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Did you know that archaeologists found a set of nine stone pins in the tomb of an Egyptian child believed to be buried around 5200 B.C.?  Although the modern version of the sport is traced to the 4th or 5th century A.D. in Germany, where the bowler rolled a ball down the aisle of a church at a club called the heathen. Hitting the heathen was a demonstration of the religious faith of the bowler. During the Middle Ages, there were a variety of forms of bowling with the number of pins ranging from 3 to 15.

It is believed that a game something like nine-pins was popular among the Dutch, Swiss and Germans as long ago as A.D. 1200 at which time the game was played outdoors with an alley consisting of a single plank 12 to 18 inches wide along which was rolled a ball toward three rows of three pins each placed at the far end of the alley. When the first indoor alleys were built and how the game was modified from time to time are matters of dispute.  Dutch settlers brought the sport to the The New World in the early 17th century where the sport then continued to grow in popularity and gambling on the sport arose.  Disapproval of the practice of betting led to a ban on ninepins in Connecticut and New York in the early 19th century.  The tenth pin was added to the game in 1842 in what is believe to have been an effort to avoid the ban.

On September 9, 1895 the American Bowling Congress (ABC)was founded, establishing rules, equipment standards and began promoting bowling as a wholesome form of recreation and competition. The first ABC tournament was held in 1901, where amateur and professional bowlers compete annually.  In 1916, The Women's International Bowling Congress was established, sponsoring  annual tournaments since 1917 and regulating the rules and providing recognition of achievements in womens bowling. Most recently in 1982, the Young American Bowling Alliance was formed for the promotion and regulation of youth bowling through college aged bowlers.

The popularity of bowling increased even more in the 1950's with the help of television and in 1958 the Professional Bowlers Association was founded.  The PBA developed a star system and a tournament tour, and was followed in 1959  by the organization of the Professional Women Bowlers Association (now known as the Ladies Pro Bowlers Tour).
In 1952 the Federation Internationale de Quilleurs was formed to govern amateur bowling. Every four years it sponsors a world championship tournament with competition in three zones American, European, and Asian. The prestigious World Cup dates from 1965. Bowling was accepted as a demonstration sport in the 1988 Summer Olympics. The first world youth tenpin championships were held in 1990.

What is Bowling?

The sport of Bowling ( also known as tenpins ) is an indoor sport in which a ball between 6 and 16 lbs. in weight is rolled down a lane approximately 42 inches wide by 60 feet long from the foul line to the head pin,  in an effort to knock down 10 pins set in a triangular array at the other end of the lane. There are 10 frames in a game, each frame consisting of two balls thrown unless a strike is recorded.  Scoring is based on the number of pins knocked down with the highest possible score being 300.   Knocking down all ten pins on the first try results in a strike, needing the second ball to knock down remaining pins is referred to as a spare. On a strike, the player is awarded 10 points plus the total of the next two balls thrown. For a spare, the player is awarded 10 points; plus the value of the next ball thrown. If any of the ten pins remain after two balls are thrown, it is considered an open frame and pin count is the score for that frame.

Example of how to keep score in bowling:

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