Mitchell, age 13, of Johnson City, Tenn., for his question:
WHEN WAS BILLIARDS FIRST PLAYED?
Bililiards is a family of games played on rectangular tables that are twice as long as they are wide. The games are played by hitting balls with tapered, leather tipped sticks called cues. Lining the perimeter of the tables are rubber cushions from which the balls rebound.
Billiards as an outdoor game played on the ground with balls and sticks can be traced back to the 14th century. The game was brought indoors when the first billiard table appeared in 1470. Louis XI of France is given credit for purchasing the first table.
The game of billiards became extremely popular. The story is told that in 1586, Mary, Queen of Scots, complained of being deprived of her billiard table while awaiting execution.
The game wasn't only appreciated by royalty. Billiards also became popular in public rooms and inns.
The first books containing instructions for playing were written in the 17th century in England and France. At that time the cue ball was pushed by a wooden implement called a mace, the blunt end of which rested on the table. A small arch on the table was the target. In the course of the 18th century, the arch yielded to pockets and the . mace gave way to the cue, the narrow end of which was supported by one hand.
The English settled on a style of play, later called English billiards, combining pocketing and caroms. It remained popular until the 1930s. The French concentrated on caroms only and by the mid 19th century were making tables without pockets.
Billiards evolved as a game of precision and artistry during the first third of the 1Sth century, when a series of technical advances were made: the invention of the leather cue tip, use of chalk as a means of increasing friction between the cue tip and the cue ball and the introduction of slate for table beds and rubber for cushions.
Pool, sometimes called pocket billiards, is the most popular style of play in the U.S.
Carom billiards is usually played on a pocketless table measuring five feet by 10 feet. Each player has one cue ball and one or two red object balls. The simplest version, called straight or free billiards, is the most widely played. A point is scored by caroming the cue ball from one object ball to another.
More difficult are cushion caroms in which the cue ball must contact one or more cushions before completing the carom, and balkline, in which restrictions are imposed by lines drawn on the table.
In pool, popular in the United States, the game most often played is eightball. Fifteen consecutively numbered balls are used. One player is confined to the balls numbered higher than eight while the other is confined to those lower than eight. To win, a player must pocket all the balls in his or her assigned group, followed by the eightball.
A survey of participant sports in the United States conducted a few years ago indicated that more than 30 million Americans play pool or billiards at least once a year, making it second only to bowling as a competitive sport and well ahead of tennis and golf.