The History of Bingo, where did it all start

It was in France that Bingo first became a popular activity where they affectionately called in Le Lotto which is probably where we in England got the name for out national lottery mini-game from. The French formed their own original bingo game out of game that already existed and the game they came up with bares more than a striking resemblance to the standard bingo we play now. Each lotto or bingo card consisted of 9 vertical columns and 2 horizontal rows, numbers were called and players marked the corresponding numbers on their card until someone marked an entire line and called lotto like we would call bingo. The very first evidence of bingo existing in its first form dates all the way back to the 1500s. In fact this primitive bingo game played a part in the actual unification of the country of Italy in 1530 With the unification of Italy came the introduction of the National Lottery System in Italy, a game which was almost identical to the game we all now call bingo. It was called Lo Giuoco del Lotto dItalia" and was held regularly once a week. This same bingo type game still exists today in modern Italy and is one of the governments most lucrative ways of earning income. The national bingo game contributes $75 million to the governments budget every year. After the Italians and then the French fell in love with the bingo format game it was then picked up around Europe. In Germany they used the bingo game ins schools as a way to teach children their times tables in a fun and interactive way.