History of Darts
It is believed by many historians but not proven that the sport of darts began in medieval times when archery was a compulsary military practice. It derived either into a game using broken arrowheads or that it began as a training method in the art of archery when the teacher shortened some arrows and had their students throw them. The base of an empty wine barrel would probably have been the target.
Then some bright innovative person brought in a segment of a medium-sized tree, The tree provided rings as it dried and cracked, so further segments became apparent. This is believed to have been the beginning of the dart board we know today.
As the game caught on even nobility tried their hand and in 1530 Anne Boleyn gave Henry VIII a set of "richly ornamented" darts. It is also believed that the Pilgrim fathers on the Mayflower in 1620 played darts as they crossed the Atlantic.
The game retained its military connections right through to the establishment of the British empire when soldiers played the game in their clubs and messes all over the empire.
An American patented a folded paper flight in 1898 and an all metal barrel was patented by a Yorkshireman in 1906. Also around this time, the numbering system on the board was devised and accepted.
