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The first steeplechase is said to have been a bet in 1752: two riders raced about 6 km across country in County Cork, Ireland, from the church steeple of Buttevant to the one in Doneraile, jumping walls and ditches on the way. The steeples gave the race its name.
📍 Western Russia
In gorodki, "little towns" in Russian, players hurl a heavy bat to knock wooden pins out of a square called the "town". This old Russian game was a favourite of Peter the Great and Leo Tolstoy, yet it only got written rules in 1923.
📍 Harrow (London), England
Squash began around 1830 at Harrow School in London, when pupils noticed that a punctured ball, which “squashed” against the wall, made the old game of rackets far more varied.
📍 La Ciotat, France
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”.
📍 Annonay, France
Paper-makers Joseph and Étienne Montgolfier first flew their hot-air balloon publicly in their hometown of Annonay, France, in June 1783. Chinese sky lanterns came first, but theirs carried the first passengers: a sheep, a duck and a rooster.
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📍 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.
📍 Bonn, Germany
Gummy bears were first made in Bonn in 1922 by the confectioner Hans Riegel, who shaped his fruit gums like the 'dancing bears' then seen at German fairs. They only caught on in the USA in the 1980s.