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History of Dominoes Timeline

(12th century–Present)

Dominoes originated in China and evolved from traditional Chinese tile games into the many recreational and competitive forms played around the world today. Less

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Chinese origins

Development of Chinese dominoes

1100 - 1300

An identifiable version of Chinese dominoes developed during the 12th or 13th century.

Image source: Chinese dominoes

Development of Chinese dominoes

Pupai sold in Hangzhou

1162 - 1189

During the reign of Emperor Xiaozong of Song, peddlers in Hangzhou sold pupai, described as gambling plaques or tiles, along with dice. This is the oldest written reference associated with domino tiles in China, although the meaning of pupai is not completely certain.

Uncertainty over the meaning of pupai

1200 - 1300

The term pupai in the Hangzhou record is not conclusively proven to mean dominoes, leaving some uncertainty about the precise nature of the tiles mentioned in the 13th century.

Chinese 32-piece set established

1200 - 1600

The traditional Chinese domino set contained 32 pieces, representing every possible face of two thrown dice. Unlike the later Western set, it had no blank faces.

Song dynasty mention of dominoes

1232 - 1298

The earliest known mention of dominoes appears in Former Events in Wulin, a text by Zhou Mi, who lived from 1232 to 1298 during the Song dynasty.

Image source: Dominoes

Song dynasty mention of dominoes

Manual of the Xuanhe Period appears

1341 - 1427

The Manual of the Xuanhe Period, attributed to Qu You, is regarded as the earliest known manual on dominoes.

Questions about the domino manual

1400 - 1500

Although the Manual of the Xuanhe Period purports to have been written by Qu You, some scholars consider it a later forgery, making its date and authorship uncertain.

Lu Rong describes domino tiles

1436 - 1494

The Ming author Lu Rong used the term pupai in a context that clearly describes domino tiles, two centuries after the earlier Hangzhou reference.

Chinese blank-faced dominoes known

1600 - 1699

Although the traditional Chinese set had no blank faces, Chinese dominoes with blank faces were known during the 17th century.

European emergence

No confirmed Chinese-European link

1750 - 1760

The French form of modern dominoes differed from Chinese dominoes in several respects, and historians have not confirmed a direct link between the two.

Western 28-piece set emerges

1750 - 1760

The 28-piece domino set found in the West during the mid-18th century differed from the traditional 32-piece Chinese set, notably in its inclusion of blank faces.

Modern dominoes appear in France

1750 - 1760

Modern dominoes first appeared in France during the mid-18th century. Their differences from Chinese dominoes mean that no confirmed connection between the two traditions has been established.

Domino name first recorded

Apr 1, 1762

The word domino does not appear in the surviving record before 1762. Its first recorded appearance was in the magazine L’Avantcoureur on 1 April 1762.

Domino recorded as a game

1771

The 1771 edition of the Dictionnaire de Trévoux was the first dictionary to record domino as the name of a game.

Game development

Early rules repeatedly reprinted

1771 - 1825

Rules for the early domino games were reprinted, largely unchanged, for more than half a century.

All Fives appears

1863

In 1863, a new game variously called All Fives, Fives, or Cribbage Dominoes appeared in English and American sources. It was the first scoring domino game.

Cribbage scoring enters dominoes

1863

All Fives borrowed counting and scoring features from cribbage, using five domino spots rather than fifteen card points as the basic scoring unit, with each unit worth one game point.

American Hoyle lists new variants

1864

The American Hoyle described three new variants in 1864: Muggins, Bergen, and Rounce. They appeared alongside Block Dominoes and Draw Dominoes.

Block and draw games documented

1864

The 1864 American Hoyle included descriptions of Block Dominoes and Draw Dominoes, documenting two established forms alongside newer variants.

Parallel domino rulebooks continue

1868 - 1888

For about twenty years, reprints of both rule sets continued to circulate in parallel: the version without the muggins rule and the version that included it.

Muggins rule added to Hoyle

1868

The omission of the muggins rule was corrected in the 1868 edition of The Modern Pocket Hoyle.

Muggins or All Fives rules published

1871

Many publications issued rules under combined titles such as Muggins or All Fives and Muggins or Fives, without distinguishing the games.

All Fives and Muggins names merge

1871

From around 1871, the names All Fives and Muggins became conflated in many publications.

Muggins rule becomes dominant

1888

After the period of parallel publication, the rule set containing the muggins rule eventually prevailed.

Modern legacy

Sunday domino ban in Alabama

1800 - Apr 21, 2015

In Alabama, playing dominoes on Sunday was illegal under state law. Although the rule was rarely prosecuted, the relevant section of the Alabama Criminal Code remained in force until its repeal took effect on 21 April 2015.

Dominoes described as globally popular

1889

A description published in 1889 characterized dominoes as having spread worldwide, marking the game's broad international reach.

French cafés become domino centers

1889

The 1889 account particularly emphasized the popularity of dominoes in cafés throughout France and Belgium.

Dominoes spread through France and Belgium

1889

By 1889, dominoes had been described as having spread worldwide, with especially strong popularity in the cafés of France and Belgium.

Unicode adds domino characters

Apr 2008

Since April 2008, the Unicode character encoding standard has included characters representing the double-six domino tiles.

Alabama repeals Sunday restriction

Apr 21, 2015

The Alabama Criminal Code provision that prohibited Sunday domino playing was repealed effective 21 April 2015.

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Key Facts

  1. The earliest known domino-like tiles appeared in China during the Song dynasty, around the 12th century.
  2. Chinese domino sets included combinations representing the results of throwing two dice and were used in several traditional games.
  3. Dominoes reached Europe in the 18th century, probably through trade and cultural contact, and first became popular in Italy.
  4. European domino sets were adapted from Chinese designs and commonly used a double-six arrangement with 28 tiles.
  5. Today, dominoes are played worldwide in casual, family, and organized competitive settings, while domino-toppling displays have become a popular spectacle.

Source

This History of Dominoes timeline was generated with the help of AI, using information found on the internet.

We work hard to keep these timelines accurate, but mistakes do get through. If you spot one, email us at [email protected] and we'll fix it for future visitors.

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