Marble

Children of several ancient civilizations including Egypt, Greece, and Rome played with marbles made of stone, ceramics, flint, nuts, wood, and other natural materials. For centuries, marbles have remained an enduring toy. In the middle of the 19th century, a German glassblower devised a pair of scissors with a small sphere attached that made the production of marbles much easier than previous processes. When he snipped a piece off a rod of molten glass, the small batch filled the sphere and formed the marble. As marbles became more affordable, children devised a variety of games and ways to win more and more marbles from their opponents.