Here are a number of interesting facts and figures about the remarkable game of bingo, which you can discuss with your friends the next time you play bingo.

• The first known form of bingo originated in Italy, around 1530.

• Bingo was also popular in France in the late 1700s, where it was known as ‘Le Lotto’, and Germany in the 1800s, where it was played in schools to help children with their maths, spelling and history studies.

• Bingo is so popular in Belgium that it received the second highest number of votes to be their national pastime.

• In New Zealand and Australia, bingo is called ‘housie’.

• The form of bingo which we recognise today originated in the United States, where it was named ‘Beano’. Players would place beans on their numbers and shout ‘Beano’ when they marked off a line.

• The name ‘Bingo’ came about entirely by accident in 1929, when a player in Atlanta, Georgia shouted it out instead of ‘Beano’.

• An American toy salesman, Edwin S. Lowe, properly established the game. It was he who changed its name when he noticed someone shouting ‘Bingo’.

• Edwin Lowe organised the biggest bingo game in history, in New York’s Teaneck Armory. He claimed that 60,000 players took part, with 10,000 being turned away.

• Carl Leffler, a mathematics professor, worked with Edwin Lowe to create 60,000 bingo cards with non repeating number groups. It is rumoured that this drove him insane.

• From its very beginnings, bingo was associated with charities and fundraising. This originated when a Catholic priest approached Edwin Lowe and asked him if he could use the game to raise funds for the church.

• The first purpose built bingo hall in the UK was Castle Bingo in Canton, Cardiff. The number of bingo halls has now grown to 699, at the time of writing.

• Bingo in the UK took off in the 1960s. Now, more than 3 million people in the UK play bingo.

• The National Bingo Game started in 1986. Around 500 clubs throughout the UK link together every day to generate huge prize jackpots. Total prize money won stands at over £725 million!

• The UK’s biggest win was £950,000 on Sunday 22 December 2002, and was won by a player from Gala Bingo in Sheffield.

• In 2003, the first bingo site on the internet was launched in the UK. Now, more than 145,000 people around the world play online bingo – and numbers are steadily growing.

• Online bingo participation is roughly 80% female and 20% male.

• 30% of bingo players are under the age of 35.

• 96% of bingo players have won at some point while playing, even by playing free bingo games.

• Surveys have revealed that more than two in three people go to bingo for social rather than financial reasons.