Happy Birthday Paintball!

42 years ago, 12 people gathered in woods near Henniker, NH to try their hand at a new game, one that would first become known as the "National Survival Game", later, as "Paint Ball" and now as "Paintball".

Sports Illustrated sent a reporter and photographer out to capture the moment.

Since then it has grown into a multi-national sport, hosting millions of players every year and inspiring (through necessity) other "shooting" games, such as Air Soft, Low Impact, Nerf and GelBlaster.

No one can say it hasn't been a success.

If you are in to the history and evolution of this sport, here are a couple of links you may find informative:  an archived article from 2004, in Sports Illustrated, written by Charles Gaines, one of the original founders, reflecting back on that first game, and an NPR radio show discussing the fact that New Hampshire can claim paintball as one of its "firsts".

Sports Illustrated
NPR