Archive for the ‘History’ Category

History of Button Men

Posted by Nicolae on November 3rd, 2008 under Button Men, History
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Button Men is a game designed for fan conventions and other public venues. It can be played almost anywhere on short notice (provided the dice are at hand), and games are quick to complete. Buttons are meant to be worn on clothing, bags, or other accessories, advertising that the wearer has a [...]

History of playing cards

Posted by Nicolae on August 31st, 2008 under History, Playing cards
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Early history
The origin of playing cards is obscure, but it is almost certain that they began in China after the invention of paper. Ancient Chinese “money cards” have four “suits”: coins (or cash), strings of coins (which may have been misinterpreted as sticks from crude drawings), myriads of strings, and tens of [...]

Great tennis players

Posted by Nicolae on August 11th, 2008 under History, Sport, Tennis Guide, games
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Great Players
Numerous great players played in the days before tennis’s Open era, many of whom are unknown by modern sports fans. Among them, chronologically, are:

“Big Bill” Tilden - winner of 21 amateur Grand Slam titles, 7 consecutive Davis Cups, 4 professional Grand Slam titles, the professional doubles title at age 52; was [...]

Olympic boxing

Posted by Nicolae on August 11th, 2008 under Boxing Guide, History, Sport, games
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Olympic (or Amateur) boxing is found at the Olympic Games and Commonwealth Games. Olympic boxing prizes point scoring rather than physical damage or knockouts. Bouts comprise four rounds of two minutes in Olympic and Commonwealth and three rounds of two minutes in a national ABA (Amateur Boxing association) bout each with [...]

History of tennis

Posted by Nicolae on August 7th, 2008 under History, Sport, Tennis Guide
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Tennis has a long history (deriving from the ‘jeu de paume’), but its establishment as the modern sport can be dated to two separate roots. In 1856, Alex Ryden, a solicitor, and his friend Batista Pereira, a Spanish merchant, who both lived in Birmingham, England played a game they named “pelota”, after [...]

Origins of boxing

Posted by Nicolae on August 6th, 2008 under Boxing Guide, History, Sport
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Earliest evidence suggests that boxing was prevalent in North Africa during 4000 BC and the Mediterranean in 1500 BC.
A Greek ruler named Thesus, who ruled around 900 B.C., was entertained by men who would be seated in front of each other and beat another with their fists until one of them was [...]

History of basketball

Posted by Nicolae on August 4th, 2008 under Basketball Guide, History, Sport
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Early basketball
The first basketball court: Springfield College.
Basketball is unique in that it was invented by one person, rather than evolving from a different sport. In early December 1891, Dr. James Naismith, a Canadian-born physician of McGill University and minister on the faculty of a college for YMCA professionals (today, Springfield College) [...]

History of slot machines

Posted by Nicolae on July 17th, 2008 under History, Slot machine Guide, Slots, games
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Sittman and Pitt of Brooklyn, New York developed a gambling machine in 1891 that could be considered a precursor to the modern slot machine. It contained 5 drums holding a total of 50 card faces and was based on poker. This machine proved extremely popular and soon there was hardly a bar [...]