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Who Invented the Ball and Jack Game

Ball and jack game originated 2000 years ago. It has been referred to as different names in different regions. It was called as the jack game in the ancient period by Egyptians and Romanians. It was also referred to as jack stones, jack rocks, five stones, knuckle bones, snobs, etc. Children used pebbles, small stones or bones of small animals to play the game.

Older version of games used five stones made of clay, wood, animal bones, ivory, plastic, etc., Later the stones started being replaced by balls and then by pointed metal pieces. The pointed metal pieces are made with smaller bones of animals. The stones or other materials used in the game are referred to as jacks. The game is generally played by two people.

Ball and Jack Game

The player needed to toss the jacks in the air and catch it on the back of his hand. He then needs to toss the same jack on the back of the hand and finally catch as many jacks as possible in his or her palm. Each player then puts down all but one jack, tosses this jack high in the air while he tries to pick up all the remaining jacks lying on the ground before he is needed to catch the jack he tossed in the same hand. These stones or balls were tossed in the air in a way similar to the latest version of the game.

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Who Invented Blackjack

Blackjack is a casino game invented in American casinos. No one person can get the credit for inventing Blackjack as the game has evolved over the years. This game is also referred to as Twenty-One. It is one of the most popular gambling games in the world of casino. It was invented in 17th century. In the earlier days, it was called as twenty – one only. When the game was introduced in the United States, it was not so very popular and not so impressive either. And to attract and invite quality gamblers, gambling houses offered several bonus payouts to the players.

One of those bonus included was a ten to one payout to the player, if player contained an ace of spades and a black jack in his hand. And the name of the game was retained blackjack even though the bonus payouts were abolished soon. Now the game can be played without a blackjack and even without black cards.

Blackjack Who Invented Blackjack

The game is popular till date even after 300 years from the date of its introduction. But the reason for the popularity could not be identified. It is a simple gambling game that even a child can pick up in less than a minute. To get huge profit from the play, the gambler should have time and patience for complicated card counting. The game has been equally popular in domestic and family circles. Today blackjack game is also available in an online version.

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Who Invented Barbie

Barbie is a fashion doll produced in the year 1959. Ruth handler, an American businesswoman designed the Barbie. She got the inspiration from her daughter who preferred adult figured dolls. Most of the dolls at that time were baby dolls. She exhibited her first Barbie in March 9, 1959 at American International Toy Fair. The first Barbie was made in Japan. The fashion dolls were manufactured by the company called Mattel Inc, which was run by Elliot Handler, the better half of Ruth handler. The doll was named after their daughter Barbara.

When exhibited, the womanly figured doll with painted face got mixed reviews. It had been prophesised that the Barbie doll will be a successful product that will stand in the market for more than forty years. Today, even after 40 years this doll has not lost it popularity and generations of mothers and daughters have allowed this doll to be a part of their best childhood memories. The history of toy market not only received a new shape, but also more strength and courage.

Barbie Who Invented Barbie

In the year 1997, Barbie girl song was released by Aqua was a great hit. The interesting fact about the Barbie dolls is that three dolls are sold every second and more than one million Barbie doll collectors are seen worldwide. Among these collectors, more than 45,000 people spend about $1,000 a year in purchasing the dolls and over one billion dolls have been sold in more than 140 countries worldwide.

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Who Invented the Darwin Awards

The Darwin awards were invented by Wendy Northcutt in an attempt to mock people who unintentionally remove themselves from the gene pool by performing a single act of stupidity. The awards are based on Charles Darwin’s theory of the ‘Survival of the fittest’ and ironically honour those people who improve the human species by sacrificing their own lives. According to Northcutt, the Darwin awards commemorate people ‘who do a service to humanity by eliminating themselves from the gene pool’ i.e. lose their ability to contribute to the human race by either sterilization or death in an idiotic manner. There is a website dedicated to the Darwin awards which features compilations of the award winning accounts and collections.

There is no dearth of stories and anecdotes suitable enough to go into the Darwin awards collection. Northcutt started collecting such stories when he was doing Biology research at Stanford University in the year 1993.He went through newspapers from around the world looking for such articles and once their legitimacy was confirmed, he re-wrote and circulated them for a small mailing group of friends. Northcutt began to receive similar accounts from a lot of sources, as these emails passed around. Later, when the server got overloaded with responses, these pages were moved to the official website of the Darwin awards where people could submit nominations and vote for their favourites.

Who Invented the Darwin Awards

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Who Invented Colour Television

The world’s first working television was invented by a Scottish engineer called John Logie Baird in England, in the year 1923. The credit of inventing a colour television has been awarded to the same inventor. By adding few improvements, he created the first colour television in the year 1939. The first system used a disc fixed with colour filters, which is shown through a cathode ray tube. He applied for the patent right in the year 1941 by demonstrating the first three-dimensional colour television. The world’s first colour television with electronic display was introduced in the year 1944.

Many people wrongly assume that the colour television has been invented by Germans or Americans, as they have broadcasted the first colour advertisement. In technical terms, colour television is a technology used for transmission of moving images in colour.

Who Invented Colour Television

Even though the invention was so popular, due to their high price and lack of supply of broadcast material, marketing of the product slowed down. The colour televisions finally started selling in large numbers starting from the early of 1970s. Once the broadcasting issues were cleared, colour sets were sold at a rapid pace in Europe as well as North America.

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Who Invented Crayons

The specifics of the inventor of crayons are quite obscure due to lack of any solid evidence. However it is said that crayons first originated in Europe, when people used a mixture of charcoal and oil for drawings and paintings. The first crayons made were all black in colour due to their charcoal content. Later powdered pigments were added in the crayons to develop them in a variety of different colours. Eventually the use of oil in crayons gave way to wax, as it made them a lot more convenient to use.

The first brand of crayons known as Crayola was launched by cousins Edwin Binney and C. Harold Smith in the year 1903.Crayola were available in many bright colours and were priced at a nickel at that time. The word Crayola is a combination of French words ‘craei’ and ‘oleaginous’ which mean ‘chalk’ and ‘oil’ respectively.

Who Invented Crayons

Edwin Binney and Harold smith set up their establishment called Binney & Smith, which manufactured products like shoe polish, printing ink etc. In 1900 the company got involved in research of non-toxic colouring materials for children. They devised new techniques of mixing wax and pigments to develop different crayons which could be used safely by children.

The concept of crayons has come a long way. Crayola has now come up with a wide range including crayons with glitter, sweet smells, changing colours and properties that make them glow in the dark, hence making colouring a truly joyful experience for children.

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Who Invented Chess

The history of the chess game can be traced several centuries ago. It is believed commonly that Chess may have originated in the northwest region of India, during the reign of Gupta’s. Originally chess is also believed to have surfaced in sixth century in China, India and Persia.

Chess was formerly called as Chaturariga in India. It was the first version of chess that clearly defined the instructions of the game. Moorish soldiers discovered Persia in the seventh century and during that period, they learned the game. When they left for western countries of Europe, they carried the game with them. First checker board was created by Europeans at the end of 9th century, which enabled them to play the game in an easy way.

Who Invented Chess

The history of the game was written during 8th century. Firdousi a Persian poet wrote about the game and Al-Aldi an Arabic writer explained about the instructions and rules of the game in a precise manner.

Chess is a strategic and skill oriented game being played by two players. It is played on a square shaped board consisting of 64 alternated coloured squares in black and white. Each player plays with 16 game pieces in different ranges of powers including pawns, knights, elephants, bishops, queen and king. Each player tries to capture the other player’s most powerful game piece – The King.

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Who Invented Chalk

Chalk is a porous and soft rock that is a form of limestone, and since it’s a naturally available substance no one invented it as such. The use of chalk for writing and drawing can be dated back to pre-historic times. Hence it is very difficult to find out how the chalk as we know it today, came into existence. What also remains a mystery is the fact who invented the method to form sticks of chalks, owing to lack of recorded history of that era. The method has however trickled down over the past thousands of centuries. The naturally available chalk is first grinded into a thin powder after which water and clay are added to it. The clay acts a binding agent for the mixture. It is then molded in cylinders and allowed to dry off.

Around the 19th century when the strength of classes started growing, teachers felt the need for a medium to illustrate information on the board to be visible to all students at once. This is when chalk began to be used in classrooms.

Who Invented Chalk

Chalks were used profusely in classrooms for a long time till the dry erase markers replaced them with the emergence of white boards. The markers used on whiteboards do away with the possibility of potential allergic reactions that chalk-dust can cause. However, there is a flipside to the use of markers as well as they contain chemicals, which might be harmful for children.

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