The origin of snooker dates back to the latter half of the 19th century.
In the 1870s, billiards was a popular activity among British Army officers stationed in Jabalpur, India, and several variations of the game were devised during this time.
One variation that originated at the officers' mess of the 11th Devonshire Regiment in 1875 combined the rules of two pocket billiards games: pyramid and black pool.
The former was played with fifteen red coloured balls positioned in a triangle, while the latter involved the potting of designated balls.
The game was developed in 1884 when its first set of rules was finalised by Sir Neville Chamberlain, an English army officer who helped develop and popularise the game at Stone House in Ooty on a table built by Burroughes & Watts that was brought over by boat.

The word snooker was a slang term for first-year cadets and inexperienced military personnel, but Chamberlain would often use it for the performance of one of his fellow officers at the table.
In 1887, snooker was given its first definite reference in England in a copy of Sporting Life which caused a growth in popularity.
Chamberlain came out as the game's inventor in a letter to The Field published on 19 March 1938, 63 years after the fact.

Snooker grew in popularity across the Indian colonies and the United Kingdom, but it remained a game mainly for the gentry, and many gentlemen's clubs that had a billiards table would not allow non-members inside to play.
To accommodate the growing interest, smaller and more open snooker-specific clubs were formed.
In 1919, the Billiards Association and the Billiards Control Board merged to form the Billiards Association and Control Club (BA&CC) and a new, standard set of rules for snooker first became official.

In 1927 the first World Snooker Championship was organised by Joe Davis.
Davis, as a professional English billiards and snooker player, moved the game from a pastime to a professional activity.
Davis won every world championship until 1946, when he retired from the championships.
The game went into a decline through the 1950s and 1960s with little interest generated outside of those who played.
In 1959, Davis introduced a variation of the game known as "Snooker Plus" to try to improve the game's popularity by adding two extra colours, but this failed to gain interest.

In 1969, David Attenborough commissioned the snooker television series Pot Black to demonstrate the potential of colour television, with the green table and multi-coloured balls being ideal for showing off the advantages of colour broadcasting.
The series became a ratings success and was for a time the second-most popular show on BBC2.
Interest in the game increased and the 1978 World Snooker Championship was the first to be fully televised.
The game quickly became a mainstream game in the United Kingdom, Ireland and much of the Commonwealth, and has enjoyed much success since the late 1970s, with most of the ranking tournaments being televised.
By the 1985 World Snooker Championship a total of 18.5 million viewers watched the concluding frame of the final between Dennis Taylor and Steve Davis, a record viewership for the United Kingdom for any broadcast after midnight.
In the early 2000s, a ban on tobacco advertising led to a decrease in the number of professional tournaments, with professional tournaments being cut to only 15 events in 2003, from 22 in 1999.
However, the popularity of the game in Asia, with emerging talents such as Liang Wenbo and more established players such as Ding Junhui and Marco Fu, boosted the sport in the Far East.
By 2007, the BBC dedicated 400 hours to snooker coverage, compared to just 14 minutes 40 years earlier.

In 2010, promoter Barry Hearn gained a controlling interest in World Snooker Ltd. and the World Snooker Tour, pledging to revitalise the "moribund" professional game.
Since this time, the number of professional tournaments has increased, with 44 events in the 2019/20 season.
Events have also been made to be more suitable for television broadcasts, such as the Snooker Shoot-Out,
The origin of snooker dates back to the latter half of the 19th century. In the 1870s, billiards was a popular activity among British Army officers stationed in Jabalpur, India, and several variations of the game were devised during this time. One variation that originated at the officers' mess of the 11th Devonshire Regiment in 1875 combined the rules of two pocket billiards games: pyramid and black pool. The former was played with fifteen red coloured balls positioned in a triangle, while the latter involved the potting of designated balls. The game was developed in 1884 when its first set of rules was finalised by Sir Neville Chamberlain, an English army officer who helped develop and popularise the game at Stone House in Ooty on a table built by Burroughes & Watts that was brought over by boat.
The word snooker was a slang term for first-year cadets and inexperienced military personnel, but Chamberlain would often use it for the performance of one of his fellow officers at the table. In 1887, snooker was given its first definite reference in England in a copy of Sporting Life which caused a growth in popularity. Chamberlain came out as the game's inventor in a letter to The Field published on 19 March 1938, 63 years after the fact.
Snooker grew in popularity across the Indian colonies and the United Kingdom, but it remained a game mainly for the gentry, and many gentlemen's clubs that had a billiards table would not allow non-members inside to play. To accommodate the growing interest, smaller and more open snooker-specific clubs were formed. In 1919, the Billiards Association and the Billiards Control Board merged to form the Billiards Association and Control Club (BA&CC) and a new, standard set of rules for snooker first became official.
In 1927 the first World Snooker Championship was organised by Joe Davis. Davis, as a professional English billiards and snooker player, moved the game from a pastime to a professional activity. Davis won every world championship until 1946, when he retired from the championships. The game went into a decline through the 1950s and 1960s with little interest generated outside of those who played. In 1959, Davis introduced a variation of the game known as "Snooker Plus" to try to improve the game's popularity by adding two extra colours, but this failed to gain interest.
In 1969, David Attenborough commissioned the snooker television series Pot Black to demonstrate the potential of colour television, with the green table and multi-coloured balls being ideal for showing off the advantages of colour broadcasting. The series became a ratings success and was for a time the second-most popular show on BBC2. Interest in the game increased and the 1978 World Snooker Championship was the first to be fully televised. The game quickly became a mainstream game in the United Kingdom, Ireland and much of the Commonwealth, and has enjoyed much success since the late 1970s, with most of the ranking tournaments being televised. By the 1985 World Snooker Championship a total of 18.5 million viewers watched the concluding frame of the final between Dennis Taylor and Steve Davis, a record viewership for the United Kingdom for any broadcast after midnight. In the early 2000s, a ban on tobacco advertising led to a decrease in the number of professional tournaments, with professional tournaments being cut to only 15 events in 2003, from 22 in 1999. However, the popularity of the game in Asia, with emerging talents such as Liang Wenbo and more established players such as Ding Junhui and Marco Fu, boosted the sport in the Far East. By 2007, the BBC dedicated 400 hours to snooker coverage, compared to just 14 minutes 40 years earlier.
In 2010, promoter Barry Hearn gained a controlling interest in World Snooker Ltd. and the World Snooker Tour, pledging to revitalise the "moribund" professional game. Since this time, the number of professional tournaments has increased, with 44 events in the 2019/20 season. Events have also been made to be more suitable for television broadcasts, such as the Snooker Shoot-Out, 
Snooker