There is no exact information concerning origin of billiards. However, we can confidently say that pool is a game that was developed from billiards in the 1870s. There are some facts that prove the fact that billiards was made out somewhere in the 15th century. The most influential prove is a fact that Shakespeare mentioned this game in one of his play called Antony and Cleopatra in 1600. There is a widely spread view that the billiards developed from another game which was called croquet. Although no one can prove that theory, there are some similarities that triggered appearance of such idea.
From the history of croquet we can say that it was a game played on a grass lawn by the European aristocracy in the 15 century. The game has such tools as a solid ball, which is 13 5/8 in diameter and hoops which could be compared to the wickets in the billiards. The aim of the game was to strike the ball through the hoops. Usually every game included nine wickets, however depending on the tastes of the players this number could fluctuate. To strike the balls players used mallets which had such design that there was necessary to bend over it when striking the ball. The game was played outdoors; therefore very often because of bad weather it was impossible to play it. However, people managed to find the way out and played it indoors in which they used a table covered with a felt that resembled a lawn and balls of small size that were as in the game outdoors pushed through the hoops, however, with the help of the sticks like in billiards. In such a way a new game was developed. It firstly was played in France where it received its name. The word billiards comes from French “billiart” that means a wooden push stick and “bille”, a ball.
No one can say the exact time but there is an assumption that in the 1600s the mace – a stick with the help of which players pushed the balls and which did not have a tapered end was changed for a cue that we know today. Only men could use the cue as it was believed that women would tear their cloth, therefore the latter were allowed to use the maces. In 1675 was published the first book with set rules for billiards. From that time game was becoming more and more popular and some minor changes were made in the way the game was played until 1800s.
In 1800s a new simple addition was made to the game but which turned out to be a great contribution. It was a cue chalk. This helped to make the fiction between the ball and the cue higher that resulted in more efficient strike.
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