The origins - 14th and 15th centuries
Billiards as we know it today is played by millions of people around the world, both recreationally and competitively. However, the game of skill called "billiards", with its many variations, was not always as we know it today.
In its early days, billiards was played on the floor. The goal was to get wooden balls through several rings, hitting the balls with a mallet.
The origins - Second half of the 15th century
The outdoor game described above was mainly played by the nobility and the wealthiest families. As they wanted to continue playing regardless of the weather, the first indoor tables were created. The very first is attributed to master cabinetmaker Henri de Vigne, who made it for King Louis XI in 1469.
Democratization - Second half of the 16th century
Billiards became commonplace from the middle of the 15th century. The activity was no longer reserved for an elite and anyone could indulge in it. In Paris, there were between 120 and 150 tables of various formats, a sign of the population's interest in this game. This interest continued to grow until the 18th century, when there were more than 800 billiard tables scattered throughout Parisian halls (then called "Academies"). In the meantime, several treatises on billiards were published. In these, the rules of the different variants were defined and the game was studied scientifically.
The arrival of modern billiards
At the beginning of the 19th century, billiards was exported to the United States and became extremely popular. International competitions were created and in 1873 the first world championship of French billiards was held (won by the Frenchman Garnier). Technical innovations continued to transform the game with the addition of a piece of leather on the tip of the cue, the invention of blue chalk, the triangle, and the use of rubber for the elastics, thus allowing the balls to bounce better. At that time, the balls were still made of ivory, until the beginning of the 20th century. Two types of games coexisted at that time:
- French billiards, called Carom, appeared around 1850. The table did not have pockets, the objective was not to knock down the balls, but to perform carambolages on the opponent's balls in order to score as many points as possible.
- English billiards, known today as pool, 8 pool or blackball. It is a pocket game played on a rectangular table with 16 colored balls (7 yellow, 7 red, a black ball and a cue ball).
With the export of billiards across the Atlantic, many variants appeared, including American billiards. It is very similar to English billiards but uses solid and circled balls instead of yellow and red balls. Around 1875, snooker was born (another variant composed of 15 red balls and 6 balls of different colors that must be pocketed in a specific order to win a maximum of points).
