When did people learn to swim?
African swimming (Gilf Kebir cave, Libya, ca. 8000 BC) Many animals can swim. Probably people have always been able to swim too. The very earliest human people lived along the [...]
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Who invented playing cards? China
An early playing card (Ming Dynasty, ca. 1500 AD) People in T'ang Dynasty China made the first playing cards, about 800 AD. They used their new material, paper, to make [...]
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Swimming in the Middle Ages
Women swimming in the Seljuk kingdom (1494 AD) The fall of the Roman Empire and the Sassanian Empire in the 500s AD doesn't seem to have made much difference to [...]
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History of games: What kind of games?
History of games: Egyptian girls playing a piggyback ball toss game What were the first games? There have been toys and games since before there were people; even young chimpanzees [...]
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Gambling games and dolls – History of games
Gambling games: Greek girls playing knucklebones (ca. 200 BC, now in British Museum) People loved to gamble Gambling games were very popular all over the world from as early as [...]
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History of dice – When were dice invented?
Early dice from ancient Egypt: History of dice How old are dice? People have been playing dice games for a very long time. The very first dice were just sheep [...]
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Who invented board games?
King Tutankhamon's Senet Board (ca. 1300 BC) When were the first board games? People were playing board games earlier than we have any records. Probably the first board games were [...]
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When was backgammon invented?
Royal Game of Ur (2600 BC; British Museum) Backgammon's from older board games Backgammon is descended from much older board games from Africa and West Asia like Senet and Tabula [...]
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Wrestling, Martial Arts, and Olympics – History of Sports
Sports history: The Discus-Thrower (ca. 450 BC) The earliest sports Indo-European people like Central Asians and the Greeks had a very strong tradition of athletic competition. Competing in, and winning, [...]
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History of swimming in the Americas
Aztec swimmer from Teotihuacan (ca. 500 AD) The first people who came to the Americas probably already knew how to swim, as they got their food from fishing and gathering [...]
