INVENTOR

William G. Morgan

1870 - 1942

Photo of William G. Morgan

Icon of person William G. Morgan

William George Morgan (January 23, 1870 – December 27, 1942) was the inventor of volleyball, originally called "Mintonette", a name derived from the game of badminton which he later agreed to change to better reflect the nature of the sport. He was born in Lockport, New York, U.S. He met James Naismith, inventor of basketball, while Morgan was studying at Springfield College in 1892. Like Naismith, Morgan pursued a career in Physical Education at the YMCA. Influenced by Naismith and basketball, in 1895, in Holyoke, Massachusetts, Morgan invented "Mintonette" a less vigorous team sport more suitable for older members of the YMCA but one that still required athletic skill. Later Alfred S. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of William G. Morgan has received more than 581,714 page views. His biography is available in 38 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 36 in 2019). William G. Morgan is the 51st most popular inventor (down from 48th in 2019), the 457th most popular biography from United States (down from 425th in 2019) and the 13th most popular American Inventor.

William George Morgan is most famous for being the inventor of the game of volleyball. He created the game in 1895 while working as a physical education director at the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) in Holyoke, Massachusetts. Volleyball quickly gained popularity and became an Olympic sport in 1964. Today, it is one of the most widely played sports in the world.

Memorability Metrics

  • 580k

    Page Views (PV)

  • 67.44

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 38

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 9.78

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 2.33

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Among INVENTORS

Among inventors, William G. Morgan ranks 51 out of 426. Before him are Wilhelm Maybach, John Herschel, Hans Lippershey, Willis Carrier, Herman Hollerith, and Karl Drais. After him are Douglas Engelbart, James Naismith, Emile Berliner, Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot, Louis Renault, and John Boyd Dunlop.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1870, William G. Morgan ranks 11. Before him are Franz Lehár, Jean Baptiste Perrin, Jules Bordet, Adolf Loos, Albert Fish, and Miguel Primo de Rivera. After him are Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach, Juho Kusti Paasikivi, Karl Renner, Lavr Kornilov, Ivan Bunin, and Louis II, Prince of Monaco. Among people deceased in 1942, William G. Morgan ranks 11. Before him are Edith Stein, José Raúl Capablanca, Bronisław Malinowski, Anton Drexler, Jean Baptiste Perrin, and Lucy Maud Montgomery. After him are Richard Willstätter, William Henry Bragg, Robert Bosch, Fritz Todt, Bruno Schulz, and Walther von Reichenau.

Others Born in 1870

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Others Deceased in 1942

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In United States

Among people born in United States, William G. Morgan ranks 457 out of 20,380. Before him are George Herbert Mead (1863), Robert Johnson (1911), Viggo Mortensen (1958), Diana Ross (1944), Herbert Spencer Gasser (1888), and Val Logsdon Fitch (1923). After him are Danny Trejo (1944), Roy Lichtenstein (1923), Robert Zemeckis (1952), Ralph Lauren (1939), Elinor Ostrom (1933), and Robert Coleman Richardson (1937).

Others born in United States

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Among INVENTORS In United States

Among inventors born in United States, William G. Morgan ranks 13. Before him are George Westinghouse (1846), Robert Fulton (1765), Ruth Handler (1916), Jimmy Wales (1966), Willis Carrier (1876), and Herman Hollerith (1860). After him are Douglas Engelbart (1925), Charles Goodyear (1800), Isaac Singer (1811), John Browning (1855), John Deere (1804), and Josephine Cochrane (1839).

American born Inventors

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