Bowling is one the oldest sports know to mankind. While we cannot actually place a date of commencement of the sport, it is interesting to note that when the famous explorer, Flinders
Petrie opened up an Egyptian Tomb in 1936, among many things found was a set of implements roughly resembling to the pins used in tenpin bowling.
Historians feel that the caveman may well have pursued this from of the sport using rocks or pebbles to toss at other rocks or pebbles. Though it is likely the game in 6some fashion, was played by Romans, Phoenicians and Carthaginians, no proof is available. We do know that in Julius Caesar's time, around 50 B.C., people in the Alpine regions of Italy played a game considered the precursor to "bocce", the Italian form of the game which is still played. Bowling has been known by such names as: bowls, skittles, kegling, ninepins, Dutch pins and quilles.

The word bowl could be derived from the Saxon bolla which meant "bubble" originally, but which later came to mean anything spherical. Then again, it may be from the Latin bulla or the Old French boule, both meaning "ball". One thing is sure - the word bowl or its equivalent is to be found in all languages of the Germanic group. The game as we know it today traces its original to Germany in the 16th century and spread all over Europe.
Another story explains of a British anthropologist, Sir Flinders Petrie, discovering in the 1930's a collection of objects in a child's grave in Egypt that appeared to him to be used for a crude form of bowling. If he was correct, then bowling traces its ancestry to 3200 BC. A German historian, William Pehle, asserted that bowling began in his country about 300 AD.
The game was supposedly so popular in fourteenth-century England that the young men were cutting archery in favor of bowling. King Edward III passed a law to stop all the nonsense. Other Kings had bowling banned because it became a popular gambling sport. Popular it as, for in 1455 the sport that had always been played outdoors, was brought inside so it wouldn't be affected by rain. Bowling came to the New World in 1600's as the game of ninepins, a favorite of the early Dutch explorers and settlers who came to the northeastern section of the U.S. It became very popular with the Early Dutch and German people, and even the Puritans found the game to their liking, despite their consistent objection to anything that might possibly bring pleasure.
The game of ninepins was a popular betting game, too popular for some lawmakers, who outlawed the game. One of the great heroes of sports history, whose name unfortunately is unknown, circumvented the law by adding the tenth pin. This changed the entire game for the better in every way, and bowling was on its way to respectability.
Bowling continued to be non-automated for a few years with pin-boys standing up fallen pins, but a man by the name of Fred Schmit, who liked to tinker with mechanics, invented, in his own backyard workshop, the first automatic pinspotter. It was not perfect but he took his invention to the American machine and Foundry Company, who took a liking to the invention and decided to put it into production. Plans for production were delayed because of World War II, but at the completion of hostilities, the Company again pursued the invention with certain improvements and so the first automatic pinspotter went on the market.

Undoubtedly, the English, Dutch and German settlers all imported their own variations of bowling to America. The earliest mention of it in serious American literature is by Washington Irving, when Rip Van Winkle awakens to the sound of "crashing ninepins".
The first permanent American bowling location probably was for lawn bowling, in New York's Battery area. Now the heart of the financial district, New Yorkers still call the small plot Bowling Green.
The game had its ups and downs in America. An 1841 Connecticut law made it illegal to maintain "any ninepin lanes", probably because bowling was the object of much gambling. But the problem, of course, also evidenced its popularity. Also, many captains of industry chose to install a lane in their mansions. In the early 1900s the A.B.C. estimates 50 million bowlers nation-wide. Also during this time X Magazine comes out with fun-e bowling issue.
From that point on, bowling has become a sport for all ages and genders. Bowling lanes are filled with people with families just out to have some fun to the bowling leagues where it is a serious sport. Until the 1970s bowling was never considered a real sport. It was only played on your own free time as an extracurricular activity. Although in present day many girls take this real sport very seriously.
The Illinois High School association introduced girls state bowling tournament in 1973. It was a landmark decision for all girls athletics. The addition of bowling gives schools way to increase girls participation in varsity sports so that it is closer to that of boys. Reason being there is no Boys bowling state tournament yet. They placed this sport in the winter, joining in with gymnastics (where available) and basketball.
The first two years of the state meets at Peorias Town & Country Bowl were decided in team head-to-head competition. The enthusiasm generated by the first tow state bowling tournaments was dampened somewhat in 1975 with the crowning of one of the most unappreciated state champions in history. Dixon won its schools first state championship in any sport by defeating Forest View. But the Dixon team, coached by Mona Hohm, had four boys in its starting lineup. This caused much of an uproar but didnt result in the removal of their championship. They might have been one of the best teams to go down in our states history books but they are definitely not going down and the most respected.
In 1983 the tournament switched to Peorias spacious second-year center Landmark Recreation. During this time many teams dominated the scene for years at a time. Certain teams seemed just plain unbeatable for years but would then drop out of sight and a new team would come a long to take the spotlight.
Throughout out the years of when bowling began to present day, the scores have increased dramatically. When back in the olden days, from what was recorded, scores were not even recorded, to the 1900s when scores were very low. In the 1980s the scores were steadily climbing, but no one would have thought what the scores would have been like today.
Scores have gone up during the 27 years on the state series in Illinois, but it would take almost 24 years before perfection would come to the state finals. Thats when junior Stacy Shapiro rolled a 300 game in the fourth round at Cherry Bowl in Rockford to lead Streamwood to it second place championship in 1996. Since then many players have had perfect games. It seems like a regular and not so exciting thing when someone rolls a 300.
Although the game has changed dramatically during the times, it is still considered a great game, and will be for quite some time. Everyone loves to play for leisure/ fun or for serious money. Whatever your preference might be, get out there and enjoy what people have been enjoying for years.

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