Italian beginnings
Bingo is usually traced to an Italian lottery from the 1500s, which was organized as a national game. Similar number-drawing games spread across Europe over the following centuries.
France and Germany
In the 1700s, a French version called Le Lotto was played with cards and called numbers. In the 1800s, versions of the game were used in Germany to teach children spelling, multiplication and history, a tradition that lives on in classroom bingo.
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Make bingo cardsBeano becomes bingo
In the United States, a carnival game called beano used dried beans as markers. The popular story says a New York toy salesman named Edwin S. Lowe saw the game in 1929, and a player's excited shout of 'bingo' gave it a new name. Lowe then sold bingo sets and is credited with making the game widely known.
Bingo today
Today bingo is played in church halls, schools, senior centers, living rooms and online. Custom word bingo has made it just as popular for baby showers and science lessons as for traditional number games.