Bowling set

Named variously bowling, nine-pins, jeu de quilles, or skittles, bowling games provided amusement for centuries. Egyptians indulged in a form of bowling by 3,200 B.C. King Henry VIII banned lawn bowling in 15th-century England because too many tradesmen neglected their vocations. Washington Irving immortalized nine pins in his 19th-century tale of Rip van Winkle. By 1900, Americans formed formal bowling associations to play the game competitively.