A detailed History of Bingo
The origins of gambling
Anthropologists agree that data collected in the 20th century demonstrated that gambling took place within a large portion of the population of the greatest societies to have existed. Historical and archaeological evidence validate the existence of gambling throughout the ages and culture of most civilisations.
|
Earliest exhibits of gambling are dated as far back as 2300 B.C. in ancient China where gambling artefacts have been excavated. A set of ivory dice dating from before 1500 BC were salvaged from Thebes, while specific writings mentioning gambling were found on a tablet in the Pyramid of Cheops. |
Ivory dice dating 1500 BC. |
|
First trace of gambling in England
In the UK, evidences in the form of legal documents show that in 1388, Richard II forced the people to spend money on military items rather than on gambling.
Further documents reveal that in the 14th century King Henry VIII was known as an avid gambler and dice player during his life time. He would gamble huge amounts of money ranging from 5,000 to 500,000 pounds! However the king did outlaw gambling on the ground that it weakened military ability and disrupted social order.
The origins of Bingo
Bingo is derived from lottery games. Some researches indicate that the early form of lotteries was played as far as the Roman time. Lotteries go so far back as the bible in which various paragraph mention the game. Caesar is known to have adopted lottery games to fund the repair needed to be undertaken in Rome. Legend has it that even the Great Wall of China was paid for by the proceeds of lottery games
An Italian Beginning
|
Many years had passed since the Roman era when the first Italian lottery in which tickets were purchased for money is often said to have taken place in Florence in 1530. |
|
|
However, the Italian historian Alberto Fiorin refers to the Venetian chronicler, Marin Sanudo, whose diaries provide a vivid account of the origin of an earlier lottery and of its fascination for the worldly citizens of Venice. On February 18th, 1522, Sanudo identified the initiator of the paid lottery as Geronimo Bambarara, a second-hand clothes dealer. Geronimo created “a new method of commerce” by offering a chance at carpets and money prizes for any who ventured an entry fee—at first only 20 soldi, then an entire ducat. At first, the idea began in a small way but before long, an entire district in Venice (Rialto) was filled with nothing but lottery hawkers and players, and the cash prizes had increased from 200 to 1,500 ducats. |
Marin Sanudo Diaries. |
|
A further 5 City authorities soon moved to suppress these raucous draws and appropriated the lottery business themselves. The Venetian Republic began running its own lotteries with prizes of cash, merchandise, real estate, and even government offices, including the right to collect taxes and tolls. This form of lottery, though it offered bettors a chance to score huge prizes, was hardly gratifying. Lottery drawings were drawn out, in a numb and dull way , and far from efficient. Tickets were not numbered; each bettor instead wrote his or her name or personal motto on a slip of paper, which went into one urn. Into the other urn went slips of paper bearing the word pacientia, patience, meaning “better luck tomorrow,” or precio, prize, and a description of the prize won. Other Italian principalities, such as Venice, Milan, and Naples, copied the Genoese lotto model in 1665, and for a while it flourished both in Italy and Germany. Surviving initial papal denunciations, the lottery won a new measure of legitimacy when, in1732, the papacy permitted the establishment of a Roman lottery in 1732. |
The lottery started to spread on all continents and in particular in France.
| Continue to Bingo History page 2 |  |
|---|
