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All 619 entries in the History section in one place: facts, era story points, rulebooks, eras, threads, people, organizations, places, championships, open questions.
Filter them by code, country, decade, topic, kind and evidence, or type a word from the title. Each result links to its page or to its place on the timeline.
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Rule lineage
How the rules themselves changed is traced in views that already exist on this site.
- The rulebook family tree: every edition on record and the earlier rules each one came from.
- Compare the codes: the codes side by side, for a year that has an edition.
- Terms as of a year: the glossary as it stood in a chosen year.
- The handball graph: the terms and the rules that connect them, edition by edition.
- Terms with a dated history, from the first rulebook that uses each sense:
Everything, by kind
Eras (12)
- Racket courts and saloon alleys: New York before the clubs (1860s-1887) Four-wall
- The alley game before the Association (-1884) 60x30
- The GAA's rules and the Atlantic matches (1884-1923) 60x30
- Casey's court, the Brooklyn Handball Club and The Sun's rules (1887-1896) Four-wall
- The A.A.U. takes the amateur game; the professionals keep the 'world' title (1896-1919) Four-wall
- One-wall rises in New York (1915-1922) One-wall
- The A.A.U. rule codes: four-wall, one-wall, hardball (1920-1950) Four-wall, One-wall
- The Irish Handball Council: All-Irelands, softball, the 40x20 (1924-2008) 60x30, 40x20
- The USHA, the common rules and the end of A.A.U. handball (1951-1978) Four-wall, One-wall, Three-wall
- USHA alone: one body, three codes, online rules (1978-) Four-wall, One-wall, Three-wall
- Wallball organizes: the big ball finds its bodies (1996-) One-wall
- GAA Handball: four codes, one rulebook (2009-) One-wall, 60x30, 40x20
Threads (9)
- One-wall becomes its own game One-wall, Three-wall
- Professionals and amateurs: the world title and the A.A.U. Four-wall, 60x30
- Who writes the rules: court keeper, newspaper, federation, board Four-wall, One-wall, 60x30, 40x20
- The Irish game abroad and at home Four-wall, One-wall, 60x30, 40x20
- Hinder: a word that changed meaning Four-wall, One-wall, 60x30
- The ball: from 'about two inches' to 1 7/8 in and 61 grams Four-wall, One-wall, 60x30
- The court shrinks: 60 x 30 in Ireland, 65 x 24 to 20 x 40 in America Four-wall, One-wall, 60x30, 40x20
- The serve: one ace line, then two lines, then the short line Four-wall, One-wall, 60x30
- The Y.M.C.A. and the gym game Four-wall, One-wall, Three-wall
Rulebooks (55)
- The set rules of the game (1889) 1889 · Four-wall
- A.A.U. handball rules for the first national championship, January 1897 (title not known) (1896) 1896 · Four-wall
- Rules and Explanations (1903) 1903 · Four-wall
- New handball rules (Y.M.C.A., Honolulu) (1907) 1907 · Four-wall
- Spalding's Official Handball Guide (AAU rules) (1926) 1926 · Four-wall
- Spalding's Official Handball Guide (AAU rules) (1927) 1927 · Four-wall
- Official Handball Playing Rules of the A.A.U. (in Spalding's Official Handball Guide, 1928) (1928) 1928 · Four-wall
- Hand ball rules; four wall court (1929) 1929 · Four-wall
- Hand ball rules; single wall court (1929) 1929 · One-wall
- How to Play Handball ... including official rules for play (1931) 1931 · Four-wall, One-wall
- Rules for volley ball, ice hockey, hand ball, squash-handball, field-handball, code ball (1932) 1932 · Four-wall
- Official hand ball rules. Also rules for squash handball, field-handball, code ball, volley ball (1933) 1933 · Four-wall
- Amateur Athletic Union official rules handball, four-wall, one-wall, four-wall hardball, squash handball, field handball, code ball, volley ball (1934) 1934 · Four-wall, One-wall
- Amateur Athletic Union official rules handball, four-wall, one-wall, four-wall hardball, code ball, volley ball (1935) 1935 · Four-wall, One-wall
- Amateur Athletic Union official rules handball, four-wall, one-wall, four-wall hardball, squash handball, field handball, code ball, volley ball (1936) 1936 · Four-wall, One-wall
- Amateur Athletic Union official rules handball (1939) 1939 · Four-wall
- Official rules handball (1942) 1942 · Four-wall
- Official rules handball : four-wall, one-wall, four-wall handball (1949) 1949 · Four-wall
- Official rules handball : four-wall, one-wall, four-wall handball (1949) 1949 · One-wall
- Official Handball A.A.U. Rules (1955) 1955 · Four-wall
- Official Rules, Handball (A.A.U.) (1957) 1957 · Four-wall
- Seawall Ball, the Atlantic Beach Navy Official... (title truncated) (1959) 1959 · One-wall
- The New and Official United States Handball Association One-Wall Rules With Interpretations 2000 (2000) 2000 · One-wall
- The New and Official United States Handball Association One-Wall Rules With Interpretations (2001) 2001 · One-wall
- The New and Official United States Handball Association One-Wall Rules With Interpretations (2002) 2002 · One-wall
- The New and Official United States Handball Association One-Wall Rules With Interpretations (2002) 2002 · One-wall
- Three-Wall Addendum - Changes from Four-Wall Rules (2004) 2004 · Three-wall
- The Official USHA Handball Rules, 2005 (2005) 2005 · Four-wall
- The Official USHA One-Wall Handball Rules, 2005 (2005) 2005 · One-wall
- Schedule 1: These are the rules changes passed by the USHA Board, June 2006 (2006) 2006 · Four-wall
- Official USHA One-Wall Handball Rules (2005 rules with the June 2006 Board changes incorporated) (2006) 2006 · One-wall
- Schedule 2: These are the rules changes passed by the USHA Board, May 2007 (2007) 2007 · Four-wall
- The Current Official USHA One-Wall Handball Rules (2008) 2008 · One-wall
- Handball Rules (Abridged for Curriculum) (2010) 2010 · Four-wall
- The Official USHA Handball Rules, 2012 (2012) 2012 · Four-wall
- The Official USHA Handball Rules, 2014 (2014) 2014 · Four-wall
- Official USHA One-Wall Handball Rules (2014) 2014 · One-wall
- Official USHA Handball Rulebook With Interpretations, One-Wall and Three-Wall Addendums (2015) 2015 · Four-wall, One-wall, Three-wall
- One-Wall Addendum - Changes from Four-Wall Rules (2015) 2015 · One-wall
- Three-Wall Addendum - Changes from Four-Wall Rules (2015) 2015 · Three-wall
- Four-Wall Rulebook (2017) 2017 · Four-wall
- One-Wall Addendum - Changes from Four-Wall Rules (2017) 2017 · One-wall
- Three-Wall Addendum - Changes from Four-Wall Rules (2017) 2017 · Three-wall
- Four-Wall Rulebook (2019) 2019 · Four-wall
- One-Wall Rulebook (2019) 2019 · One-wall
- Four-Wall Rulebook (2020) 2020 · Four-wall
- One-Wall Rulebook (2020) 2020 · One-wall
- Four-Wall Rulebook (2021) 2021 · Four-wall
- One-Wall Rulebook (2021) 2021 · One-wall
- Four-Wall Rulebook (2022) 2022 · Four-wall
- One-Wall Rulebook (2022) 2022 · One-wall
- Four-Wall Rulebook (2024) 2024 · Four-wall
- One-Wall Rulebook (2024) 2024 · One-wall
- One-Wall Rulebook (2025) 2025 · One-wall
- Three-Wall Addendum - Changes from Four-Wall Rules (2025) 2025 · Three-wall
People (31)
- Bernard McQuade 1876
- Denis Burns 1876
- James Dunn 1876
- P. J. Meagher 1876
- Phil Casey 1876
- Jimmy Burke 1880
- William Courtney 1880
- James Dunne 1883
- John Lawlor 1887
- Thomas F. Cook 1887
- Edward J. Sweeney 1891
- John C. Carmody 1892
- John Egan 1896
- Michael J. Egan 1896
- Napoleon Lavoie 1897
- William Schmidt 1897
- Tommy Gillen 1898
- James Fitzgerald 1899
- Oliver Drew 1902
- A. M. Gillen 1903
- Louis Keegan 1903
- Timothy Twohill 1903
- Martin J. Carney 1908
- Fred Staddleberger 1915
- J. L. Verstraten 1915
- Bill Ranft 1920
- Carl Haedge 1920
- Max Gold 1920
- Joe Murray 1923
- Robert L. Ripley 1928
- Charles J. O'Connell 1929
Organizations (12)
- New Jersey Handball Club 1902 · Four-wall
- Irish Handball Council 1924 · Four-wall, One-wall, 60x30, 40x20
- Confederación Internacional de Pelota a Mano 1928 · One-wall
- St. Albans Handball Association 1996 · One-wall
- United States Wallball Association 2010 · One-wall
- Amateur Athletic Union of the United States Four-wall, One-wall, Three-wall, 60x30
- AAU National Handball Committee Four-wall, One-wall, Three-wall
- Brooklyn Handball Club Four-wall
- Gaelic Athletic Association of Ireland Four-wall, 60x30, 40x20
- GAA Handball One-wall, 60x30, 40x20
- Jersey City Handball Club Four-wall
- United States Handball Association Four-wall, One-wall, Three-wall, 60x30
Places (8)
Championships (14)
- A.A.U. national amateur handball championship (singles) 1897 · Four-wall
- AAU national four-wall handball championships 1919 · Four-wall
- All-Ireland 60x30 Softball Championships 1925 · 60x30
- All-Ireland Hardball Championships 1925 · 60x30
- AAU national three-wall handball championships 1950 · Three-wall
- USHA national four-wall handball championships 1951 · Four-wall
- USHA national three-wall handball championships 1951 · Three-wall
- USHA national one-wall handball championships 1959 · One-wall
- All-Ireland 4-Wall Championships 1975 · 40x20
- Queen of the Courts 1996 · One-wall
- Wallball Open Irish Nationals 1997 · One-wall
- King of the Courts 1998 · One-wall
- Wallball Senior Championships 2016 · One-wall
- World Wallball Championships 2026 · One-wall
Facts and era story points (373)
230 dated facts and 143 points from the era stories, by decade. The timeline shows them in date order.
Open questions (105)
105 ideas we think may be true but cannot yet prove, each with its status in words and the test that would settle it. They are on the open questions page.