History of table tennis

Table tennis was created in 1881 by bored British Officers who carved a ball from champagne cork and used cigar box covers to bat it back and forth across a barrier of books dividing a table. Of course the sport has changed drastically in the past century, and it has become much more popular. As mentioned in the "Description" section, table tennis can be played by anyone of any age, however less than 1% of these players actually play competitively. The whole concept of table tennis competition didn't even take shape until the 1930's. Before that, it was played at parties and was just "fun". In fact, during the early 1900's, the paddles were made like tennis rackets, with long handles and a pear shaped playing surface (see pictures below). By looking at the following pictures, it can be judged the table tennis "ping-pong" was played much by the wealthy or royalty, and by women as well. More information...