History of Table Tennis
The history of table tennis isn't exactly known, but it was first thought to derive from lawn tennis.
The earliest known version of table tennis dates back to the early 1880s when British soldiers in India and South Africa paddled corks from wine bottles across a row of books placed on the middle of a table. Other early table tennis equipment consisted of rubber or cork balls and bats made of dried animal skins stretched over a wooden frame. About 10 years later other forms of the game table tennis were played in England, and were referred to as Whiff Whaff, Flim Flam and Gossima. Soon after, Parker Brothers, the toy manufacturer, started producing an indoor table tennis game that included, a ball, net and tiny paddles.
Hollow celluloid table tennis balls were introduced and the game was often called ping pong, which referred to the sound that the ball made when it hit the paddle and the table. The name ping pong was trademarked in 1901 by an English sports manufacturer named John Jacques. Jacques sold his name rights to Parker Brothers and they now called their tennis table game ping pong. In 1902 another Englishman placed a bumpy rubber coating on his wooden paddle that allowed him to place spin on the ball. As a result, a ping pong association was launched in England, and an unofficial world ping pong championship was held that same year.
The game of ping pong spread slowly throughout Europe, and was generally referred to as table tennis as other manufacturers added components to the game. The Fédération Internationale de Tennis de Table (International Table Tennis Federation) was organized in Berlin in 1926 by England, Sweden, Hungary, India, Denmark, Germany, Czechoslovakia, Austria, and Wales, and the first world championship tournament was held in London in 1927. The American Ping Pong Association originated in 1930, but its membership was limited, and only equipment made by Parker Brothers could be used.
Haroi Satoh of Japan introduced the foam rubber paddle in 1953, and the game of table tennis got faster, and more spin could be placed on the ball. This speedier version of ping pong made the game popular in Asia. Ping pong players developed the "penholder" grip, in which the paddle is held between forefinger and thumb allowing players to hit the ball with the same face of the paddle on any stroke.
In 1988 table tennis became an Olympic sport, with singles and doubles competition for men and women. Today, table tennis is believed to be the second most played sport in the world.