Bowled Over Trivia Quiz

Answer: Egypt

In an ancient Egyptian tomb found near Naqada and excavated in 1895, archaeologists found wall paintings and miniature balls and pins that resembled the game of bowling. While it is conjecture on how the game was played, the drawings seem to indicate that the balls were rolled at the pins with the aim of knocking them down.

Answer: Skittles

The game of skittles began as an outdoor pastime, with balls being rolled down a designated alley to knock down wooden pins. The number of pins varied depending upon which version of the game was being played, and different versions were played in different countries.

Answer: 1940s

The first patent for an automatic pinsetter for ten pin bowling was issued in the United States in 1941. The equipment was expensive, especially in larger buildings, and pinsetting by "pin boys" continued into the 1960s.

Answer: 1895

Founded in New York City in 1895 after a previous organization, the National Bowling Association (founded 1875) had failed to agree on standardized rules for ten pin bowling, the American Bowling Congress revised the rules and created the modern version of the game.

Answer: Hardwood

Until the introduction of rubber balls in 1905, most bowling balls were made of a South American hardwood called guayacan, or lignum vitae. The wood was also used for lawn bowls and skittles balls.

Answer: 5

The five major variants of pin bowling are ten-pin, candlepin, duckpin, nine-pin, and five-pin. Ten-pin is the most popular variant in the United States, while candlepin and duckpin are mostly played in Eastern Canada and the New England states. Nine-pin is played mostly in Europe, while five-pin is popular in Canada.

Answer: Ten-pin

Ten-pin bowling uses the largest ball by far, with a diameter of 8.5 inches (21.6 centimeters) and a maximum weight of 16 pounds (7.3 kilograms). The ten-pin ball usually has holes for two fingers and the thumb. The balls used for all other pin bowling games are small enough to be held in the hand, with the ball used for duckpins slightly larger ( 5 inches or 12.1 centimeters and 3 1/2 pounds or 1.6 kilograms) than the candlepin or five-pin variants.

The European nine-pin ball is sized between the duckpin and candlepin ball.

Answer: 12

There are nominally ten frames in a game of ten-pin bowling. Depending on the score that a player achieves in the tenth frame, there can also be an eleventh and a twelfth frame added to the game. A perfect 300 game consists of twelve strikes in a row.

Answer: Professional Bowlers Association

Formed by 33 bowlers at a tournament in Syracuse, New York, USA, the PBA became the sanctioning body for professional bowling in the United States in 1958. While PBA tournaments are held in the United States, membership is open to bowlers from all over the world.

Answer: Plastic, urethane, or resin

Ten-pin bowling balls were made of wood until 1905, when rubber balls became standard. Plastic balls were introduced in 1959 and had mostly replaced rubber by the 1970s. In the early 1980s, polyurethane was introduced, and reactive resin balls came in the 1990s.

The materials used to make bowling balls effects their performance on the lane, with plastic, resin, and urethane used to make modern balls.