Physical education dates back to Plato’s school, Akademia, in 386 BCE in ancient Greece.

Modern education as we know it, however, first appeared during the early nineteenth
century with Friedrich Jahn, (the father of modern physical education)

Friedrich Jahn who began teaching outdoor physical education activities for students in the
secondary schools where he worked

Jahn’s methods

included parallel bars, rings, and the balance beam as fundamental gymnastics equipment,
which were essential to his creation of the first gymnastics club for youth and adults,

leading to Charles Beck

officially bringing gymnastics to the United States in 1825 and teaching in Northampton,
Massachusetts at a reform school modeled after the German system of the time.

Charles Follen

founded the first college gymnasium at Harvard University one year later in 1826, and,
several decades later, in 1851, the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) launched its
first North America chapter in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, on December 9 and its initial U.S.
chapter on December 29 in Boston, Massachusetts, respectively.

After the Civil War ended

many states passed laws requiring schools to include physical education components into
their respective curriculum.

By 1950

over 400 institutions of higher learning had introduced and established majors in physical
education. Colleges began focusing on intramural sports — specifically track, field, and
American football — at this time as well.

The year 1970

produced an amendment made to the Federal Education Act that allowed women at the
high school and college levels to compete in athletic completion and completely outlawed
gender-based discrimination from government-funded programs.