A History of Bingo
May 18th, 2010 | by rucamartin |Similar to many other popular games and pastimes, it’s not exactly clear what the foundations of bingo actually are. Obviously, we can trace the very popular current game of online bingo back to the start of the internet, and then afterwards its rise in popularity since around 1995 onwards.
The true origins of the game, though, are more difficult to trace, so here’s some info about what we can say for certain regarding the history of the game of bingo as we know it today. Starting in the 16th century in Italy, there was a game called Lo Giuoco del Lotto d’Italia, which was a type of lottery.
The game spread outside of Italy throughout more countries in Europe. In France, the game cards we’re used to seeing in today’s type of bingo were introduced. These cards were further developed in Germany, in order that they could be used as an educational tool to teach the public all about numbers.
Throughout the 1920s in America, a bingo game was popular in the travelling fairs, which was known as “beano”. This took its name from the fact the numbers were called through drawing different numbers of beans. This game is thought to have become known as bingo after someone shouted “bingo!” instead of the more usual “beano”, once they’d won.
The Italian game from the 1500s also appears to have become popular in England at the same time. It is also known that lotteries of different types were played from then on, with particularly large public games being recorded as being enjoyed in the 1700s and 1800s, though these were illegal at the time.
The large lottery games were illegal as a result of the government having developed its own similar game that it was using as a source for funds. Of course, we now have something similar in the UK again, with the National Lottery having been set up in 1994 under John Major’s government.
At the beginning of the 1900s, the most obvious forerunner to the modern game of bingo was played in Britain – housey housey. Many people think of the 1960s as being the golden period for bingo in Britain, though, due to some changes in the law that allowed bingo halls to spring up in every city in the country.
In the 21st century, of course, we have internet bingo as being the most widespread version of the game. Whilst some are surprised at this, it’s obvious that the opportunity for anyone to win, and the potential large prizes on offer, are the main reason why so many people love playing bingo on the internet.
Related posts: