The Short Version of the History of Darts

It is thought that darts first began in medievalnew PDC, the Professional Darts Corporation who
England. The theory is that teachers of archery cutpromised, and have largely achieved, to take darts
off the arrows and had their students throw them attruly International and have staged tournaments all
the bottom of a wine barrel. The students, whoover the world, hence the Desert Classic in Las
were actually soldiers, enjoyed the game so muchVegas.
that they carried their makeshift dartboards to theDuring this time the humble dart has changed quite a
pubs with them in the evening and played.lot, they are nearly all made from tungsten these
The game progressed and the dart became smallerdays as tungsten gives weight without the bulk, and
and the game of darts became a big hit in local pubsthat has made 180 scores more likely as they can all
around Britain, with lots of different rules andfit into the treble 20 easier than the old bulkier brass
variations depending on what area of the countrydarts.
you were in. Indeed "Manchester dart boards are stillAnd the Dart boards? They have also come on leaps
used in some areas of Manchester they are smallerand bounds especially in the last few years.
and often referred to as a "log end" dart board.Electronics have arrived; the wooden dart board
Just about everything that came to America isgave way to the bristle dart board (which still gives
attributed to the Mayflower voyage. The legend isthe most satisfying thud when the dart hits the
that they were played aboard the Mayflower on theboard in my opinion), which now is giving way to the
long voyage. They caught on after the pilgrimselectronic dart board. These new boards are simply
arrived and played them whenever they could findtechnological marvels; they can even keep score for
the time. So Darts had come to America, where ityou including Cricket scoring, with X and O leds and
was played often, and the Widdy darts company,the score on the electronic scoreboard and can be
even developed a uniquely American dart board.programmed to shout abuse if you have a poor
Meanwhile the British spread the game further in theirthrow. One of the latest boards, the Halex electronic,
empire. However, there is evidence that the Indianshas a Laser to indicate the toe line. Gadget City! How
had a form of this game long before the white mencool is that, we've come a long way from log ends
came to America.Eh!
In the eighties the game was televised and of courseFinally, in 2005 UK Sport officially recognised darts as
the sponsors (cigarette and beer companies by anda Sport and International recognition soon followed.
large) weighed in and the sport got a much neededThe image is also now being cleaned up, gone are
injection of cash. When John Lowe threw the firstthe beer glasses and cigarettes, and especially in the
televised 9-Dart game, this greatly helped to publicizePDC tournaments, the guys have really cleaned up
the Sport. It caused a sensation at the time, not justtheir act. There is even a possibility that Darts could
because of the feat itself, but for the enormousbecome an Olympic Sport before long! If and when
amount of money he made by doing it. A sponsorthat happens the game will truly have arrived, those
had put up �100,000 ($175,000 at the time)archers don't know what they started.
for anyone that could do it. That was John's biggestWritten by a keen darter, Steve Porter, who in spite
payday at the time (1984)of many hours of practice in many bars, never quite
Then came the war of the darters in the 1990's andmade it to professional darter status.
the game split into 2 camps, the BDO and the brand