Domino is an incredibly versatile tool, both for playing games and building intricate designs. These cousins of playing cards can be used to build straight or curved lines, grids that form pictures when they fall and even 3D structures like towers and pyramids. Dominoes are available in a variety of materials, from traditional bone to wood to lucite and even ceramic clay. This diversity allows for a wide range of possibilities and tests the imagination of even the most experienced domino player.
Dominoes have been around for a long time. In fact, their history dates back to the 1300s when they first appeared in China. Originally, they were functionally identical to playing cards and were used for a number of different games. The markings on a domino, called pips, were an attempt to replicate the results of throwing two six-sided dice.
Most dominoes today are made of plastic, but they can be found in a variety of other materials. Historically, they were made of bone (silver lip ocean pearl oyster shell or mother of pearl), ivory, ebony and other dark hardwoods with contrasting black or white pips inlaid or painted onto the pieces. These sets have a more sophisticated look and are typically much more expensive than polymer dominoes.
Some domino players use a custom-designed board with the pieces set up in a way that will create an artistic pattern when they fall. This type of domino art requires a great deal of planning and is a highly-skilled endeavor. Depending on the design, this can take days to months to complete.
While this type of domino art isn’t for the masses, a seasoned domino player can create some amazing designs using the basic 28-piece standard domino set. For example, Hevesh used 12,000 dominoes to build a 15-color rainbow spiral in 2017. The resulting design is truly a work of art and took a lot of patience and precision to complete.
Most people know that the effect of one domino knocking over another domino is a chain reaction, but it’s actually more powerful than most realize. A 1983 study by University of British Columbia physicist Lorne Whitehead shows that dominoes can actually knock over things about one-and-a-half times their own size.
The name “Domino” is also the name of a popular pizza chain founded by Dan Monaghan in Ypsilanti, Michigan in 1967. Monaghan’s key to success was placing his stores near universities. He wanted to ensure that Domino’s customers were always within 30 minutes of a pizza, which would allow him to meet his delivery time promise of “30 minutes or less.” This strategy proved successful and the chain soon became one of the fastest growing in the country. Eventually, Domino’s had over 200 locations by 1978.