There are several opinions regarding the origins of the popular game of
billiards. According to some assumptions, billiard games had evolved of a
Chinese game and according to others the game was invented in England. However,
the most common assumption claims that contemporary billiard is the
indoor version of the croquet used to be played outdoors in France since
the 14th century.
Although it is agreed that the word "Billiard" has
French origins, it still arguable whether it has derived from the word
billiart, used to describe wooden stick called or from bile, ball in
French.
During the 15th Century, the popular game moved indoors so it
can be played throughout the year. The indoor version of the game used
to be played on a special wooden table with six pockets, which was
covered by a green cloth in order to evoke the green color of the grass.
By that time, the game was played with a wooden stick, known as mace in
England or billiart in French, and the players used to shove the balls
with the stick rather than strike them with it. Only in the 17th
century that the cue became an integral part of the billiard
accessories. It had happened after players have come to realize that
using the tail of the mace in puling out balls from the edges of the
table is much more convenient. The tail of the mace was called the
queue, which had later become known as the cue.
English billiard, similar to the contemporary game of
snooker, was the
most common version of billiard around Britain. English billiard was
played with 3 balls on a six pocket table. Carom billiards, which was
played with three or four balls on a table without pockets, was popular
among French billiard fans.
The billiard game had arrived to America at the beginning of the 19th
century, but it took some time before it became popular among common
people, as it has been in Europe for several centuries. In America, the
game had received the name pool, which meant gambling, as well as
dubious reputation, thanks to its presence in underground gambling
halls.
The reputation of the pool game in the US had improved with the help
of Michael Phelan. The New Yorker pool parlor owner, author, the
inventor of the diamond markers and the first unofficial billiard
champion of America who had ran a successful campaign to advocate the
legitimacy of the billiard game and organized pool tournaments, which
had helped support billiard as a form of sports in the eyes of the
public.
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