I'm sure I'm not the only history buff around, so I'm starting this thread for early historical changes (up to about 1940) that impacted sports. That's different from the "changes that were resisted" thread which is mainly stuff in my lifetime that I or other members witnessed.

The "dribble" in basketball began as a sort of circumvention of the rules. Dr. Naismith's first basketball rules, when he invented the game, required the player holding the ball to stay in place until he passed or shot. But players soon found that if they were too closely guarded to pass or shoot, they could roll or bounce the ball, or throw it over their head, to briefly relinquish control so they could get it back legally. They quickly found that they could achieve this effect by bouncing it continually, thus keeping better control without violating Dr. Naismith's rule since they weren't holding the ball. Soon this "dribbling" was addressed and regulated in the rules.