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darts

 
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: darts
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Indoor target game. It is played by throwing feathered darts at a circular board with numbered spaces. The board, usually made of cork, bristle, or elmwood, is divided into 20 sectors valued at points from 1 to 20. Six concentric rings, ranging from an inner bull's-eye to a narrow outermost ring, determine scoring. The official throwing distance in most countries is 7 ft 9.25 in. (2.37 m), though variations extend up to 9 ft (2.75 m). In Britain, darts is normally played in pubs.

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British History: darts
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Darts evolved from throwing spears or shooting arrows. Hand arrows were a useful weapon, known as ‘dartes’, and this was one of the few games that medieval and early modern governments did not feel obliged to prohibit. The standard clock-face became established in the late 19th cent., and paper flights to fit the darts were patented in 1898. In the 20th cent., two world wars (with much killing of time) followed by the spread of television helped to popularize the game.

 
 

 

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Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
British History. A Dictionary of British History. Copyright © 2001, 2004 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.  Read more