In Italy during the 1530s a lottery was invented that is still played in Italy every Saturday. This is where the game of Bingo originated. The game travelled to France in the 1770s and was initially played amongst wealthy Frenchmen. The game then travelled deeper into Europe reaching Germany, where they chose to use it as a tool to help their children learn history, spelling and math.
Finally, the game reached Atlanta, Georgia in 1929 where it became known as ‘beano’. It was played at fairs and carnivals around the country. Each player had some dried beans and a card containing numbered squares – this was divided into three rows and nine columns. There was a caller who drew random discs numbered from 1 to 90 from a cigar box or a bag. The designated number drawn out was then shouted to waiting players. The players used their beans to cover up the matching number on the card. The winner would be the first person to cover up an entire row of numbers. When this happened the player yelled ‘beano’ to alert everyone that they had won.
A New York toy salesman, Edwin S. Lowe, was visiting a country fair one day when he witnessed a woman...