for a long time. The name of the sport has been traced back to several sources. In the earliest reference, it was spelled creckett, which may have been derived from the Middle Dutch krick(-e), meaning "stick"; the Old English cricc or cryce, meaning "crutch" or "staff"; or the French word criquet, meaning "wooden post."

Another possible origin is the Middle Dutch word krickstoel, which referred to a long, low stool used for kneeling in church—similar in appearance to the long, low wicket with two stumps used in early forms of cricket.

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Depending on where you are, the ice version or one of the summer versions of the game may be more familiar—but in all cases, the word hockey has the same origin. The term itself is of unknown origin, but one theory is that it derives from hoquet, a Middle French word for a shepherd's stave. The curved, or "hooked," ends of the sticks used in hockey would indeed have resembled these staves.

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The game of snooker was created by British Army officers stationed in India during the second half of the 19th century. Combining the rules of other cue sports, Neville Chamberlain (not the British Prime Minister) helped devise and popularize the game we know today.

The word snooker was British Army slang for fresh recruits and inexperienced military personnel. Apparently, Chamberlain used the term to mock the poor performance of a young fellow officer at the table—and the name stuck.

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While most of the world knows this sport as football, in the United States, it is known as soccer. Interestingly, the term soccer originated in England, where the modern sport was born. When the Football Association was created in 1863, Oxford students began distinguishing between "rugger" (rugby football) and "assoccer" (association football). The latter was eventually shortened to soccer.

In the United States, however, a different sport evolved that borrowed elements from football and came to be known as _gridiron football_—later simply shortened to football. As a result, American association football players increasingly adopted the term soccer to avoid confusion.

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Another one of those names that has been around so long it feels carved in stone, chess does, in fact, have an origin. The name comes from Persia and is derived from the Persian word shah, meaning "king." The phrase shah mat, meaning "the king is helpless" or "the king is defeated," was used in Persian to signal checkmate.

When this phrase reached the English-speaking world, it evolved into the term checkmate. The word chess itself ultimately derives from shah as well, though filtered through several languages over time.

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A sport with a name as English as Badminton actually has its origins in Poona, a game played by British Army officers stationed in India in the 1860s. The name Badminton comes from a stately home in Gloucestershire, England—the residence of the Duke of Beaufort—where the game was first played in 1873.

The roots of the sport, however, can be traced even further back to ancient Greece, China, and India. It is closely related to the old children’s game battledore and shuttlecock.

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We finish the list with one of the most famous sports played by the fewest people in the world: Formula 1. With a name so unusual it could be mistaken for a baby food brand or a chemical product, Formula 1 is called that because it refers to a set of rules and regulations all participants must follow. The term "formula" signifies these guidelines, while the numeral "one" represents the highest level of international motorsport competition.

When fact beats fiction

A book predicted the Titanic years before it sank! 10 unique coincidences

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A man who saved two babies by chance. A pair of twins separated at birth who lived nearly identical lives despite their split. A person who survived three different maritime disasters. And a book that predicted the Titanic’s fate. Wow! Believe it or not, the world is full of surprises—and coincidences are more common than we think. Some say they don’t believe in this kind of thing, but history is full of incredible events that could defy even the most stubborn of doubters. Join us as we explore 10 incredible coincidences from history that will leave you speechless!

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Although punctuality has a great reputation, there are times when being late can actually be a blessing—and there’s a story from the 1950s that proves it.

The year was 1950, and a lucky accident occurred in Beatrice, Nebraska. The choir of the West Side Baptist Church was supposed to gather at 7:20 p.m. on March 1 for practice. But the rehearsal never took place.

At 7:25 that evening, the church exploded due to a gas leak. The incredible part? Absolutely no one was hurt.

Normally, the choir members were very punctual, but that day, they weren’t. Miraculously, each of the 15 choir members experienced some unexpected delay—each for a different reason—that kept them from arriving on time and, ultimately, saved their lives.

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The American Civil War forever changed our country's history—and also Wilmer McLean's life. But who was this man?

Wilmer McLean was a farmer living peacefully with his family in the town of Manassas, Virginia. But as fate would have it, his house stood very close to the site of the First Battle of Bull Run in July 1861—the first major battle between the Union and the Confederacy.

To escape the war, McLean and his family relocated to what he thought would be a quieter, safer place: Appomattox Court House, Virginia.

Four years later, on April 9, 1865, General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant. And where did this historic moment take place? That’s right—in the parlor of McLean’s new home. The farmer is said to have declared, "The war began in my front yard and ended in my parlor."

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This is one of the most surprising cases on this list—not just a single coincidence, but a series of unbelievable parallels in the lives of two men.

In 1940, a pair of twins were separated at birth. Unaware of each other’s existence, they were adopted and raised by different families.

When they reunited 39 years later, in 1979, they uncovered a string of coincidences that seemed almost impossible. To begin with, both had been named Jim by their adoptive parents. As children, they each had a dog named Toy. They also had remarkably similar careers—both worked in security. Each had been married twice, and here’s the incredible part: both married a woman named Linda the first time, and a woman named Betty the second time. And as if that weren’t enough, both men had a son—and each named his son James.

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Although this historical coincidence is well known, it remains incredibly surprising.

We’re talking about the strange connection between Mark Twain’s life and the appearance of the famous Halley’s Comet. The legendary American writer was born on November 30, 1835, in Missouri—the same year Halley’s Comet was visible in the sky, an event that occurs only once every 76 years.

But that’s not all. Twain himself once predicted that, just as he had come into the world with the comet, he would also leave with it. Incredibly, he passed away on April 21, 1910—just one day after Halley’s Comet made its next appearance in the sky.

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In 1898, author Morgan Robertson wrote a book that would later become part of one of history’s most incredible coincidences—or should we say, predictions? At the time, it was just another work of fiction. But 14 years later, his book was thrust back into the spotlight.

Futility, or The Wreck of the Titan, was the title of this novel about a massive ship called the Titan, described as the most luxurious vessel of its time. On its maiden voyage, the Titan suffers a tragic fate: it strikes a massive iceberg and sinks in the North Atlantic Ocean.

The cause? A collision eerily similar to what would happen in real life just over a decade later. Does it ring any bells?

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Saving someone’s life isn’t an everyday occurrence—but saving two lives in the exact same way, and entirely by chance? That’s something else.

That’s exactly what happened to Joseph Figlock, a street cleaner in Detroit in the 1930s. Figlock became a hero to two families after saving their babies in the most unexpected way: both children fell from windows and landed directly in his arms.

The first incident occurred in 1937, when a baby fell from a fourth-story window and landed on Figlock as he cleaned the street below. Both suffered only minor injuries and survived.

A year later, in 1938, a different baby fell from a window onto the very same street—again, while Figlock was working. Once more, he cushioned the child’s fall, and both survived.

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American history has no shortage of fascinating stories—and even a bit of mysticism. One of the most astonishing coincidences involves John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, the second and third Presidents of the United States.

Both were Founding Fathers and signers of the Declaration of Independence. Though they had political differences later in life, fate seemed to reunite them in a remarkable way.

They both died on the same day—and not just any day. It was July 4, 1826, exactly 50 years after the Declaration of Independence was adopted.

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Surprisingly, the coincidence between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson wasn’t the only one of its kind.

A similarly remarkable connection links three of the greatest scientists in history: Stephen Hawking, Albert Einstein, and Galileo Galilei. All three made monumental contributions to our understanding of physics, the universe, and the nature of reality itself.

But the links between them go beyond science. Stephen Hawking passed away on March 14, 2018, at the age of 76. That date also marks the birth of Albert Einstein in 1879. And while Galileo Galilei, often called the father of modern science, died on January 8, 1642, Einstein was born almost exactly 300 years later, forming a symbolic chain between these scientific legends.

Three brilliant minds. One extraordinary legacy.

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Anthony Hopkins is well known for his stellar performances in The Silence of the Lambs (1991), Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992), and Nixon (1995), among other films.

One of the movies he starred in was The Girl from Petrovka (1974), based on the novel of the same name by George Feifer. When offered the role, Hopkins set out to find a copy of the book to learn more about the story. But he had no luck—apparently, the book wasn’t yet available in the UK.

Accepting the situation, Hopkins headed home. As he sat down to wait for a train, he noticed something unusual: sitting on a bench beside him, as if waiting just for him, was a copy of The Girl from Petrovka.

And as if that weren’t incredible enough, it turned out this wasn’t just any copy—it was the author’s lost manuscript, complete with handwritten notes, which George Feifer himself had misplaced while editing the book for publication in the UK.

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Violet Jessop was an Argentine nurse of Irish descent who experienced not one, not two, but three maritime tragedies—and survived them all!

The first disaster occurred aboard the RMS Olympic, which collided with HMS Hawke in September 1911. Although the damage was severe, all passengers survived.

Just one year later, she was aboard the infamous RMS Titanic. When the ship struck an iceberg in 1912, she helped others board the rescue lifeboats before escaping herself.

Her final ordeal was aboard the HMHS Britannic, where she served as a nurse during World War I. When the ship struck a mine in the Aegean Sea in 1916, she once again survived—whether by luck or skill.

Over time, her incredible story earned her the nickname "Miss Unsinkable."