How long has bowling been around

Balls used to be primarily lignum vitae, a very hard wood. But in , the first rubber ball, the "Evertrue" was introduced;, and in the Brunswick Corporation successfully promoted the Mineralite ball, touting its "mysterious rubber compound. Now organized, with agreed-upon standards, the game grew in popularity. In , another technological breakthrough set the stage for massive growth. American Machine and Foundry Company AMF, then a maker of machinery for the bakery, tobacco and apparel businesses purchased the patents to Gottfried Schmidt's automatic pinspotter, and by late , production model pinspotters were introduced.

No longer did a proprietor have to rely on "pinboys. Television embraced bowling in the 's, and the game's popularity grew exponentially. NBC's broadcast of "Championship Bowling" was the first network coverage. Today, the sport of bowling is enjoyed by 95 million people in more than 90 countries worldwide. When you bowl an optimal strike, the ball itself only hits four pins. Each pin is set 12 inches apart from each other.

All pins that tilt at least 9 degrees will fall. Skip to content Blog. A sport as old as … the written word?

First comes wood, then comes rubber. No girls allowed. According to ancient archaeological records, the earliest indicators of bowling being practiced go back around 5, years. In the s, anthropologist Sir Flinders Petrie discovered the grave of a child that held primitive bowling pins.

This dates the sport as far back as the height of the ancient Egyptian empire. Since the s, anthropologists and archaeologists have continued their research. Hieroglyphics and artwork both indicate that something remarkably similar to modern-day bowling was enjoyed in ancient Egypt. It seems to have been used as one of the first indoor bowling alleys. Germany also played a role in the history of bowling. Around AD, Germans were known to carry kegels. These kegels were wooden, pin-shaped rods.

The rods were used for protection, but they were also commonly used for sport as well. Bowling is one of the most popular sports in the world and has been around for a really, really long time. Just how long is that? Keep reading to find out! These artifacts were estimated to date back all the way to BC! While other historians have debated this claim, it is by far the earliest example of bowling ever found.

Moving through the course of history, there have been examples of bowling in societies and cultures around the globe. Other forms of bowling may originated from other outdoor sports such as lawn bowling in England or bocce in Italy.