Classic Games - Bingo Basic

"Bingo has been one of the most popular games in the world for generations - in fact its history dates all the way back to Italy in the 1530s. It originated from the traditional lottery game “Il Giuoco del Lotto d'Italia”. Just like modern bingo, the caller would call out numbers one at a time by picking numbered discs or sheets of paper from a pouch or box, and players would hope to be the first to complete their card to win. The lotto cards used by players were rectangular shaped with 3 rows and 9 columns across, for a total of 27 squares. Each had a number between 1-90, and the first player to complete a row would be declared the winner. From Italy the game migrated to France where it became a favorite of the French aristocracy, known as ‘Le Lotto’. The game reached America in the 1920s under the name "Beano", which is what players would shout when they completed a row on their card. New York based travelling salesman Edwin S. Lowe then stumbled onto the game at a carnival in Georgia, and was so impressed he decided to make his own version using a rubber numbering stamp, a card board, and dried beans. During test games with his friends one winning player mistakenly called out “bingo” instead of “beano” after a winning combination, and the new name stuck. By the 1940s people were playing bingo all across the United States."