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Gambling History
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Learn all about the interesting and serpentine Gambling History at Casinos1.co.uk. |
 The Pre-historic Remembrance:
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| Gambling has been one of the oldest hobbies of mankind. Dice-like objects which are as much as 40,000 years old have been discovered. These were made from the ankle bone of sheep or dogs. Cave drawings too depict gambling, which offers further proof of early gamblers. Pairs of dice have even been excavated in the ruins of Pompeii, some of them "loaded" to fall a certain way. |
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Classical Excerpts:
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Around 2300 BC, the Chinese invented a game of chance using tiles. 1100 years later, Greek soldiers amused themselves with dice games, although gambling was illegal in ancient Greece. A pair of ivory dice was found in Thebes (in Egypt) dating back to 1500 BC and similar ancient gambling artifacts have also been unearthed in China, Japan, India and Rome.
Roman emperor Claudius redesigned his carriage so that he could have more room to throw dice; Caligula confiscated knights' property to cover his gaming debts, while Roman soldiers gambled for the Christ's robes after his Crucifixion. When the Roman Empire was at its heights, lawmakers decided all children were to be taught to gamble and throw the dice. |
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| The European Side of the Story: |
| Despite being an inveterate gambler, King Henry VIII outlawed gambling in the 14th century on discovering that his soldiers spent more time gambling than improving their martial skills. The odds were 10-to-1 on acquittal when Henry's wife Anne Boleyn and her brother were tried for treason and incest. |
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| Gambling in the Americas: |
Native Americans in the New World believed that the gods invented games of chance and this was a highly believed myth! They played dice with plum stones which were painted black or white. Apart from wagering their possessions, the Native Americans also played to predict future harvests and for curing ill members of their tribe.
During the American Revolutionary War (18th century), lotteries funded the Continental Army. In 1793, George Washington himself bought the first ticket for a federal lottery sponsored to finance work in the District of Columbia. Later, lotteries were sanctioned by nearly all state governments. By the 1830's, prizes were offered by over 420 lotteries, which remained a popular fund-raising method throughout the next century.
In the 1930's, legalized betting once more became popular. In 1931, casinos literally sprouted from the sands of the desert in Nevada. In 1978, Atlantic City followed and ever since, other states have legalized various forms of gambling. |
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