The game of bingo has its roots further back in history than you might think, though its form has changed over the years. First recordings of the game date back to 1530′s Italy where it was played as “Lo Giuoco del Lotto D’Italia”. Amazingly this game is still played every Saturday. The game then swept across Europe in different guises; it arrived in France around the late 1770s, as a game played by the aristocracy, and in the 1880s the Germans played a version of this as a way to help children learn maths, spelling and history.
Bingo as the game we know today can probably be traced to its arrival in North America in 1929, where it became known as beano, and was played as a carnival game, with the dealer selecting numbered discs from a cigar box and players marking their cards with beans.
There are a number of accounts of how bingo came by its name; most agree that a toy salesman called Edwin S Lowe was involved but disagree on the context. Some say he overheard someone calling bingo rather than beano in their excitement, others that he saw the game been advertised as such. Other sources state that Edwin S. Lowe copied the beano game at home after playing it at a party. One of his guests, excited at winning, stuttered, and not being able shout out beano instead shouted b b b bbingo!
The game of bingo really took off after the church approached Lowe to see if they could use the game as a means of raising church funds. As bingo increased its popularity specific bingo halls were built and the role bingo caller was created along with the development of the language of bingo.
Bingo has since evolved further with the development of modern technology. The internet age is upon us and bingo is not missing out. With more websites dedicated to the game springing up every day it is easier than ever to play and we have to wonder, with the advances in technology, where will the evolution of bingo go next?
If you are looking for somewhere to play online bingo we recommend Gala. Gala are prominent in the online gaming sector, wiht a huge user base that spreads across all levels of experience. Gala offer all traditional casino games as well as bingo.