History of Snooker

The Billiard Player; April 1937 Some say it was invented at an officers' mess in India, where the balls were so badly discoloured that they could only tell which was which by the shape. Personally, I think, like " Topsy," it simply grow'd. This theory is supported by the fact that in the pre-snooker days, "when I wor' a lad," we had several games near it, such as "Black-pool" and "Pink-pool," and, after all, snooker is but a combination of those dear old games, pyramids and pool. "Dear" they were in more senses than one, for as a budding young cueist who fancied himself at potting a ball, it was for me generally like that other popular game of the naughty nineties "shell out." A well-known Leeds sportsman, Mr. Dunford Richardson, seems certain that he knows where snooker was first played; he avers that it originally came from America. Mr. Richardson, who in age is well past the allotted span, bases his knowledge on the fact that about 1887, he spent some time at Ventnor, Isle-of-Wight, and there he met some American officers who showed him how to play snooker. From this, Mr. Richardson, undoubtedly, first brought it to Leeds. I can only go as far back as 1890, but I do remember at that time what confusion there was about how snooker was played, and what the rules were. Mr. Richardson, who, by the way, in his time was one of the most brilliant amateurs that we have had in Yorkshire, tells me he wrote to America for the rules of snooker, and obtained a set. And now my snooker query is ended in the hope that anyone with knowledge of how the game began will his tale unfold—George Nelson By way of helping the snooker symposium, we can vouch for a copy of "The Rules of Snooker;" a framed copy in very neat hand-writing, in an officers' mess in England in 1895. The game, so regimental tradition ran, was invented by a "Colonel Snooker," in India. The only difference between the rules of 1895 and those of the present is that the BETTER GAME was played under the old rules.-ED Concerning the origin of snooker, I have received a most interesting communication from Lt.-Col. G. Ll. H. Howell, late R.A. Writing from Arden, Tobago, he states: "The fact that you first came across the game in a gunners' mess, coupled with the name of the game, might have led you to suspect a possible place of origin. "You no doubt know that first term cadets at The Shop (R.M.A. Woolwich) have been called 'Snookers' for well over a hundred years at least. "I first played the game in my second term as a cadet at The Shop in 1893, and as an officer in the Shoebury mess in 1895. "There I played with some very senior officers, amongst others the then Commandant of the School of Gunnery, who was not only a very good player, but had at least thirty years' service. From his conversation on the subject, as well as that of other senior officers, it was quite certain that they had all played the game when cadets at The Shop—so that brings us to at least 1865. "Moreover, I never heard anyone suggest that the game was anything but an old-established one in his time in The Shop. This, without suggesting the actual date of birth, at least confers quite a respectable age on the game.

History of Football

The first description of a football match in England was written by William FitzStephen in about 1170. He records that while visiting London he noticed that "after dinner all the youths of the city goes out into the fields for the very popular game of ball." He points out that every trade had their own football team. "The elders, the fathers, and the men of wealth come on horseback to view the contests of their juniors, and in their fashion sport with the young men; and there seems to be aroused in these elders a stirring of natural heat by viewing so much activity and by participation in the joys of unrestrained youth."

A few centuries later another monk wrote that football was a game "in which young men... propel a huge ball not by throwing it into the air, but by striking and rolling it along the ground, and that not with their hands but with their feet." This chronicler strongly disapproved of the game claiming it was "undignified and worthless" and that it often resulted in "some loss, accident or disadvantage to the players themselves."

One manor record, dated 1280, states: "Henry, son of William de Ellington, while playing at ball at Ulkham on Trinity Sunday with David le Ken and many others, ran against David and received an accidental wound from David's knife of which he died on the following Friday." In 1321, William de Spalding, was in trouble with the law over a game of football: "During the game at ball as he kicked the ball, a lay friend of his, also called William, ran against him and wounded himself on a sheath knife carried by the canon, so severely that he died within six days." There are other recorded cases during this period of footballers dying after falling on their daggers.

Edward II became involved in the debate on football and in 1314 complained about "certain tumults arising from great footballs in the fields of the public, from which many evils may arise." At the time he was trying to raise an army to fight the Scots and was worried about the impact that football was having on the skills of his archers.

Longbowmen practicing at the butts (Geoffrey Luttrell Psalter, 1325)

In an attempt to make the English the best longbowmen in the world, a law was passed ordering all men earning less than 100 pence a year to own a longbow. Every village had to arrange for a

History of Cricket

The origins of cricket are very vague, and many theories have been put forward suggesting its origins. Extensive studies and research have been conducted to trace its history and they have come out with different versions. However it is commonly accepted that the game originated from a very old leisure activity indulged by shepherds. The shepherds used crook and other farm equipments to hit a ball like deceive which used to be made up of wool or stone.

The first evidence of cricket being played was recorded in the year 1550, by the pupils of Royal Grammar School, Guildford. In the year 1611 it is reported that two young men from Sussex were punished for playing cricket instead of going to the church. The first match is recorded to have been played at Coxheath in Kent in the year 1646.

Who Invented Baseball?

In 1905, Abraham G. Mills was appointed to head a commission to discover who invented baseball after a dispute between Henry Chadwick and Albert Spalding. The British-born Chadwick, contended that the game evolved from the English game of Rounders. Spalding claimed it was invented in America, by an American.
Noted as one of the great pitchers of the 1870s, Albert Goodwill Spalding (1850–1915) made his mark as Baseball's foremost promoter, entrepreneur and executive. After William Hulbert's death, Spalding succeeded his lifelong friend as president of both the Chicago White Stockings and the National League of Professional Ball Clubs. In 1876, he and his brother started a line of sporting goods that was so successful that it continues to flourish today. Twelve years later, Spalding took his players on a worldwide tour to spread the gospel of Baseball and in 1911 created a huge campaign to have it declared the national pastime. When the Players'