Founded by Carl Edwin Stotz (1910-1992), in 1939 as a three-team league in the adjacent larger town of Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

The first teams, Jumbo Pretzel, Lycoming Dairy, and Lundy Lumber Company were managed by Stotz and his friends, George and Bert Bebble.

In 1974, due to a lawsuit brought on behalf of Maria Pepe by the National Organization for Women, the New Jersey Superior Court decided that Little League baseball must allow girls to play.

[10][11] In the final week of December 1974, President Gerald Ford, signed a bill that opened Little League baseball to girls.

[13] 1949: After a decade, Little League is featured in the nationally famous weekly longtime magazine, the Saturday Evening Post and on newsreels shown in neighborhood movie.

Commissioner Stotz receives hundreds of requests for information on forming local leagues from all over the country.

[15][16] 1951: Leagues are formed in the western province on the Pacific Ocean coast of British Columbia, in the neighboring Dominion of Canada to the north and in the old U.S. territory of the Panama Canal Zone surrounding the Panama Canal, in Central America, making them the first youth baseball leagues outside the United States.

[6] In 1953, Robert Francis Morrison filed an official charter with Little League Baseball to admit the Cannon Street Y.M.C.A.

However, they were informed by then national Little League Baseball president Peter J. McGovern that they would not be permitted to represent the state at the regional championships in Williamsport.

Little League executives invited the Cannon Street All-Stars as guests to attend the tournament in which they were barred from playing.

[6] Jim Barberi, later of the MLB National League pennant winner of the 1966 Los Angeles Dodgers, is a member a decade earlier of the Schenectady, New York, team that wins the 1954 L.L.B.

[19] Stotz remains active in youth baseball with the "Original League" in Williamsport for the next 38 years until his death in June 1992.

1957: Angel Macias throws a perfect game and Monterrey, Mexico, becomes the first team from outside the United States to win the Little League World Series.

[6] 1961: Brian Sipe, future quarterback for the NFL's Cleveland Browns, plays for the series champions from El Cajon, California.

Lloyd McClendon of Gary, Indiana, dominates the Little League World Series, hitting five home runs in five at-bats.

[6] 1980: A team from Tampa, Florida, representing Belmont Heights Little League, is led by two future major-leaguers, Derek Bell and Gary Sheffield.

Trumbull, Connecticut, led by future NHL star Chris Drury, wins the Little League World Series.

Bradenton, Florida, and Pottsville, Pennsylvania play at Lamade Stadium before the largest crowd ever to attend a non-championship game, estimated at over 35,000 fans.

[6] Led by Danny Almonte, who pitched the first perfect game since 1957, the Rolando Paulino All Stars (Bronx, New York) finish third in the series.

[citation needed] 2002: Austin Dillon plays for Southwest Forsyth (County) Little League in Clemmons, North Carolina.

[citation needed] 2010: The World Series tournament is reorganized, eliminating pool play and adopting double-elimination until the bracket winners are determined.

[29] 2014: On August 15, 2014, Mo'ne Davis of the Taney Dragons becomes the first girl in Little League World Series history to earn a win as a pitcher[30] and to pitch a shutout.

[33] ESPN's coverage of the August 20 semifinal game, featuring Davis, brings a 3.4 overnight rating, which is an all-time high for Little League on the network.

[34] Jackie Robinson West becomes the first all-African-American Little League team to win the U.S. championship, but its title is later stripped after violations of the 1997 region regulations are discovered.

In 2003, for example, there were tournaments in Canada, Latin America (Mexico, Aruba, Curaçao, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela), Europe (Germany and Poland), and Asia (Japan, Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan).

[54] The major divisions of Little League Baseball have their own World Series format as follows: Tee-ball is for boys and girls ages 4–7.

In tee-ball, players hit the ball off of a tee located atop home plate; live pitching is not allowed.

Local leagues are permitted to further divide the Minor League division based on player age and/or experience, and often consist of coach-pitch (i.e., the batter's coach lightly pitching the ball) or machine-pitch at lower levels, with defensive players pitching at higher levels.

In all divisions except Senior and Big League, every player on the team roster must have at least one plate appearance and play six consecutive outs on defense in each game.

Leagues may also waive the "ten-run rule" (4.10(e)), which ends the game if one team is ahead by ten or more runs after four innings.