Who Invented Ping Pong?

Ping pong, or table tennis, is derived from the outdoor game of lawn tennis. Ping pong is played on a table with two to four players hitting a ball back and forth over a net that divides the table. Although the inventor and exact origins of Ping Pong are not known, the history of ping pong can be traced back to the 19th century.

Game Creation

The first accounts of ping pong being played are recorded in the 1800s. The English are believed to be the first to play the outdoor game of tennis on the tops of tables.

Original Equipment

The original game of ping pong was played with household items and a dinner table. Rackets were made from cigar-box lids, the net was made from a row of books and the original game balls were made from wine or champagne corks or small balls of thread.

Name Game

In the beginning, ping pong was called by many different names. Gossima, flim-flam, whif-whaf, gossimer and ping pong were all used to describe the game. These names usually came from the sound made when players hit the ball.

Modern equipment

In 1903 E.C. Goode replaced cigar-box rackets with blades made of lightweight wood that were covered with rubber. In 1900 James Gibb introduced a celluloid ball to the game. In 1936 the net was lowered from 30 centimeters to the current height of 15.25 centimeters to speed up games.

One Name

In 1901 English Manufacturer J.Jacques & Sons Ltd. copyrighted the game and registered it as "ping pong." Jacques & Sons sold the game with paddles, a ball and a net. Jacques & Sons sold the rights to the game to the American company of Parker Brothers later in the early 1900s.

International Game

The game's popularity decreased in the early 1900s. The game was revived under the name of table tennis by the International Table Tennis Federation in 1926. The ITTF helped spread the game of table tennis throughout Europe and Asia.