It’s a common misconception that Civil War Union General Abner Doubleday invented the sport of baseball in 1839.

A special commission created by baseball executive Albert Spalding determined in 1908 that Doubleday invented the game, pushing back against claims made by British sportswriter Henry Chadwick, who argued baseball was based on a British game.

Being named the inventor of baseball would have surprised Doubleday, whose role in the game’s invention seems to have been fabricated by mining engineer Abner Graves, according to NPR.

But if Doubleday didn’t invent America’s favorite pastime, who did?

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Who invented baseball?

It’s clear to historians that baseball was not invented by a single person, according to Encyclopedia Britannica. Instead, the game was a fusion of similar games and the slow adaptation of changes that have made it the game Americans are familiar with today.

The Knickerbocker Base Ball Club of New York gets credit for being the first group to craft their own rules. The Knickerbocker Rules established foul lines, the distance between bases and a limit of three outs, as well as eliminating rules that allowed fielders to throw the ball at a runner to get them out.

When was baseball invented?

Baseball was invented over a long period, drawing influences from English games like cricket and rounders, as well as games of Mayans, Egyptians and the French, according to Encyclopedia Britannica. Many American groups formed their own rules and played their own version of the game through the 1800s.

The first official baseball game was played in 1846 between the New York Knickerbockers and the New York Nines, a cricket team, using the Knickerbocker Rules, according to Encyclopedia Britannica.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Who invented baseball? A brief history of America's favorite pastime.