The history of billiards is full of interesting offshoots and fascinating deviations and variations that evolved to become the modern version of pool that most people know today. As billiards has grown in popularity, different regions have evolved different billiards games.

Early Days in France
Billiards began in France as an outdoor game played on a lawn, similar to cricket. While records vary and billiard historians disagree on the exact date, the first games of billiards were likely played somewhere between the 14^th and 16^th centuries. Drawings and artwork illustrate the lawn version of billiards as far back as the 1300s. A version of billiards resembling the modern game that most people know didn’t appear until the late 1600s or early 1700s.

Billiards as a Table Game
Like most expensive recreational games, table billiards started out as a game played by the rich and elite. French and English royalty played billiards, and the most long-standing billiards game that players would recognize today is English Billiards. English Billiards originated in the 1770s; it’s a game involving three balls that's played on a six-pocketed billiard table. Other variants of billiards involve a table without pockets, which is played by hitting the other balls off the cushions.

Equipment and the Game Evolve
Billiards games and variants throughout history were largely dependent on the equipment available at the time. Early table pool games were played with large implements that resembled maces. People used the handle-end of the maces to hit shots close to the rails, which led to the development of the pool cue.

When leather-tipped pool cues first appeared in the early- to mid-1800s, they drastically changed the game. The leather tip enabled players to put a spin on the cue ball and perform much more advanced shots. The leather pool cue was followed shortly thereafter by billiards tables covered in cloth with cushioned rails, and modern versions of pool began to emerge.

Early American Pool
In the 1870s, the most popular pool game in the United States was American Four-Ball Billiards. This resembled English billiards played with four balls on an English billiard table. The object of the game was to hit the other balls, or bounce the ball off the rails. American four-ball billiards declined in popularity following its heyday in the 1870s, replaced by eight-ball, nine-ball and straight pool by the 1920s.

Billiards Evolves Elsewhere
The variants of pool that Americans now recognize are very different than the variants played elsewhere. While billiards shared a common root, it developed into something quite different in other parts of the world. In England, the most popular billiards variant is called snooker. Snooker originated around the same time as American four-ball billiards, and official rules were drafted in the 1880s. The game uses a six-pocket table, similar to pool, but is played with 21 object balls in a series of frames, somewhat akin to bowling. Snooker continues to be a popular game in England even today, although the new snooker player on the scene is actually China.