The History of Bingo

Bingo is one of the most played games in the world, with bingo halls to be found in almost any town or city in the world. But not many people now what the origins of the game was. A game that today has many Online bingo sites and other bingo options available online.

How Bingo Was Born

Most Bingo players don't realize that the first bingo games can be traced back to 1530 in
Italy. It originated as a "lottery" game called, "Lo Giuco de Lotto". Interesting, huh?

A couple of hundred years later, this type of lottery migrated over to France in the 1700s, it took the form of the Bingo we all know and love today.

The French Love Bingo

Actually, the French were the first to play with Bingo playing cards, tokens … and what we all love most -- reading those numbers out loud!

Throughout the 1800s Bingo spread quickly in Europe. Typically, the "Caller" would draw from a bag full of wooden chips numbered from 1-90. Like today, the object of the game was to be the first to cover a vertical, horizontal or vertical row.

Bingo Comes To America

In 1929, a game called "Beano" was played in a carnival near Atlanta, Georgia. Dried beans, a rubber stamp and a cardboard sheet were all that these Americans need to get their minds off the sting of the Depression.

It wasn't until a New York toy salesman named Edwin Lowe, observed how players shouted the word, "BEANO!!" after winner was the modern game of Bingo born.

Let's Shout "BINGO!" Out Loud

Mr. Lowe introduced the game to his friends in New York where one of them mistakenly yelled "BINGO!!" for the first time in her excitement, and "Lowe's Bingo" was soon the talk of NYC. Lowe asked players to pay him $1 per year to allow them to call their games Bingo as well …

By the late 1940s, Bingo games sprung up all over the country with thousands of games being play every week. Today, Bingo games are found everywhere … even on the Net ;-)