History of Bowling
Megan A. Jones
April 18, 2013
History of Bowling
The sport of bowling has been an entertaining game played by 95 million people in over 90 countries worldwide, marking it as one of the most popular sports existing. In the 1930 's, British Sir Flinders Petrie, made a detection of a collection of articles in a adolescent 's grave located in Egypt that appeared to be used for a crude form of bowling. If correct, it would conclude that bowling could be traced to 3200 BC. But German historian, William Pehle, declared that bowling began in his country about 300 AD. There is significant evidence that a form of bowling was being played in England in 1366, when King Edward III supposedly prohibited it to keep his troops focused on archery practice; it is almost certain bowling was well-liked during the supremacy of King Henry VIII. By this time, too, there were many variations of "pin" games, and also of games where a ball was thrown at objects other than pins. This would seem to imply that the games had developed over time, from an earlier period.
One of the most peculiar games is still found in Edinburgh. In this game, the player swings a fingerless ball between his legs and heaves it at the pins. In doing so, he "flops" onto the lane on his stomach. Likely related are the Italian bocce, the French petanque and British lawn bowling. In ancient Germany, peasants declare themselves free of sin by sticking a wooden club called Kegel into the earth. Then the peasant would try to knock the Kegel down by rolling a stone. And if he succeeds in knocking the Kegel, he is considered as free of sin. This had been a secular practice but eventually it moved out of the church to become a sport that the common German people enjoyed. Martin Luther standardized the game with ninepins and called it Kegel. A wooden ball has replaced the stone and multiple pins were used to replace the Kegel.
From Germany, the game spread over the neighboring countries. And from outdoors, the sport
April 18, 2013
History of Bowling
The sport of bowling has been an entertaining game played by 95 million people in over 90 countries worldwide, marking it as one of the most popular sports existing. In the 1930 's, British Sir Flinders Petrie, made a detection of a collection of articles in a adolescent 's grave located in Egypt that appeared to be used for a crude form of bowling. If correct, it would conclude that bowling could be traced to 3200 BC. But German historian, William Pehle, declared that bowling began in his country about 300 AD. There is significant evidence that a form of bowling was being played in England in 1366, when King Edward III supposedly prohibited it to keep his troops focused on archery practice; it is almost certain bowling was well-liked during the supremacy of King Henry VIII. By this time, too, there were many variations of "pin" games, and also of games where a ball was thrown at objects other than pins. This would seem to imply that the games had developed over time, from an earlier period.
One of the most peculiar games is still found in Edinburgh. In this game, the player swings a fingerless ball between his legs and heaves it at the pins. In doing so, he "flops" onto the lane on his stomach. Likely related are the Italian bocce, the French petanque and British lawn bowling. In ancient Germany, peasants declare themselves free of sin by sticking a wooden club called Kegel into the earth. Then the peasant would try to knock the Kegel down by rolling a stone. And if he succeeds in knocking the Kegel, he is considered as free of sin. This had been a secular practice but eventually it moved out of the church to become a sport that the common German people enjoyed. Martin Luther standardized the game with ninepins and called it Kegel. A wooden ball has replaced the stone and multiple pins were used to replace the Kegel.
From Germany, the game spread over the neighboring countries. And from outdoors, the sport
Bibliography: International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame. History of Bowling. Retrieved from ……….http://www.bowlingmuseum.com/Visit/HistoryofBowling.aspx. "Bowling." 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowling