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500 BCE: The major period of Greek influence. The two major key elements of the education of Greek boys were “gymnastics” and “music”.
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Charles Beck became the first recognized teacher of physical education in the United Sates. He developed a program of German gymnastics at the Round Hill School in NorthHampton.
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The YMCA movement began in England and was devoted to character education and physical activity.
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Dudley Sargent was appointed assistant professor of physical training and director of the Hemenway Gymnasium at Harvard College. Sargent was among the most important early leaders in physical education, and his emphasis on scientific approaches provided fundamental direction for the emerging field
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The Adelphi Conference was held. William G. Anderson became the first secretary for the Association for the Advancement of Physical Education. Forty-nine of the sixty assembled participants took membership in the new organization. This meeting marked the birth of a profession.
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History of PE Physical Education is recognized as curricular field by National Education Association.
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The International Congress on Education was held. This conference marked the end of the era in which gymnastics dominated the physical-education curriculum and it marked the beginning of the modern era of physical education. The physical-education profession began to view education rather than medicine as its parent field.
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The first master’s-degree program in physical education began at Teachers College.
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Luther Halsey Gulick created the Academy of Physical Education.
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The Physical Education Curriculum was published. This quickly became the standard model for planning PE curricula.
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The ACSM was founded by physiologists, physical educators and physicians. ACSM began to certify practitioners. Now, there are six certification fields.
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Physical educators were forced to begin to redefine their field as an academic discipline rather than as an applied professional enterprise.
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In the early 1990's, -the initiative to change the name of university programs from “physical education” to “kinesiology", thus reflecting the academic rather than professional, focus of the programs. The American Academy of Physical Education changed to the American Academy of Kinesiology and Physical education (AAKPE).
