1. Traditional games such as chess and backgammon remained popular in the 18th century, but new activities also emerged. ● In 1759, one of the earliest board games called A Journey Through Europe was developed.
● London mapmaker John Spilsbury created one of the earliest jigsaw puzzles in the 1760s. He pasted a map on a thin piece of wood and cut it up.
● Dominoes arrived in Europe in the 18th century.
2. Horse racing became more organised in the 18th century. The Jockey Club was founded in 1750. It established rules to ensure races were fair. In 1780, the Epsom Derby was run for the first time.
Spilsbury’s Europe divided into its Kingdoms on display in the National Museum of Play
3. Cricket was popular in England in the 1700s. The world’s first cricket club was formed in Hambledon in the 1760s.
4. Guy’s Hospital rugby club was founded in 1843 and is accepted by the Rugby Football Union and the Guinness Book of Records as being the oldest club in the world. But other clubs, including Trinity College, Barnes RFC and Blackheath, also claim to be the oldest.
5. Football evolved from being a casual hobby to an organised sport in the 19th century. Sheffield Football Club is the world’s oldest, surviving independent (not associated with a school or university) football club. The Football Association was formed in 1863. The FA Cup is oldest national football competition in the world. The British Ladies’ Football Club was founded in 1894. One women’s game in north London was reported to have attracted an audience of 10,000.
6. The growth of railways during the Industrial Revolution meant people started to travel to seaside resorts like Blackpool and Scarborough.
7. The first daily newspaper in England was printed in 1702. The Times began in 1785.
8. Cheap, serialised novels called ‘penny dreadfuls’ became popular in the 18th century.
9. The 1871 Bank Holiday Act made paid bank holidays compulsory. 8
Assessing Your Learning 1. What was the Agricultural Revolution? 2. What was the Industrial Revolution? 3. List three dangers of working in a factory at this time. 4. Why were children employed to work in mines? 5. What changes did the Mines Acts introduce? 6. What were ‘penny dreadfuls’?