History
In 1934, Charles B. Darrow brought his game, Monopoly, to the executives at Parker Brothers, hoping to sell his idea to the company since he was unemployed at the time. Unfortunately, Parker Brothers rejected Darrow's game due to "52 design errors."
This prompted Darrow to go on and print the game himself, selling roughly 5,000 handmade sets. Eventually, Darrow met with Parker Brothers a second time, and in its first year, Monopoly went on to be the best-selling game in America.
What's Included?
Each Monopoly game comes with a set amount of money, including 30 of each denomination of money ($1, $5, $10, $20, $50, $100, and $500). This totals out to $15,140.
The game also includes two dice, 12 red hotels, and 32 green houses. Along with this, each board includes several player tokens, Chance and Community Chest cards, and a deed for each property.
Of course, considering the number of different editions of Monopoly available, the colors and graphics printed on the cards and money tends to vary.
World Records
As the best-selling board game in the world, it's easy to guess that there would be a handful of world records floating in its wake. Some of the most memorable are:
The longest Monopoly game went on for 70 straight days.
The longest Monopoly game played in a bathtub went on for 99 hours.
The longest Monopoly game played upside-down went on for 36 hours.
The longest Monopoly game played underground went on for 100 hours.
Monopoly in History
During World War II, maps, compasses, important files, and real money were put into Monopoly boards to help POWs escape imprisonment.
Monopoly was incredibly popular in Cuba until Fidel Castro rose to power and went on to have every set in Cuba abolished.
Other Quick Facts
The Monopoly man's name is Mr. Monopoly.
Since 1935, more than 5.1 billion green houses have been made.
Replacement pieces can be purchased through the Hasbro website, this way your game's not ruined if you lose your favorite game token or the money gets lost.
The character on the "Jail" space of the board is named "Jake the Jailbird."