Rollthrough the past and present of one of the world’s favorite activities.
With more than a hundred million players worldwide, bowling is one of the most popular sports on the planet. Just roll a ball down a lane and knock over some pins. Easy, right? But the story of bowling is anything but a straight roll down center lane.
In the 1930s, Sir Flinders Petrie found some curious objects in an Egyptian child’s grave. Those objects appeared to be related to bowling and were dated to3200 BCE. However, William Pehle from Germany argued that bowling began in his country around 300 CE. In 1366, people in England were notallowed to bowl. That’s because King Edward III wanted his soldiers to focus on their training. A few centuries later, people from the Netherlands, Germany, and England brought bowling to the New World, and it became more and more popular.
