THE BOOK OF SPORTS

The origin of the skis is very ancient. It seems there were born between Siberia and Mongolia, in the Atai Mountains area, even before the wheel. Tradition could also go back to the Lapps in the 4th century BC where peoples from Asia Minor they used  “wooden shoes” to get around on the snow. The modern origins of skiing began to occur when the first technical innovations arrives at the end of the 19th century.

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During the Roman Empire there was a game similar to that took the name of “paganica”. The modern origins instead date back to late medieval Scotland, when it is told two shepherds throwing themselves a stone with two sticks. It was not until 1744 in Edinburgh that the company of Gentlemen Golf players decided to transcribe the rules of its members and eventually founding current game of Golf.

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The knights appears to have appeared for the first time in nomadic tribes of Russia where they used to ride bareback. Only later in Greece, they began to use of a pillow with the straps. Then the Romans were the first to use the saddle. In Greek and Roman history, those who knew how to ride acquired an added value in society.
Horse riding was also considered to be beneficial for the health of the youth.

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Horse racing has its roots in famous ancient sculptures, including Persia, Greece, Egypt and Babylon. Many of these ancient horse races featured a horse-drawn carriage, an aspect that has carried over to modern racing. Horse races were introduced in 680 B.C. during the 25th OLYMPIC GAMES in Greece, but only became common place after 2500 years and then only in the 1800s, when nobles began to challenge each other in gallop races: races without prize money, in the countryside, in unpaved city avenues that were only for honours and showcases.

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The game of tennis has very distant roots. The first evidence of such games dates back to the Middle Ages.
In France Jeu de Paume, in Italy Pallacorda, the ancestor of the game of tennis was widespread in courts across Europe as early as 1100. Initially, the ball was thrown barehanded, then with a glove, and it was not until 1521 that a racket was used. A continuous evolution that led to the game we know today.

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Motor sport was born out of man's instinct to challenge himself and his own achievements. In 1895, the first real motor race in history was
held, the Paris-Bordeaux-Paris. The first major international race
was the Gordon Bennett Cup. Dating back to 1900, it was the beginning of modern motor racing. Over the years, these races became more and more numerous until, around 1910, real Grand Prix races began to be held.

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Originating in India and already practiced in 300 B.C. under the name Sagol Kangjei, it spread first to Persia and then to most of Asia. It then spread to Arabia and Tibet, where it took the name 'pulu', meaning 'root', perhaps in reference to the tree (willow) from which the material for making the ball was extracted. It later spread to China and Japan, where it enjoyed enormous success. Discovered by the English in the 18th century, it was imported to Europe during the following century.

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The biggest show in the world: a destined dream to conquer children and adults through playand imagination. We must go back to ancient Egypt to find the origins of the circus: magic ritual practices religious and mystics, where jugglers and dancers cheered the court of the pharaoh. In ancient Rome the shows of gladiators and horses filled the master theaters and amphitheatres. The tradition of the modern circus stems from the art of the acrobats, men who writhing their bodies outnumbered their physical limits.

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Episkyros, from the Greek “ played with the feet” takes us to the ancient Greece passing from imperial Rome to reach the middle ages. The contested ball was leather made, filled with bran and hay. The home of modern football is England: English colleges were inspired by the Florentine football that was practiced in medieval era in Florence. In 1848 football in England was an elite sport: only young students of schools and college played football. The classes always consisted of ten students, plus the teacher wo always play with them. This is the reason why it is played with 11 players.

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Cycling is one of the most popular and enduringly beloved sports. Its history is inevitably intertwined with that of the bicycle. The first documented bicycle race was held in the May 31, 1868 near Paris, on a 1200-meter stretch within the Sant-Cloud Park. The winner was James Moore an Englishman living in France. Some of the races held at that time were destined to become classics, such was the case of the Paris-Roubaix, characterized by cobblestone sections and inspired by a group of daredevils who set out from the outskirts of Paris to the north of France with the intention of riding 250 km by midnight. These were the years of the birth of the great stage races, such as the Tour of Italy in 1909 only preceded by the Tour de France in 1903.

With the invention of steam engines and bicycles, scientists of the 19th century soon realized that the combination of these two technologies could substantially improve transport on public roads. The American Sylvester Howard Roper (1823-1896) invented a two-cylinder steam velocipede in 1867. A velocipede is an early form of bicycle in which the pedals are attached to the front wheel. Roper’s invention can be considered the first motorcycle if the definition of motorcycle is allowed to include a coal-powered steam engine. Over the next 10 years dozens of different models appeared for self-propelled bicycles, but it is widely recognized that the first to use a gasoline internal combustion engine was the creation of the German Gottlieb Daimler and his partner Wilhelm Maybach.

The Mille Miglia is considered one of the most beautiful races in the world, it is the symbol of a race with epic contours and perfectly mixes sporting spirit, passion for engines and extravagance.
It was a long-distance competitive race that took place in Italy for 24 years between 1927 and 1957. The idea was born from four young fans of cars and races (the "four musketeers"), Count Aymo Maggi of Gradella, his friend, and first financier, Count Franco Mazzotti, both driving the Renzo Castagneto, with excellent organizational skills and a past as a driver, and the journalist Giovanni Canestrini of the "Gazzetta dello Sport", in response to the failure to award the Italian Grand Prix to Brescia, their hometown.

The origins of the sailboat are still much debated today. It is not easy, in fact, to know precisely when for the first time man managed to use the wind to move in the sea. The first traces of boats driven by the wind date back as far as 6000 B.C. but it was the Egyptians,  with their boats made with papyrus reeds, the first to make a massive use of them around 4000 B.C. Later Greeks , Phoenicians and Arabs, who most likely learned to sail from the Egyptians, used their sailboats to dominate the seas. For these civilizations and for at least a thousand years, the main type of sailing ship was the square arm.

With its rich and exciting history, rugby is one of the most popular (and most physical) sports in the world.
The game of rugby, like American football, originally comes from football. His popular roots are to be attributed to a student of the Rugby School, an independent school in England. On November 1, 1823, during a football match, William Web Ellis, caught by a great rush of enthusiasm while playing football, began to run towards the goal of the opposing team but holding the ball in his arms, ignoring the basic rule of football "no hands".