Bingo!

I had a free day this past week which i decided to spend indulging in simple pastimes such as board games and sports(I slept through the day). It was quite a liberating day that helped rid me of worries(Sleeping does that). When the day was done, I reveled in carefree moments past and thought of the varied sports, games, and pastimes that humans have created to keep themselves occupied(Its called dreaming). So without further ado, here are five fun facts about the worlds games, sports and varied pastimes:

#5
Lets Begin at one of the earlier civilizations. We all know about Gladiators and about how ruthless, ferocious and blood thirsty they were. But in all likelihood, Roman Gladiators were Vegetarian. A study of Gladiators skeletons and chemical compositions revealed that they were almost certainly vegetarian. Also, the notion of them being sexy with well sculpted bodies is also possibly untrue. On the contrary, they were quite large.

#4
Since 2012 should have been the end of the world, it would be no fun to not mention the civilization that played one of the longest pranks ever: The Mayans. The Mayans had Great Games every year in which the prize for the winning team captain was death. They killed the captain and burned his heart. It wasn't until about 700 AD that one of the kings thought it would be more logical to kill the captain of the losing team.

#3
Now most of you might think that monopoly was and is the most the most popular board game and most of you would be right after the 80's. But up until about 1973 the most popular game was the Ouija board. The game lost its popularity as a game because of the horror film, The Exorcist. In fact, the Ouija board was not originally used to have a seance with those passed on but to contact a side of yourself that controls itself.

#2
I came across a most fascinating sport that originated in the Netherlands in 2003. Its called Chess Boxing. Quite literally, participants requires strong chess skills along with the athletic ability to box. One can win either with a knockout or a checkmate!


#1
Now I love gambling and card games and the best way to win against a casino is card counting but getting caught can get you banned for life. So, technically, blackjack is the most lucrative game, if you know card counting. But I came across a group of people who won £1.3 million in the Ritz Casino in the UK in the game of roulette. They had a camera which sent a stream of the spinning pearl to a computer that analyzed the speed of the pearl and gave an approximate number on which it would stop. They were allowed  to keep their winnings since they did not tamper with the roulette machine in any way.
I wonder when the app for that will be out.

Images used from:
http://www.howtokillanihilist.com/category/mayans/
http://itsaconspiracy.wikia.com/wiki/File:Mayans.gif
http://www.13moon.com/prophecy%20page.htm
http://www.krishnanfineart.com/2011/02/day-50-chessboxing.html
Info Source:
QI

Quote of the week:
"It's all fun and games until someone loses an eye. And, And then it's just, uh, fun you can't see."
-James Hetfield