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Monopoly Facts

Monopoly Facts
Monopoly is a board game that was invented in 1903 when Elizabeth Magie wished to create a way to explain Henry George's single tax theory. Her game was self-published in 1906 as The Landlord's Game, as an educational tool. Between 1906 and 1930 several board games were developed until Charles Darrow created his own version based on Magie's original. He went on to become the first board game millionaire in history. When the first Monopoly game was released in 1933, Darrow claimed to be the original creator but it was later learned his game was a variation of the original Landlord's Game.
Interesting Monopoly Facts:
The goal of Monopoly is to acquire as many properties and collect as much rent as possible, ultimately leading to a monopoly of ownership.
Charles Darrow's nieces inspired the first tokens, which included an iron, a purse, a lantern, a thimble, a rocking horse, a cannon, a battleship, a top hat, a shoe, and a race car.
When Darrow tried to sell Monopoly to Parker Brothers they initially declined because it was too complex. He released it himself.
When Monopoly became successful locally Parker Brothers decided to negotiate marketing rights.
Parker Brothers began manufacturing and marketing Monopoly in 1935.
Monopoly is manufactured and sold in 47 different languages today.
Monopoly's subtitle is "The Fast-Dealing Property Trading Game."
Monopoly has 28 properties, and a total of 40 spaces.
Monopoly has 16 Chance cards, 28 Title Deed cards, and 16 Community Chest cards, as well as 32 houses and 12 hotels.
When a person lands in jail in Monopoly they can pay $50 to get out, use a 'get out jail free' card if they have one, or roll a double. A person goes to jail if they roll doubles three times in a row.
The properties that players most often land on include the B&O Railroad, GO, and Illinois Ave.
Monopoly games can be licensed with different themes. To date there have been over 300 different Monopoly versions created with versions themed on movies, teams, and other topics.
Monopoly games in different countries have different street names. In France the most expensive rental property to land on is Rue de la Paix.
The most expensive Monopoly game in the world was created in 1998 by Sidney Mobell, a jeweler in San Francisco. It had a value of $2 million.
In 2007 tokens from the United States Monopoly game were flown into space aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis.
A Monopoly version for the iPhone was introduced in 2008.
In Monopoly Millionaire, the first person to earn $1 million wins the game.
The Monopoly World Championships tournament is held every few years. It has been held in Toronto, Tokyo, and Monte Carlo and many others since it began in 1973.
Monopoly has appeared in movies such as Zombieland, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and in Gossip Girl.
A Monopoly player has a 64% chance that they will land on a railroad as they go around the board each time.


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