History of Bingo & Other Facts01/30/2006 |
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The game has been around for several years, and yet continues to be a popular game. Indeed, bingo is a truly popular game. Let us look at h istory of bingo and other facts. Origins of bingo can well be traced back to a game called Lotto.
The game was played in Italy in around 1530. It is called "Lo Giuoco del Lotto D'Italia" in Italian lottery. It was largely during this period that the new popular version of the lottery came into being. Interestingly, in the U.S., bingo was originally known as "beano". It was then a country fair game. In it a dealer selected some numbered discs from a cigar box. The players marked their cards with beans, and then they shouted "beano" if they won. In around the 1800s the lottery games spread throughout entire Europe. Different variations were brought up for children so that they could learn the multiplication tables, spelling, etc. So, what actually began as the Italian lottery found its way to America via a carnival pitchman that was touring Germany where he noticed the lottery game and realized its appeal. He made some modifications to the game. These included letting some players to finish a row vertically, horizontally or say diagonally. The name was changed to Beano. Records show that when the game reached the shores of North America in the late 1920s, it was called "beano", and was first played at a carnival somewhere near Atlanta, Georgia. A toy salesman renamed it "bingo". This he did after someone accidentally shouted "bingo" instead of "beano". Back to Bingo Articles |
