Billiards began as a lawn game similar to the croquet played sometime during the 15th century in Northern Europe. It has evolved from that point into the present-day style of billiard/pool table and rules.

When was billiards first invented?

The earliest recorded playing of a recognisable form of billiards was in France in the 1340s. Played as an outdoor lawn game similar to croquet, it eventually moved indoors and onto a wooden table with green cloth to resemble grass on which it had been previously played.

Who invented pool table?

King Louis XI of France (1461–1483) had the first known indoor billiard table. Louis XIV further refined and popularized the game, and it swiftly spread among the French nobility.