The history of billiard sports

The beginnings of billiard sports.

Until the Middle Ages there are always hints on ball and bowling games. In 1470, under King Louis XI, the first billiard table with a cloth cover was built. By the 17th century, half of all billiard tables were clothed. It was also played with wooden balls made of Alsatian oak, which rolled on playing surfaces made of the same wood. Also women were at this time active players in billiard sports. The most prominent player was Princess Charlotte d'Albert, who set up a pool table in her house.

In 1515, Oliver Baillard, spokesman for the Vatican Lateran Council, condemned any gambling as a work of the devil while blessing the game of billiards. He said that all the qualities of the mind would be brought to bear, and that the suppleness of the body would be promoted. Another celebrity player was the Scottish Queen Maria Stuart, who complained during her detention in a letter that she had been taken away from the pool table.

Before decapitating, she was given a billiard game. On the bloody day of St. Bartholomew on August 24, 1572, King Charles IX spent his time playing billiards, while 20,000 Protestants were killed. 1665 is first written by an unknown course of pool billiards game. Nine years later, Charles Cotton described in the book "The Complet Gamester" a game with two bullets. Artificial obstacles had built up on the perforated table. By playing the starting player was determined. This play began in such a way that each player played a ball against a gang towards the starting point. The player whose ball came closest to the starting point's gang determined who would start the game. In the same way, the playing is still happening today in billiards.

In the middle of the 17th century, King Louis XIII gradually cultivated the billiards, mainly through the general introduction of the cover. In 1781 King Louis XIV had to play billiards for physical exercise. The billiard game was hard work back then. The cue, as the game stick was called, weighed several kilograms and the table was much larger than it is today. In 1734, French billiards are mentioned for the first time, and their table also had holes.

In 1773, a billiard player described the carom playing in "Covent Garden Magazine". This game was played on a table with holes, is still played today and is called "English Billiards". The great French Revolution brings the people closer to the billiard, as billiard tables were also built in restaurants. The game with the billiards was previously reserved only for the king and nobles, as it was very expensive. In 1819, the pool billiards game was mentioned in an English rulebook.

In 1872, in France, the idea of equipping the tip of the cue with a small patches of leather in order to improve hit and hit accuracy.

In 1878, the first official pool billiards championships took place in America. In 1884, the top player Maurice Vignoux founded the first billiard academy in the world in the Cafe "Cafe Mangin" in Paris. In the encyclopedia of Alversleben 35 different variants of the billiard game are listed. One corresponds to today's pool billiards.

The Billardsport is represented by the WCBS (World Confederation of Billiard Sports).