How old is the game of Billiards?

Question

How old is the game of Billiards?

Answer 1

Here is a very brief history:

Billiards evolved from a lawn game similar to the croquet played sometime during the 15th century (no where back in B.C. days) in Northern Europe and in France. Play was moved indoors to a wooden table with green cloth to simulate grass, and a simple border was placed around the edges to prevent the balls from rolling off the playing area. The balls were shoved, rather than struck, with wooden sticks called “maces”.

Pool cues (without tips as we know today) replaced "maces" when they were invented in the 1600's. From there till now only a few minor changes have been made.

Answer 2

it is like 1000 years old

Answer 3

It depends what type of Billiards you are talking about.

I would check out the wikipedia article on Billiards

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billiard

and then select the gametype you are interested in as there are different forms. Good luck.

Answer 4

Billiards has been a popular game with the aristocracy of the world. Some of the finest homes & clubs have billiard tables in them. The game is so old that no one can say when it began. It was perhaps played in ancient Egypt. The Greeks know the game as long ago as 400 B.C. Catkire More, a King of Ireland, left behind him fifty-five billiard balls of brass, with the pools & cues of the same material in the second century after Christ. St. Augustine has mentioned billiards in his "Confessions" which was written in the fifth century. One of complaints of Mary, Queen of Scots when she was kept in prison in the year 1576, was that her billiard table had been taken away! The first description of billiards in English is found in a book called "Compleat Gamester" by Charles Cotton published in the year 1674. Some pictures of these days depicts that there were all kinds of obstacles on the table, such as hoops, & pegs, & "forts". The player had to go around or through these obstacles without knocking them down. About the year 1800, the game became much as we know billiards today. In the year 1807, the first English book written about the game was published in which billiards is described very much like the modern game.