Walking Encyclopedia

I am not that big into some kinds of history, but I devour ping pong trivia.

A few days ago, I had a water cooler talk with my buddies in the office regarding ping pong (also known as table tennis) that turned into one huge and heated debate. Of course, as a huge fan of the sport, I acted as if I know everything. But they never listened. They actually usually blow me off, since I tend to be pretty boring on this subject.  I admit it. LOL!  Since they didn’t listen to me, I thought it is better to just share my knowledge in ping pong to others like you, instead.

As it turns out, most of the world champions and leaders in the sport of ping pong come from Asia. A large sum of them is from China, Japan, and South Korea - no wonder why many believe that this sport originated from the East, aside from the fact that it doesn’t have a Western sounding name.

Would you believe that ping pong originated in England in late 1800s? It is said to be a past time activity of some upper class Victorians who wanted to bring the tennis game indoors. They used different everyday objects to act as the equipment for the game. The books served as the net, rounded cork for the ball, cigar boxes as the rackets, and the dining table was the court.

The name ping pong came from one of the earliest manufacturers of the game equipment, J. Jacques and Son Ltd. It became their trademark in 1901. It was said that the idea came from the bouncing sound made.
 
That’s a quick look on the history of the name and the game called ping pong.  Now you too can bore your friends with this stuff.