Who invented baseball? For decades it was believed to be Civil War General Abner Doubleday.

A letter by a witness was found stating that Doubleday made up the game in his youth back in 1839. This letter was deemed as the holy grail of American baseball origin, so much so that a postage stamp was issued in 1939 to commemorate the 100 year anniversary of the sport.

However, this evidence was later debunked as not being true. The real origins of baseball Baseball likely evolved from British games like rounders and cricket, brought to America by the first colonists.

But it was Alexander Cartwright and the Knickerbocker Baseball Club who in 1845, formalized the rules that shaped modern baseball.

So this stamp should have been issued in 1945, not 1939. This means we’ll have to wait until 2045, instead of 2039, to celebrate the 200 year anniversary of American baseball.