the first marbles were created by the cavemen who were playing with small pebbles or balls of natural clay. Balls of clay have been found in tombs in Egypt, as well as in Indian burial sites. Also, balls of clay have been discovered in the ancient pyramids of the Aztecs. Which means that a lot of boys and girls had fun playing with some kind of marbles in the past!
The ancient Greeks played various games using nuts. One of these, which was called “Ohmiya” was similar to the game “Ringer” that is played even today. There are frequent references to the whole range of Roman literature in marbles and games of marbles which north with walnuts. Ovid describes a variety of games with balls in his poem “The Walnut”. It is probably reasonable to assume that the Romans took this popular form of entertainment with them to all parts of the empire. Children playing with marbles appear in wall paintings found in Bath, England. Marbles of clay have been found in a single colony, influenced by the Roman civilization in north-western India and date back to the 2nd century. m.X.
In 1815 it was written in England the first book for the marbles, in accordance with this, the first marbles were made of porcelain, clay, glass or even real marble. In 1848 a German glass manufacturer, he invented the “scissors bolus” (a mold to make marbles) that revolutionized the way in which they built the marbles, as at that moment. The 1890 built for the first time marbles from a machine in Germany and later in the same year in America.
In the 1950’s there have been several innovations in the area of the bolus. First, Japan created the volos with a plan, “cat’s eye”, which happened to incorporate colored glasses in a normal volos. Then, in America, some people discovered that if you baked the marbles before they cool, then arise to a effect with cracks.
The most important event in the history of the bolus probably occurred in 1960 when Neil Armstrong (the first man on the moon) described the Earth as saw from outside the window of the spaceship as the “big blue volos”.
In today’s age the marbles are made of many different materials. The glass is the most popular. The marbles of clay is very cheap in construction, but it’s not as good as the glass. Almost all of the marbles are made by machinery. The glass marbles are made by melting glass in a furnace and pouring it into molds, then colored glasses are incorporated in the marbles in the molds, thus creating projects such as the “cat’s eye” and “comics”. Finally, the molds with the marbles in them are cooled, and so we have marbles with strange designs in them.
In America there is a National Tournament Bolus from 1922 which usually is in New Jersey and lasts four days. The official game of the Tournament is the Ringer, which is said to be one of the oldest games with marbles. Prizes include scholarships worth thousands of dollars and amounts of money.
For thousands of years marbles have proven that it is one of the most popular, interesting and fun games in the world. Don’t sit well, take your marbles and let’s play!
Marbles: The history of
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