There are many different theories as to when and how billiards was first developed. A lack of actual physical evidence has left most of these theories as simply speculation. Most people agree, however, that the game gained its roots from lawn games, which were not unlike croquet, played by nobility. Early players were said to include King Louis XI of France (King between 1461 and 1483); Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots (1542-1587); King Louis XIV (1643-1715); Marie Antoinette and her husband King Louis XVI. If the game did indeed develop from lawn games, then where did the lawn games come from?
Many historians believe that the lawn games date back to ancient Egypt. "Bat and ball" games are said to be what the lawn games evolved from, and images of these games can be found on the outside of tombs from as far back as 3000 years ago.
The greatest innovation that has led to modern billiards play would have to be that of the modern time cue or cue stick which dates back to the 1700's. Up until that time only makeshift cues were used and it was the mace that was the most popular. During its reign as leading cue the mace was used to push the ball on the table and the skinny end was used as a handle. Difficulty with shots compressed against the rails would lead to the use of the skinny end to shoot causing the fall of the mace and the arrival of a stick.
Along with the emergence of the cue came other great improvements. Leather tips were developed around the eighteen hundreds, and a few years later chalk was developed for the tips. Slate beds, fine cloth, rubber rails and standard sizes for tables soon arrived, and pushed the development of the games popularity.
Along with popularity came the need for standardized rules, tables, and equipment. Of course with the gained popularity came the "business" of billiards.
Billiards, or more commonly referred to as pool has been played for many decades. In the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century it was played by those of upper class standing in their homes. Over the twentieth century pool shifted roles, becoming part of middle and lower class society. With the class change, pool also moved out of the home and into bars and halls. Pool has been forever transformed; today there are three main groups of pool players to be found in pool halls; professional players: blue collar players, and teenage players.
The curveball was invented over 100 years ago by William Arthur Cummings (Fleitz, D). His older brother and teammates called him Candy Cummings (Fleitz, D). Cummings started to develop the curveball in 1861 and 1862 without much progress. After many years Cummings finally invented the curveball in 1867 (Fleitz, D). This invention made him one of the most dominant pitchers of the time. Cummings quit baseball at the age of twenty-eight (Fleitz, D). Other players started to develope their own curveball by the 1874 season (Fleitz, D). Batters started to learn to hit the curveball by the 1877 season (Fleitz, D).
The game of golf is one of the oldest of today’s modern sports. Its exact beginnings are not known; however, some historians trace golf back to the Stone Age while others claim it originated from the “idle antics of shepherd boys knocking small stones into holes in the ground with a crook while their flocks grazed nearby” (Peper 1). Researched back to the time of the Roman Empire, it is also believed the sports-oriented Romans played a forerunner of the game of golf called paganica. This sport involved the use of a bent stick and a ball stuffed with wool played in the open countryside.
In America, it all began in the industrial age, which brought long work weeks and boring jobs. The employees across the nation were in need of a break. Ever since the mid-nineteenth century, white American settlers began to participate in organized sports such as baseball, football, basketball, curling, and bowling. In as early as 1820, a game involving a bat, bases, and a ball was evolving in the
Abner Doubleday is the man that is responsible for the invention of modern day baseball. Alexander Cartwright formed and developed the rules for baseball in 1845, and went on to develop and manage the baseball clubs in New York. As we know today, the teams have spread throughout the entire U.S. to make up the 30 teams that are present in our MLB today. How has the baseball equipment and game changed from when it was first started to what it is today?
“Golf is the fastest growing competitive sport in the United States today” (Fossum 87). This game is rapidly growing In the United States, but is also a very expensive game to play. Today, it is a $25 billion business in the United States. (Dobrian). Golf is a game of dedication and patience that has a very interesting history. There are three main parts when it comes to the history of golf and how it can about. The creator of golf along with its origin, the advancement in equipment over the years, and the first golfers and courses are all major things in the history of the game.
The History of Golf Balls The golf ball has changed dramatically over the years. Smooth hardwood balls were used between the 1400 and 1700's.
Baseball dates back all the way to the late 1830's. It is thought to be originated from a game called rounders. Also, there is many
The organ of golf in it most primary of forms is unknown, but there are many cultures that show golf in times as early as the thirteenth century. Three groups of people claim that they started golf: The English, the Dutch and the Scots. The English say that they started golf because of the sketches of a man apparently preparing to strike a ball in a golf like manner stained into the windows of the Gloucester Cathedral, England. Many scholars doubt that theory because it could have been a man playing cambuca, a popular pastime of English society in that time. The Dutch say that they started golf because they feel it is a mixture of the two Dutch games chole and jeu de mail. Many people believe that the word golf originated from Holland with the word "colf" which means club. A Dutch man named Van Hengal traced colf back to December 1297, in a town of Loenen in Northern Holland. In this month, local townsfolk played four holes of the game to commemor...
The sport of golf was created a long time ago but is not actually precisely dated for when the game was made. According to Jack Connelly, a retired teacher and golfer, reports that the game has been dated back to places like China and Scotland. There also is a wide year range for the time golf was created going all the way back to the 960’s to more exact years like 1457. The game of golf as we know it today was “born on May 14, 1754, when the Society of St. Andrews was founded by a group
The game of basketball is a highly recognized and widely known sport. Basketball was first heard of in the winter of 1891 when a man by the name of James Naismith was told to instruct a physical education class at the Young Men’s Christian Association in Springfield, Massachusetts. Naismith was instructed to put together a game for young men to enjoy while they were at the YMCA. While trying to come up with a brilliant and fun game for these young men, Naismith reminisced back on his childhood in Canada. He remembered a game his friends and him had played all the time: “Duck on a Rock”, which involved trying to knock a large rock off a boulder by throwing smaller rocks at it. Naismith also remembered watching a game of rugby going on in the gymnasium. The game of Rugby involved tossing a ball into a box. After a very short time of trying to make up a game for these young men, Naismith came up with a brilliant idea. Little did he know the game that he came up with just so happened to be one of he most renowned sports in American history. Naismith’s idea pertained to nailing up raised boxes so that players could attempt to throw a ball in the basket. When there were no boxes too be found, he used peach baskets. Supposedly, Naismith came up with all the rules for this game in no more than “about an hour”, according to Alexander Wolff. Shortly after Naismith had invented the game of basketball, graduates of the YMCA traveled internationally which is the main reason as to why this sport is so widely known. The impact basketball has made on the lives of many Americans is incredible in the sense that it has given people the ability to ...
When you think of basketball you probably think of the names LeBron James, Kevin Durant, or Kobe Bryant. Even though these are some superstars of the game there is one man way more important than them and without him they wouldn’t be playing the sport they love. This man goes by the name of Dr. James Naismith. Naismith was a physical education teacher at the YMCA International Training school. One day Naismith had the challenge of finding an indoor game as an “athletic distraction” for the students. Instead of adapting outdoor games like soccer and lacrosse, Naismith remembered a game for his childhood days called duck-on-a-rock where you had to throw a rock at a “duck” on another large rock. To do this it takes extremely good accuracy. From this Naismith created 13 rules for the game
These manuscripts display drawings of vicars playing a bat and ball game similar to baseball. Most historians claim that baseball directly evolved from the popular game of rounders that was developed in Great Britain and is still enjoyed today in countries throughout Africa. The link between the game of rounders and baseball is exhibited through a mid-18th century British work known as A Little Pretty Pocket Book, which describes how people played a bat and ball game on a triangular field with posts surrounding each corner. The details given in the work closely resonates with the diamond shaped field and bases that are implemented into the modern game of baseball. Additionally, in 1749, there are records of the Prince of Wales playing rounders, along with English
The history of volleyball goes back to the year of 1895. The game was invented by a man by the name of William G. Morgan, at a YMCA in Massachusetts (NCVA). Morgan was an instructor at the YMCA (Young Men’s Christian Association) when he created the game of volleyball (NCVA).
Rectangular courts were introduced in 1875. The courts were introduced by the All England Croquet at Wimbledon when they decided to add tennis to their repertoire. I’m sure when the rectangular courts got introduced it probably took a little while for the players to get used to the courts. As I said earlier, in the first game of tennis it was only played indoors, and you hit it off of a wall.