By Gayane Melikyan
Interesting Facts About Billiards
No one can say for sure where and when the game of billiards appeared. Presumably, her homeland is Asia, and in Europe she appeared much later. Documents have survived that in 1469, the master Henri de Vinem produced a pool table for the French king Louis XI.

- The word “billiards” came to us from France and means “ball” in translation. During the Patriotic War of 1812, one Russian censor proposed replacing the foreign name with the Russian one - “sharokat”. But, the idea of ​​support was not received, in Russia the game continued to be called as before.

- Of all the sports, billiards was the first to host the World Cup. The strongest players in the world gathered in the United States, and a billiard player from France named Garnier became the champion. At that time, the French were considered leaders in billiards. A year later, in New York, a tournament entitled "Master of America" ​​was held, but it was not the American who won, but the Parisian Vigno, who led the Paris Billiard Academy in the early twentieth century.

- People of various ages play billiards. For example, the Englishman Fred Davis won the World Cup in 1980, when he was 67 years old. And his compatriot Jimmy White in 1979 became the world champion among amateurs at the age of 17 years.

- But Stevie Star could not achieve such achievements. But, for an amazing trick with a billiard ball, it was added to the Guinness Book of Records. Stevie was able to swallow the ball and burp it back. No wonder it was called "man - a vacuum cleaner."

- A high-quality table for playing billiards can last a very long time. Of course, with proper care of him. Not so long ago, a table was put up for auction, on which the famous American writer Mark Twain played over a hundred years ago. He was a true fan of this game, and even wrote that billiards ruined his angelic character.

- Billiards has always been very popular among representatives of bohemia. For example, a pool table was at Pushkin's in Mikhailovsky. A passionate fan of billiards was Leo Tolstoy. And Vladimir Mayakovsky often lost considerable amounts at the table.

- American President (1801 - 1809) Tom Jefferson loved billiards very much. In his mansion in Virginia, he ordered a pool table set up. Although, on the territory of the state, this game was banned, and the offender could go to prison for two years. In addition to billiards, Jefferson was fond of winemaking and cooking.

- Billiard was very popular in the USSR. Gambling was forbidden, for which they rolled balls into the billiards for money. It is interesting that in the Soviet Union they tried to make billiard tables from reinforced concrete, but in the end they abandoned this idea.

-  Billiards were not always played at the table. For a long time, it was a common fun in the fresh air, on the lawn. Probably, it was from there that the tradition went to cover billiard tables with green cloth. Material of a different color is allowed, but green is the most popular.

- During the game, the player regularly rubs the cue with a chalk-like substance. This, indeed, is chalk, but it is significantly different, for example, from that which is written in school. Chalk for billiards does not stain the table. Its composition was patented in 1897. The development of such chalk for several years involved a professional billiard player William Spinks and chemist William Hoskins.