A Brief History of Cheerleading

A Brief History of Cheerleading
Bettmann / Corbis

The Girls Get into It
For the first few decades of its history, cheerleading was an all-male activity, but by the 1920s, women were joining as well. Nowadays more than 90% of America's cheerleading participants are female, though guys still make up half of the yell squads at the college level.

Get the Latest Photos from Time.com
Get TIME photos and pictures of the week delivered directly to your inbox.