Bingo can be traced back as late as 1530 were it is said to have originated for the Italian lottery called "Lo Giuoco del Lotto D'Italia," which translates as "The Clearance of The Lot of Italy". From Italy the game found its way over to France in the 1770s where the game was known as "Le Lotto". Germany then used the game as a means of education rather than pleasure. The game was used in schools to help children with their maths and learning.
The game finally found its way over to a carnival near Atlanta, Georgia in North America in 1929 where it was known as "beano" because beans where used to mark of numbers. A New York toy salesman who went by the game Edwin S. Lowe saw the game being played and it is said that he decided to change the name to bingo because of someone yelling the word “bingo” instead of “beano”. Yes, back then if you won you would have yelled “Beano” not “bingo”.
Edwin S. Lowe saw potential in the game and hired a Columbia University math professor, Carl Leffler. Carl’s job was to try and make more combinations of bingo cards which he succeeded in, as by 1930, 6,000 different bingo cards were invented.
Edwin S. Lowe was contacted by a Catholic priest from Pennsylvania who saw the game’s potential as a way of raising more money for the church. Since the game found its way into churches the game exploded. Apparently, an estimated 10,000 bingo games were played weekly by 1934 which grew to more than $90 million dollars being spent on the game each week in North America.
