Bingo's Birthday Month

There was a farmer had a dog, and Bingo was his name-O!
B-I-N-G-O, B-I-N-G-O, B-I-N-G-O, and Bingo was his name-O!...

For Bingo's Birthday Month, I am actually NOT talking about Bingo the dog; I am referring to Bingo the game. I just felt like singing something.

Bingo is quite a simple game; a mediator calls out a number and you put a mark down (i.e. a check mark, an “X,” a game piece) if the number is on your board otherwise you don’t put a mark. When you have a full row you yell “BINGO!”

The game was originally called “beano” and dates back to 1530 with the Italian variation called Lo Giuoco del Lotto D'Italia. Bingo was made by toy salesman, Edwin S. Lowe, who initially overheard someone accidentally yell “bingo!” in their utter excitement playing Beano at a carnival. He produced the first commercial version of the game, which retailed at $1.

RANDOM DETAIL: The mathematician, who Lowe hired to generate 6000 more different bingo cards in order to increase the number combinations on the cards, later went insane because he had to figure out these combinations manually! Remember there were no computers back then to come up with unique number combinations.

So since December is Bingo’s Birthday Month, you can promote this wondrous game of bingo by embarking in a Bingo tournament! How ‘bout it?!?