Though generally considered an all-American sport, like many other games played in America, baseball has its roots in much older societies. Indeed, evidence suggests that games involving the use of a stick and a ball were played by inhabitants of ancient Egypt, Persia, and Greece, and the pastime slowly spread throughout Europe from these regions. By the Middle Ages a wide range of stick and ball games were played, but they were primarily considered diversions for children. When America was colonized, Europeans brought the various games with them, but a particular English one called rounders became the most popular and is usually considered the game most similar to modern baseball. One notable difference, however, was that in rounders players in the field could make outs by hitting runners with the ball as they were running between bases. The initial standardization of many features of baseball took place in the 1840s and the first rulebook was written in 1858, the sport basically becoming the game as it is known today by the turn of the century.