Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). The term bowling usually refers to pin bowling (most commonly ten-pin bowling), though in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth countries, bowling could also refer to target bowling, such as lawn bowls.
In pin bowling, the goal is to knock over pins on a long playing surface known as a lane. Lanes have a wood or synthetic surface onto which protective lubricating oil is applied in different specified oil patterns that affect ball motion. A strike is achieved when all the pins are knocked down on the first roll, and a spare is achieved if all the pins are knocked over on a second roll. Common types of pin bowling include ten-pin, candlepin, duckpin, nine-pin, and five-pin. The historical game skittles is the forerunner of modern pin bowling.
In target bowling, the aim is usually to get the ball as close to a mark as possible. The surface in target bowling may be grass, gravel, or synthetic. Lawn bowls, bocce, carpet bowls, pétanque, and boules may have both indoor and outdoor varieties. Curling is also related to bowls.
Bowling is played by 120 million people in more than 90 countries (including 70 million people in the United States alone).
Variations
Bowling games can be distinguished into two general classes, pin bowling and target bowling.
Pin bowling
Five main variations are found in North America, with ten-pin being the most common but others being practiced in the eastern U.S. and in parts of Canada
- Ten-pin bowling: largest and heaviest pins, and bowled with a large ball with two or three finger holes.
- Nine-pin bowling: uses a small ball without finger holes.
- Candlepin bowling: tallest pins (at 40 cm or 16 in), thin with matching ends, bowled with the smallest and lightest 2.4 lb handheld ball of any bowling sport, and the only form with no fallen pins removed during a frame.
- Duckpin bowling: short, squat, and bowled with a handheld ball.
- Five-pin bowling: tall, between duckpins and candlepins in diameter with a rubber girdle, bowled with a handheld ball, mostly found in Canada.
Target bowling
Another form of bowling is usually played outdoors on a lawn. At outdoor bowling, the players throw a ball, which is sometimes eccentrically weighted, in an attempt to put it closest to a designated point or slot in the bowling arena. (Ex: Bocce Ball, an Italian lawn game)
Ancient history
The earliest known forms of bowling date back to ancient Egypt, with wall drawings depicting bowling being found in a royal Egyptian tomb dated to 3200 BC and miniature pins and balls in an Egyptian child's grave about 3200 BC. Remnants of bowling balls were found among artifacts in ancient Egypt going back to the Egyptian protodynastic period in 3200 BC. What is thought to be a child's game involving porphyry (stone) balls, a miniature trilithon, and nine breccia-veined alabaster vase-shaped figures—thought to resemble the more modern game of skittles—was found in Naqada, Egypt in 1895.
Balls were made using the husks of grains, covered in a material such as leather, and bound with string. Other balls made of porcelain have also been found, indicating that these were rolled along the ground rather than thrown due to their size and weight. Some of these resemble the modern-day jack used in target bowl games. Bowling games of different forms are also noted by Herodotus as an invention of the Lydians in Asia Minor.
About 2,000 years ago, in the Roman Empire, a similar game evolved between Roman legionaries entailing the tossing of stone objects as close as possible to other stone objects, which eventually evolved into Italian Bocce, or outdoor bowling.
Around 400 AD, bowling began in Germany as a religious ritual to cleanse oneself from sin by rolling a rock into a club (kegel) representing the heathen, resulting in bowlers being called keglers.
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- 1 (18.25-ounce) package lemon cake mix
- 1 (4-serving size) package instant lemon pudding and pie filling
- 4 eggs
- 1/2 cup plus 3 teaspoons Key lime juice, divided
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 teaspoons lime zest, divided
- 1 cup confectioners' sugar
- Preheat oven to 350º. Coat a 10-inch Bundt pan with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on low speed, combine cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, 1/2 cup Key lime juice, the vegetable oil, water, and 1 teaspoon lime zest; pour into prepared Bundt pan.
- Bake 40 to 45 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
- Let cool 15 minutes then invert onto serving platter and cool completely.
- In a medium bowl, combine confectioners’ sugar and remaining lime juice; stir until smooth. Drizzle glaze over cooled cake and sprinkle with remaining lime zest.
***If you can't find fresh Key limes or Key lime juice, regular limes and lime juice will work just fine.
A nice glass of iced tea is a great accompaniment to this delicious dessert!
1956 – Dwight Yoakam, American singer
1959 – Nancy Grace, American former prosecutor
1962 – Doug Flutie, American football player
1976 – Ryan Reynolds, Canadian actor
National Mother-in-Law Day on the fourth Sunday in October honors that special woman who brought the love of your life into this world.
Like Mother’s Day in May, this day celebrates the other mom in many people’s lives. She makes room for her expanding family. While opening her arms wide, she babysits and gives advice. From swapping holidays to putting extra leaves in the table, the mother-in-law aims for her children to be whole and secure.
Sometimes, it takes years to develop a relationship with your mother-in-law. In other cases, an immediate bond is made. When their children are happy and healthy in their relationships, it makes their jobs as mothers-in-law easy. All they have to do is love their children.
The day honors all that mothers-in-law do to support their children’s families. From the newest to the more mature relationships, each and every family member knows the mother-in-law is a vital part of the family.
HOW TO OBSERVE MOTHER-IN-LAW DAY
Whether you’re close to your mother-in-law or not, celebrate her. Even the smallest gesture will make her day. Offer to take her to her favorite restaurant. Ask her what task needs doing around the house. Play her favorite card came with her. Better still, ask her to teach you to do something only she knows how to do – making that special recipe, editing a resume or speaking in public. Be sure to compliment her, too. Mothers-in-law will appreciate you thinking of them. Smile for family pictures! You know what makes her happy.
NATIONAL MOTHER-IN-LAW DAY HISTORY
Gene Howe, the editor of a local Amarillo newspaper, initiated this holiday in honor of mothers-in-law. Modeled after Mother’s Day, the first observance was celebrated on March 5, 1934, in Amarillo, Texas.
Through the years, celebrants observed the day on various days. In later years, the Mother-in-Law Day Committee developed and selected honorees each year. Then in the 1970s, the American Society of Florists proclaimed the last Sunday in October to be National Mother-In-Law-Day. The date has been observed since.
