Who invented Bowling?
17:11 Share

Psst. Hey, smarty pants. Quick sports question for you. In baseball, if you're up at bat and you swing and miss, it's called what? Strike!

A strike! And if you get three strikes, what happens? You're out! Yep, you'd be out. Unfortunately, I was pretty good at getting strikes. You're out! If only there was a game where getting a strike was a good thing. And getting, say, 12 strikes was perfect. Smarty Pants, can you think of such a game?

Hey, way to go, trustee. That's another strike. You're on fire today. You could say I'm on a roll. Smarty Pants, did you say bowling is a sport where getting a strike is a good thing? Nice job if you did.

I'm guessing some of you smarty pants have gone bowling before, maybe for a birthday party or a play date or a fun way to spend a rainy day. Hey, how would you like to join me and my friend Donnie? Uh, trustee, I don't think all those smarty pants can fit on one lane. Good point, Donnie. I'll go to the front desk and rent out a few more lanes. Come on, smarty pants. We'll get you set up on your own lane with your own bowling ball and some bowling shoes. Um, excuse me, ma'am. Yes? We'd like to... Let me guess.

Your bowling ball got stuck in the gutter. No. It got stuck in the machine? Nope. Oh, I know. You need new bowling shoes because I accidentally gave you two left shoes earlier. No. But now that you mention it, my foot does feel weird. But I'm bowling so well today, I'd hate to change anything. Ah, I know. You want to learn all about bowling. Like how did it start? Why do you need funny shoes? How did bowling go from being a religious ceremony to an illegal activity?

And why it's called bowling when you don't use bowls to play. Actually, I was going to ask you if I could rent some more lanes, but the Smarty Pants and I are definitely curious about all those things. Great. Play the song and let's get started. Get ready to be bowled over with another whiff of science and history on... The Smart Egg! The Smart Egg!

Who's smart? Is it you? Is it me? Is it science? Or history? Listen up, everyone! Smarting! Lots of fun on Who's Smart?

Smarty Pants, if you like to bowl, you're not alone. By some estimates, bowling is enjoyed by as many as 120 million people in more than 90 countries. But even if the sport itself is not your thing, you can still enjoy hanging out with family and friends down at the bowling lanes and, of course, wearing funny shoes. Is this where I tell you why you wear those funny shoes? Not just yet, Bolina. First, let's see how much the Smarty Pants know about bowling.

Want to help walk us through a typical game? Sure thing, trustee. Okay, Smarty Pants, the way it works is this. You and whoever you're bowling with each take turns rolling a heavy round ball down a long, narrow lane, trying to hit objects called pins standing at the very end. But you've got to avoid the sides of the lane called gutters. A gutter ball won't hit any pins. Now, first question, how many pins are in the most popular version of bowling? Smarty Pants, any ideas? Is it 9, 10, 11?

Or 12. And while 9-pin used to be the most popular version, these days most people play with 10 pins. Now you actually get two chances to knock over the same 10 pins. After that, the pins are reset. Every time you step up to face a new set of pins, that's what's called a frame. Can you guess how many frames there are in a bowling game? Take a guess. Is it 6, 8, or 10? Once again, the answer is 10. Now, like I said, you get two chances to knock down all the pins in each frame.

Now, true or false, if you knock down all the pins with your second roll in a frame, that's called a strike. Smarty Pants, what do you think? The answer is false.

Yeah, I tricked you, Smarty Pants. Donnie, why would you do that? I just wanted to see how good they were paying attention. See, it's only called a strike if you knock down all the pins with your first roll. If you get them all down on your second roll, that's called what? Did you say a spare, Smarty Pants? Nice. And both a strike or a spare can get you extra points. That's right. Most times knocking down a pin will get you one point. But if you roll a strike or spare, you get extra points for the next frame you bowl.

But for many people, it's not really about your score. It's about having fun. Not me. I'm all about my score. Um, didn't you just roll a 68? I'm working on my form. Anyway, it's your turn to go, trusty, so hurry it up. Coming. But first, I have to know where bowling started. Bolina? Yes, I will show you. Look into my magic crystal ball and tell me what you see.

Um, that's not crystal. It's just a regular green bowling ball made of rubber, polyester, or urethane. And all I see is three holes for gripping the ball. You're not seeing any images? No. Fine. Just close your eyes and think of ancient Egypt. Ancient Egypt? Shh! Do as I say! Good. Now think of a desert...

And in this desert sits a pyramid. Only this pyramid's sides are flat and up-stepped. Okay, I'm picturing a flat desert pyramid in ancient Egypt. But what does this have to do with bowling? Believe it or not, inside the tomb of an ancient Egyptian lies a treasure. A bowling treasure. Ancient bowling shoes? Nope. Not the shoes. But rather, bowling itself.

Inside the tomb of an ancient Egyptian buried over 5,000 years ago, anthropologists discovered nine stone pins and a ball. Do you know what this means? Ancient Egyptian sandals work as bowling shoes? Yes, that and bowling has been around since ancient times. And ancient Polynesians and Romans also had versions of the game. Nice throw, Strykus Maximus.

Wow, but why was it called bowling? Do they use actual bowls to throw at the pins? No, no bowls. However, the Latin word bula means round thing. So bowl in this case doesn't mean the dish. It actually comes from a word meaning ball. Now close your eyes and picture Germany around the year 300. Uh, my imagination isn't that good. Let's use my teleportation app instead. Beep, beep, beep.

Hey, look! People are bowling! But that doesn't look like a bowling alley. It looks like a church. Ah, yes. Bowling back then was actually a religious ceremony. Ancient Germans would place a club called a kegel at the end of a long runway, similar to our modern lanes. And they'd try to hit the kegel with a ball.

They believed any person able to knock down the kegel would be forgiven of all sins and wrongdoings. Just one kegel? Or 17. 17? Over time, people played with any number of pins, even as many as 17. In the 1500s, a famous religious leader named Martin Luther is said to have set the number of pins at 9.

But by then, bowling was no longer a religious ceremony. Martin Luther simply enjoyed playing, and he built a lane for his children. That's when nine-pin became the most popular type of bowling. But today, most lanes have ten-pins. Yes. Today, ten-pin bowling is most popular. And you know which country is to blame for that? Smarty Pants, any guesses? If you guessed the United States of America, you're right.

Uh-huh. But we must go back in time, to before the Statue of Liberty was even made for Bowling's arrival in America.

Nobody quite knows when immigrants brought bowling here, but a publication from around 1820 contains the earliest known reference to bowling in the U.S. Smarty Pants, any guess what that publication was? Was it A, The Great American Book of Games, B, The Biography of Thomas Jefferson, or C, Rip Van Winkle? The answer is...

See? Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving. At the time of that book, bowling was becoming very popular in America. But it was still the nine-pin kind. See? I see. I also see a lot of people exchanging money. Ah, yes. The sport that had started as a religious ceremony broke bad.

In America, bowling became known for gambling and crime. So the state of Connecticut tried to do something about it. They made nine-pin lanes illegal. No more nine-pin bowling was allowed. Smarty Pants, what do you think happened next? Did bowlers give up? The actual history is a bit fuzzy, but according to legend, to get around the ban on nine-pin bowling, bowlers simply decided to bowl with ten pins. ♪

By the late 1800s, tenpen bowling took over. And today, it's the most popular kind. Today, bowling is also more associated with birthday parties, glowing lights, and music than crime. Oh, that reminds me. Can I rent some extra lanes for the smarty pants? Of course. How many shoes do you need? Um, why can't they just wear the sneakers and shoes that they have on now? There's a good reason. Great. You can tell me right after this quick break.

Hey, friends. Trusty here. Now, you know the only thing I love more than adventure is not going on an adventure and hanging in my backyard eating pizza with Chet and the Woe Girl. Whoa. And there's something magical about finally making your space feel like yours. For me, it started with chairs. I used Wayfair to find the perfect chairs for my backyard. Stylish, affordable, and honestly, way more comfortable than I expected. And

And that's the thing about Wayfair. It's not just a place to buy furniture. It's a one-stop shop for creating the home that you've been dreaming about. Whether you're sprucing up your patio, planning backyard hangouts, or just upgrading your morning coffee spot, Wayfair has everything. Dining sets, lounge chairs, fire pits, string lights, you name it. Plus, the shopping experience is super easy. And they even have free shipping on the big stuff.

So this summer, make your space your oasis. You and your family deserve your own little paradise. Head to Wayfair.com right now to shop a huge outdoor selection. That's W-A-Y-F-A-I-R.com. Wayfair. Every style, every home.

Hey smarty friends, trusty here. I grew up on the Smurfs. Saturday mornings, cereal in hand, glued to the screen. So yeah, I cannot wait for this. Smurfs is back, and this time it's bigger, bolder, and bursting with magic.

blue magic. When Papa Smurf is taken by two seriously evil wizards, it's up to Smurfette, voiced by Rihanna, to lead the rescue mission into the real world. Along the way, the Smurfs discover that saving the universe means trusting something they've never relied on before, magic. The music? All

All new! Rihanna, Cardi B, DJ Khaled, yes please! And the cast is stacked! James Corden, Daniel Levy, Sandra Oh, Octavia Spencer, Kurt Russell, John Goodman. Honestly, it's wild. It's got everything. Laughs, heart, music, and that classic Smurf spirit that I've loved forever. It's perfect for the whole family, or anyone who remembers what it felt like to believe in a little blue world full of hope. Just like I did.

Smurfs Hits Theater's July 18th. I'll be there. Hope you will too. So, Smarty Pants, now that you know that bowling began in ancient times, was once a religious ceremony, and then became legal, before turning into the fun game it is today, there's still one burning question. What's up with the funny-looking bowling shoes? Why can't we just use our own sneakers? Because bowling shoes keep the polished lanes free from outside dirt.

Plus, they're better for bowling. Really? How so? Tell me this. When you lug a heavy ball weighing between 6 and 16 pounds...

or 2.7 to 7.2 kilograms toward the lane. Do you want your shoes to be slippery? Smarty Pants, what do you think? I don't want to fall, so I'm guessing no. Ah, but the answer is yes. You want to slide when you bowl so you can easily roll the ball down the lane.

Your sneakers have treads underneath, which create friction to help you walk outside without slipping. But they might make you stop short or trip while bowling.

With bowling shoes, you can glide into your release of the ball. However, the heel of a bowling shoe is usually made of rubber, which helps you stop after you release the ball, so you don't slide out onto the lane. Okay, but what about the crazy designs and colors? There are many theories as to why bowling shoes have different colors, but one thing's for certain, they stick out.

Chances are nobody's going to steal a pair of bowling shoes or accidentally walk out of an alley with them on. You won't mistake them for your regular shoes. Hey, narrator, we bowling or what? All right, smarty pants, let's all strike out.

A double shout out to super smarty fans Grayson and Moose in Mooresville, North Carolina. We hear you love Who's Smarted because it's fun and helps you learn new things. Sounds like you're bowling for knowledge, you two. Keep on laughing and learning, smarty pants. This episode, Bowling, was written by Dave Bolorama-Bodry and voiced by Charlotte Queenpin Cone, Jason Wombat-Williams, Adam Strikes-Davis, Max Kingpin Kamaski, and Jerry Bolamat-Colbert. Texts and

Technical direction and sound design by Josh Headpin-Hahn. Who Smarted? is recorded and mixed at the Relic Room Studios. Our associate producer is Max Kamaski. The theme song is by Brian Spare Suarez, with lyrics written and performed by Adam Tex-Davis. Who Smarted? was created and produced by Adam Tex-Davis and Jerry Colbert. This has been an Atomic Entertainment production. This episode is dedicated to the memory of Lindy Sperling. Who Smarted?