For years, you've been playing Ping-Pong at family outings, college parties, and rec centers across the country. As it so happens, you've never actually played "Ping-Pong" because that sport doesn't exist—it's simply the name of a company that manufactures and sells table tennis (the official name) equipment!
Table tennis originated sometime in the medieval era in the 12th century AD. Back then it was known as "Royal Tennis." By the 1880s the sport remained popular with the upper classes in England as one of their many chosen past times.
The first official use of the term "table tennis" was in 1890 when David Foster patented a set in England that included the table version of lawn tennis, cricket, and football.
John Jacques first registered the term "Ping-Pong" in England in 1901. The name was then sold to Parker Brother in the United States. Within a week in 1901 the "Table Tennis Association" and "Ping-Pong Association" had formed, sparking a bit of a naming rivalry.
Table tennis first became an Olympic sport in Seoul, South Korea, at the 1988 games, cementing table tennis as a serious sport for the rest of time.
