subject: Learning The History Of Pool [print this page] Pool has been played throughout centuries by every kind of person imaginable. Kings, commoners, presidents, mental patients, ladies, gentlemen, hustlers, and college students have all greatly enjoyed this game.
This game became very popular shortly after the 15th century. During the 15th century, Pool was born from a popular lawn game that has been compared to croquet.
At the time, it was mostly played in Northern Europe and France. During bad weather, this game was moved indoors to avoid the destruction of fine clothing.
The game began to be played on a table covered in a green cloth to replace the effect that the grass would have normally had. A basic border was put around the edges to prevent the balls from rolling off the table.
The main difference between this game and the game we know today were the wooden sticks. The wooden sticks were called "maces" and were used to shove, instead of hit, the ball.
The term 'billiard' comes from either the French word 'bille', meaning ball, or 'billart', meaning wooden stick. As most of these materials were not available to the commoners, the indoor version of the game became very popular among nobles.
As the game continued to grow in popularity, it began to be called the "Noble Game of Billards." It was given this name around the 1800's.
Commoners still continued to play this game when they could. As time passed, they played it more and more.
By the year 1600, Shakespeare included the game in Antony and Cleopatra because it was so popular. The first book of rules was published seventy five years later.
Another author remarked that there were few public places that did not have a billiard table. The normal cue stick that is used today was not created until later in the 1600s.
The new development was spurred by the fact that the mace had too big of a head. It was very difficult to get a proper hit of the ball when the ball was located close to the edge because of this fact.
It quickly became custom that players would turn the mace over and use its handle to hit the ball then the ball was too close to the edge. The handle was much thinner than the big head.
The handle of the mace was called a "queue." "Queue" means "tail" in French.
The is the word from which the English word "cue" comes from today. It is interesting to note that when playing pool, only men were allowed to use the newer cue for a long time.
It was felt that women may accidentally rip the cloth if they use the sharper cue sticks. If you have played pool very often, you may have heard the term "bank shot."
This term comes from the original walls on the table. In the beginning the walls were straight and flat with the only intended purpose being to keep the balls on the table.
These walls reminded people of river banks and they soon began to call the walls 'banks.' Then, the wall became a popular was of bouncing balls in new directions.
When a person intentionally hit a ball at one of the walls, it began to be called a "bank shot." This game became even more popular during the 1800s.
The Industrial Revolution was a big part of this surge in popularity again and in the improvement of pool equipment. During this time, people began to use chalk to increase the friction between the ball and the cue stick.
It is interesting to note that the cue stick did not even have an official tip at this time. The tip was created in 1823.
At this time the cue tip was made out of leather and it was primarily used to side-spin the ball. The cue did not become available in two piece until 1829.
By 1835, slate was the most popular material for the table bed. When Goodyear invented vulcanized rubber in 1839, this substance began to be adapted for many different uses.
In 1845, this rubber began to be used for billiard cushions. In addition, the tables became a standard size of two-to-one in terms of length to width. By 1850, the game of pool that is known today was being played everywhere.
Once the game's equipment had been developed, the equipment began to face refinements and improvements. For example, the game was only being played with three balls.
People soon began to add more balls to the table. These improvements helped shape the fun Pool game that we enjoy today.
