The History of Billiards is very ancient and also very rich. Though nobody can claim to know the exact timing about the invention of the game, there are some evidences that indicate that the game we know today as `Billiards` developed from a game that might be called as "Ground Billiards" that was being played in Northern Europe and probably in France. Some people believe that this game is a native of Spain or Italy, but some others claim that the game emerged first in England or France during Medieval times. There are some other claims as well, which states that it was brought over by Dutch and English settlers. It has also been said that China could be the origin of this game. The term "Billiard" is derived from the French language. The origin of this term is either the word "billart" that means the wooden sticks, or from "bille" that means a ball.

The root of this very much prestigious and sophisticated game lies in the 14th century as some illustrations of that time show the "Ground Billiards" is being played. Some manuscripts have also been found that stated about the equipments used for the game at that period. The most ancient of these manuscripts is the one that dates around 1300 AD. This game was being played outside in the lawn in its original context till the 17th century. However, it started to transform from the one played outside on the grass to inside on a table towards the end of 15th century. Some records indicate that the famous King Louis XI of France did purchase a Billiards table in the year of 1470. At that time, the Billiard table was a wooden one covered with green cloth to simulate the grass of lawn and a simple border was placed around its edges. The players never did strike the balls; rather they pushed them with wooden sticks called "maces". The players started to play with the `Cue Stick` that is used in modern times from the early 17th century. The modern game named as `Pocket Billiards` is an American version of the English Billiards.

During the late 16th and early 17th century, the game was so familiar to the public that several writers of that period mentioned about the game of billiards in their writings. William Shakespeare mentioned about it in his play `Antony and Cleopatra`. The first book discussing about the rules of Billiard named as "The Complete Gamester", written by Charles Cotton was published in England in 1674. At that period, there were a very few Towns in England where there was no public Billiard-Table. The popularity of Billiards among the French nobility was growing up very steadily until the French Revolution in 1789.

The game of Billiards has been played by almost all sorts of people from the society in the ancient times. The list may include the kings and commoners, the presidents, mental patients, ladies, gentlemen, and even the hustlers as well. In its starting period, the game was played with only two balls, one belonging to each of two players on a six-pocket table where an upright stick was used as a target. Here the player aimed to strike the opponent`s ball with his own ball so that his own ball travelled through the `target`; or to strike the opponent`s ball with his own ball so the opponent`s ball travelled through the `target`. Having achieved the required number of points the more successful player finished the game by using his own ball to strike the opponent`s ball so that it then rebounded off a small post. As it advances, the `hoop` and `target` disappeared one after another during the 18th century and only the balls and pockets were left. The noble persons and the royal families used to play the game. Probably for this very reason, it has been called as the "Noble Game of Billiards" since the early 1800`s in spite of having the evidence that people from all walks of life have played the game since its inception. The most popular form of the game, the `8-ball` was invented around 1900 and another popular form named as `9-ball` originated around 1920. The game is more popular today.