Bridge history

16th	Bridge can be traced back to the early 16th century when a game called Whist was played in England.
1742	The first book devoted to Whist appeared, Edmond Hoyle's Short Treatise, which became a best seller, and many pirated editions appeared immediately afterwards.
1834	Lord Henry Bentinck invented the High-Low signal. This was the forerunner of much research and writing by authorities on the game such as Clay Deschapelles, Cavendish, and many others.
1857	The first game of duplicate Whist was played in London, under Cavendish's direction; this eliminated much of he luck involved in which card each player was dealt. It was the forerunner of modern duplicate bridge.
1880/1888	The USA was slightly ahead of England in extending the duplicate method. A duplicate whist game was played privately in Chicago in 1880, and in club in New Orleans in 1882. The first inter club match was played in Philadelphia, Pa.., in 1883. The first duplicate match in the old world was probably in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1888.
1880/1894	The Bridge (the game that came to be called Bridge Whist) was played as early as the 1880's and became popular at the PORTLAND CLUB, London in 1894, and shortly after that in France and the USA, where it may have been tested even earlier.
1892	The first book on tournament organization is written by J.T. MITCHELL, who devised the first movement for pair play and described the method of match-pointing which has been used ever since.
1896	The origin of the word Bridge is obscure. It is often traced to an 1896 pamphlet in the British Museum entitled Birich, or Russian Whist. This slender clue has led some historian to link the game with Russia, and also with Turkey, but all actual evidence is negative.
1903	British civil servants in remote India developed the practice of bidding for the privilege of calling the trump suit, thus introducing "auction bridge."
1918	he next major change may have been developed in France where the game of plafond (but similar games had been played in the USA before 1915) was played in 1918 and perhaps earlier. In all such games each side had to bid to its "plafond" or ceiling: only tricks bid and made counted toward game. This variation rapidly became the standard French game, but did not succeed elsewhere in spite of occasional experiments.
1925	Harold S. Vanderbilt, American multi-millionaire and three-time America's Cup winner, changed the course of bridge while on a cruise. He suggested that only tricks bid and made count toward game, with extra tricks counted as bonuses. These revised rules turned auction bridge into contract bridge.
1927	Within two years, three codes of laws has been produced for the new game, Those of R. F. FOSTER and the Knickerbocker Whist Club were withdrawn in favor of the more authoritative code issued by the Whist Club of New York. In 1928 the game was adopted in the majors New York clubs, and late that year the first National Championship was held, with the Vanderbilt Cup as the prize.
1929	The American Auction Bridge League dropped the word (Auction) from its title, and it became clear the Contract has supplanted Auction.. Leadership in the new game went to Ely Culbertson, who founded the first contract magazine(Bridge World) and wrote his celebrated Blue Book in 1930. this revolutionary work set out the principles of approach-forcing bidding which became the nucleus of all modern standard systems.
1931	The Culbertson Summary and Culbertson's Blue Book topped all book sales for the year, outselling such popular titles as Believe It or Not and Crossword Puzzles! "The Battle of the Century" was held in New York City. The team captained by Ely Culbertson won by 8980 points.
1937	To Budapest, Hungary, 13-20 june, was the first recognized World Championship, although several semi-official International matches had been played earlier.
1940	The leadership passed to Charles Goren who achieved great success by adapting Culbertson's method to point-count valuation.
1950	World Championship series (Bermuda Bowl).
1953	President Eisenhower played bridge regularly on Saturday night with top experts. He attended national bridge tournaments when possible. He enjoyed bridge as much as golf and he was considered an excellent player.
1956	The "Blue Team" (the famous Italian team) wins its first championship at the european of Stockholm. About 20 years, with added and the substitution of any component, this team dominate uncontested the world scene conquer 13 World championships, 12 European and 3 Olympic games.
1958	Foundation of the World Bridge Federation. Charles Goren appeared on the cover of Time magazine and was dubbed "The King of Aces." The inside story explained the basic rules of bridge and proclaimed it the "United States' No. 1 card game."
1960	First team Olympiad.

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16th

Bridge can be traced back to the early 16th century when a game called Whist was played in England.

1742

The first book devoted to Whist appeared, Edmond Hoyle's Short Treatise, which became a best seller, and many pirated editions appeared immediately afterwards.

1834

Lord Henry Bentinck invented the High-Low signal. This was the forerunner of much research and writing by authorities on the game such as Clay Deschapelles, Cavendish, and many others.

1857

The first game of duplicate Whist was played in London, under Cavendish's direction; this eliminated much of he luck involved in which card each player was dealt. It was the forerunner of modern duplicate bridge.

1880/1888

1880/1894

The Bridge (the game that came to be called Bridge Whist) was played as early as the 1880's and became popular at the PORTLAND CLUB, London in 1894, and shortly after that in France and the USA, where it may have been tested even earlier.

1892

The first book on tournament organization is written by J.T. MITCHELL, who devised the first movement for pair play and described the method of match-pointing which has been used ever since.

1896

The origin of the word Bridge is obscure. It is often traced to an 1896 pamphlet in the British Museum entitled Birich, or Russian Whist. This slender clue has led some historian to link the game with Russia, and also with Turkey, but all actual evidence is negative.

1903

British civil servants in remote India developed the practice of bidding for the privilege of calling the trump suit, thus introducing "auction bridge."

1918

1925

Harold S. Vanderbilt, American multi-millionaire and three-time America's Cup winner, changed the course of bridge while on a cruise. He suggested that only tricks bid and made count toward game, with extra tricks counted as bonuses. These revised rules turned auction bridge into contract bridge.

1927

1929

1931

The Culbertson Summary and Culbertson's Blue Book topped all book sales for the year, outselling such popular titles as Believe It or Not and Crossword Puzzles! "The Battle of the Century" was held in New York City. The team captained by Ely Culbertson won by 8980 points.

1937

To Budapest, Hungary, 13-20 june, was the first recognized World Championship, although several semi-official International matches had been played earlier.

1940

The leadership passed to Charles Goren who achieved great success by adapting Culbertson's method to point-count valuation.

1950

World Championship series (Bermuda Bowl).

1953

President Eisenhower played bridge regularly on Saturday night with top experts. He attended national bridge tournaments when possible. He enjoyed bridge as much as golf and he was considered an excellent player.

1956

The "Blue Team" (the famous Italian team) wins its first championship at the european of Stockholm. About 20 years, with added and the substitution of any component, this team dominate uncontested the world scene conquer 13 World championships, 12 European and 3 Olympic games.

1958

Foundation of the World Bridge Federation. Charles Goren appeared on the cover of Time magazine and was dubbed "The King of Aces." The inside story explained the basic rules of bridge and proclaimed it the "United States' No. 1 card game."

1960

First team Olympiad.