Game
Where does Pétanque come from?
Pétanque was born in La Ciotat, near Marseille, around 1907–1910, when rheumatic player Jules Lenoir could no longer run before throwing. Its name comes from Provençal for “feet planted”.
More Games & sports
Game
Dog agility
📍 London (Crufts at Olympia), England
Dog agility began as interval entertainment at the 1978 Crufts dog show in London, with dogs racing round a course modelled on horse show jumping. It became a proper competition at Crufts in 1980.
Game
Gateball
📍 Memuro, Hokkaido, Japan
Gateball was dreamed up in 1947 in Memuro, Hokkaido, by Eiji Suzuki, who handmade sticks and balls so children short of toys after the war could play a croquet-like game. It later became a favourite of older people.
Game
Playing cards
📍 China
Playing cards were most likely invented in Tang-dynasty China around the 9th century, helped by woodblock printing. They reached Europe much later, probably via Mamluk Egypt, by the 1370s.
More from Europe
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Nature
Merino sheep
📍 Iberian Peninsula
Merino sheep were developed in medieval Spain, which guarded the fine-wool breed as a monopoly: smuggling one out could mean death. Merinos only reached Australia in 1797, via South Africa.
Word
Tarantula (the word)
📍 Taranto, Italy
The name comes from Taranto in southern Italy, home of a wolf spider whose bite was popularly blamed for 'tarantism', a frenzy said to be cured by dancing. English later gave the name to big hairy American spiders.
Nature
Horse chestnut (conker tree)
📍 Mountains of northern Greece & Albania
The conker tree of British playgrounds is a Balkan native: wild horse chestnuts survive only in a few mountain forests of northern Greece, Albania and nearby. Everywhere else, it was planted.