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Did you know cannon shooting was once a sport? Discover 10 extinct games

Published on January 12, 2025

Credit: Hendrick Avercamp, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

There was a time when there were countless sports that enjoyed great popularity but are now extinct. Some of them are the ancestors of modern sports. Others had to be banned because they involved high levels of violence. From the ancient Greeks to the Middle Ages and pre-Columbian civilizations, in this article, we’ll explore 10 sports that no longer exist but that you will surely find super interesting. Read on to discover more!

Pankration

Credit: Kleophrades painter / Rijksmuseum, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

The ancient Greeks were the creators of the Olympic Games, so it is unsurprising that they also invented many games and sports. Pankration was an ancient Greek wrestling match with a twist: there were no rules and contenders played completely naked. The word pankration means "all of power".

Pankration is considered the historical antecedent of contemporary mixed martial arts. According to the myth, it was Theseus who invented it during his confrontation with the Minotaur in the labyrinth and who subsequently transmitted it to mankind. Pankration combined boxing and wrestling techniques. Kicks and punches to the face were allowed, and wrenches and grapples were used to immobilize the opponent, reduce him to the ground, and force him to surrender.

La soule à la crosse

Credit: Unknown authorUnknown author illustrator (based on a sketch by M.J.L. de Condé), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

La soule à la crosse was a popular game played by peasants in Normandy, Brittany, and Picardy from the Middle Ages through the 19th centuries. It was practiced during village festivals and the rules were simple: Two teams of up to 500 participants each had to get a large ball into the opponent's net or onto their side. The game could last for several days, especially since the goals could be separated by miles.

La soule à la crosse means "the hit with a stick". It was a game very similar to hurling, Irish Gaelic football, and is a sort of precursor of other modern sports such as American and Australian football, and Canadian Lacrosse. Soule was such a violent sport that ecclesiastics called it "this fatal sport" and on numerous occasions, it was banned.

Ōllamalīztli

Credit: Henry VL

This extraordinary ceremonial ball game was the most important in the ancient Mayan world. Ōllamalīztli means "to play in a ritual ball game" in the Nahuatl language. In English, it is known as Pok Ta Pok, a term coined in 1932 by Danish archaeologist Frans Blom who probably adapted it from the word puctal-puctal which means "to bend down several times".

The rectangular playing field was delimited on its sides by two parallel high walls holding 20 ft. high stone rings through which the ball had to pass. The objective of the game was to keep the ball permanently in motion while scoring points against the other team. Sounds familiar?

Club swinging

Credit: https://www.britannica.com/topic/physical-culture, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Club swinging originated in India and was an exercise practiced by soldiers to develop strength and mobility. The British Army imported it to the Western world, becoming popular in the Victorian era among men and women alike. There were even gyms set up especially for this sport.

Club swinging competitions were held at the 1904 and 1932 Summer Olympics. Participants held a bowling pin-like club in each hand and spun them in a complicated maneuvering routine, a strange mixture of juggling and rhythmic gymnastics. The sport remained popular in America until the 1950s. The last U.S. championship took place in 1953.

Jeu de Paume

Credit: Voderf, graveur, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Jeu de Paume is an ancestor of racquet sports invented in France. It was a kind of indoor tennis very popular in the 18th century. In Italy it was known as Giocco della palla with similar rules but with subtle differences. Jeu de paume literally means "game of palm", as it was initially played with bare hands.

The game consisted of returning a ball over a net, as players do in modern tennis. The way of counting points (15, 30, 40, and game) is the same used in tennis to this day. Jeu de Paume was one of the disciplines in competition at the 1908 Olympic Games. An American, Jay Gould II, won the gold medal.

Jousting

Credit: h

Jousting was a popular sport among the Anglo-Norman knighthood in which they could test their military skills. It arose in the Middle Ages and continued to be practiced well into the 16th century. The term jousting comes from the Old French word joster, in turn from Latin iuxtare "to approach, to meet".

Jousting was a duel based on a knight on his galloping horse aiming his lance at his opponent's shield or throat. The objective was to seize weapons, armor, and anything else of value that the opponent was carrying. Despite the violence and danger involved in this sport, honor, glory and the expectation of financial gain were strong motivations for participation.

Cannon shooting

Credit: Jacques Callot, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Yes, believe it or not, cannon shooting was not only a sport but also a competition held in the Olympic Games in Paris in 1900. Well, actually it was more of a demonstration organized by the Parisian Society for Cannon Shooting, but it is so unique that it’s worth mentioning.

The competition was divided into three categories: individual shooting, field battery shooting, and assault battery shooting. In the individual round, participants had to fire a cannon four times as fast as possible at targets 195 ft away. For the field battery firing, 16 officers assisted by 30 other people fired six cannons. The prize for the winners was not medals as is customary in the Olympics, but cash.

Episkyros

Credit: Potier A (Athènes), potier, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Another popular sport among the ancient Greeks was episkyros. Episkyros is considered one of the forerunners of contemporary games such as rugby and American soccer. Dating back to the 5th century BC, this game was a vigorous —and sometimes violent— physical activity involving a large number of participants and spectators.

The main objective of the game was to pass a leather ball filled with sand or grass using any part of the body, including the hands, into the opposing team's goal. As episkyros spread to nearby regions, such as Rome, it gradually evolved into the Roman harpastum (meaning "snatched away"). Harpastum shared similarities with its Greek predecessor but had some variations that made it more similar to the game we now know as soccer.

Cuju

Credit: Su Hanchen, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Cuju or Ts'u-chü originated during the Han dynasty in China, more than 2,000 years ago. Like many of the sports included in this list, cuju is also considered a precursor to modern games such as soccer, basketball, and volleyball. The word cuju is a combination of the words cu, meaning "to kick", and ju, which means "a type of leather ball".

This ancestral football game combined athletic abilities with technical skills and its practice was considered a cultural and ceremonial event. It was mainly practiced by soldiers as part of their military training, as it was believed to strengthen the body and mind. Over time, cuju became popular among the civilian population, turning it into a highly appreciated recreational activity within Chinese society.

Kolf

Credit: National Gallery of Art, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Kolf is a game that originated in the Netherlands during the 13th century. This ancestor of modern golf was played in open fields or indoors. It is believed that the name comes from the Middle High German word for club, "kolbe". Kolf consisted of hitting a ball with a long club to get it to a specific spot in as few strokes as possible.

This pastime required skill, precision, and strategy. It was popular among people of all ages and social classes and was a common activity seen in squares and parks. As it spread throughout Europe, Kolf was adopted in different countries with variations in the rules and equipment used, which contributed to its popularity and evolution over the centuries.

SHOULD ROCKING CHAIRS MAKE A COMEBACK?

Hanging Beds, Phone Niches, And Things Rarely Seen In Houses Anymore

Published on January 12, 2025

Credit: Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

Many technological solutions of the past that have been replaced by newer inventions still linger in old houses. Some of them, you might even have seen in your grandparent’s home or somewhere else. A number of these old features, like the laundry chute, are quite handy even in this day and age. Take a look at the following ten items and see if you can recognize some of them.

Phone Niche

Credit: Quino Al

Until a couple of decades ago, landline telephones were an essential means of communication. Every place had one and it was a communal device for every person in that location. Telephones were big, sturdy, and quite elegant, actually. But they weren’t always so compact.

Because of their big, heavy stature, they required quite a bit of space. Homes used to have niches in walls for this purpose. These phones had cords, so people had to stand around to talk. Hence, phone niches often appeared in hallways, kitchens, and bedrooms.

Small Iron Door At Street Level

Credit: Marcos Assis

It might seem odd today but, up until around 1940, most families heated their homes by burning coal. Coal delivery men traveled door-to-door to provide people with the fuel to power their furnaces.

These men shoveled coal through a small door and down the chute into the basement. Once in the basement, homeowners could shovel the coal directly into the furnace. Today most of these chutes have been sealed, though you will often still see the iron doors on older homes.

Ceiling Bed

Credit: Grant Durr

Not to be confused with the famous Murphy bed, which folds into a closet or wall to save floor space when not in use, the Sorlien ceiling bed was stowed in the ceiling. This device was lowered from the ceiling via a crank, with hidden weights in the wall working to counterbalance the bed.

The obvious advantage of this bed was that it took up no closet or wall space, with floor space used only when in service. The ceiling bed only worked for houses with an attic above.

Push-Button Light Switch

Credit: Stefan Steinbauer

Even basic things like light switches evolve. There was a time when those humble but useful devices had not one but two buttons for each light. One to turn on the light, one to turn it off.

The button you pushed, stayed down. And, when you pushed a button, the one that was down, popped right up. Neat, right?

Boot Scraper

Credit: Melanie Kreutz

It seems like a quite useful thing to have if your shoes are dirty and you need to scrape them off before entering a place, right? If you’ve ever walked up to someone’s front door and seen a strange ground-level cast-iron contraption, that is it: it’s a boot scraper.

In some homes, these tiny iron ornaments still stick out in front of the door. Many include ornate spirals and designs, including animals. Usually, two boot scrapers would border the door at the end of a walkway.

Root Cellar

Credit: Ray Shrewsberry

Root cellars were used to store vegetables, fruits, nuts, and other things for long periods. Some were simply an unfinished room in the basement while others were built into the ground a short distance from the house.

Modern refrigeration has rendered root cellars unnecessary for most people. But if you have one, you can certainly still put it to good use and store foods that maybe don’t need to be frozen but are best kept at a cooler temperature than that room.

Razor Slit in Medicine Cabinet

Credit: Nacho Fernández

If the idea of a dark space full of rusty razor blades right in your bathroom gives you the chills, you are not alone. But there was a time when that was a real thing. A couple of decades ago, medicine cabinets had a tiny slit to dispose of old razor blades. Where might those dirty razors go? Nowhere, really. They merely went into the wall.

If someone were to remove the medicine cabinet, they’d likely see all the discarded razors. Keep that in mind if you plan to have someone replace your old cabinet.

Milk Door

Credit: Jason Murphy

Once upon a time, milk was delivered door to door in the early morning hours by milkmen dressed in white overalls. That is why having a milk door was standard in many homes. The small door was situated on the outside of the house and was used by the milkman to pick up empty bottles and leave fresh ones.

Milkmen usually delivered the drinks early in the morning so families could drink milk with breakfast. Sometimes, milkmen would deliver other products such as eggs, cheese, butter, and soft drinks.

Picture Hanging Molding

Credit: Kaylah Matthews

Imagine not having to drive a nail through your walls to hang a picture. It would be convenient, right? Well, until some decades ago, that was the norm. Enter picture hanging molding.

The whole contraption looked like, well, a molding design in the upper segment of the interior walls. Movable hooks were hung from such rails and, in turn, pictures were suspended from those hooks.

Laundry chute

Credit: engin akyurt

Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a little door on your bathroom wall where you could simply toss your laundry and have it fall right next to the washing machine? Well, there was a time when that was the case in many homes with more than one story.

Laundry chutes were designed to relieve the burden of carrying laundry. They're so handy that many people still install them today. No one knows who invented the first laundry chute, or when. Newspaper articles describing early linen chutes date back to the 1890s.