From its earliest days, billiards has been enjoyed by a host of colorful (and controversial) figures. The game's history is replete with historic legends and characters; from monarchs and presidents, scholars and artists, to the legendary players and inventors, that forever changed the face of the game.

LEGENDARY PLAYERS

WILLIE HOPPE - "The King" (b. Oct. 11, 1887, Cornwall-on-Hudson, NY d. Feb. 1, 1959)
Thought by many to be the greatest all-around billiard player of any era. Won his first world title at the age of eighteen. For over twenty years, his successes were so numerous, to many fans, "Billiards" simply meant "Willie Hoppe." Won world titles in 18.1 and 18.2 Balkine, as well as the Cushion Carom world title. When Balkine was replaced by Three-Cushion Billiards as the championship game, Hoppe merely retooled his game. Between 1936 and 1952, he won the World Three-Cushion title eleven times.

Hoppe won the world 18.1 balkline championship by beating Maurice Vignaux of France on January 15, 1906. He also held that title in 1908, from 1909 through 1911, and from 1914 through 1926. After losing the championship to Jake Schaefer Jr. in 1926, Hoppe regained it in 1927, the last year competition took place in that form of billiards.

The world 18.2 balkline champion in 1907, from 1910 through 1920, from 1923 through 1924, and in 1927, Hoppe began concentrating on three-cushion billiards in the 1930s. He won world championships in 1936, from 1940 through 1944, and from 1947 until his retirement in 1952.

Many of Hoppe's records still stand, including an unbelievable run of 622 in 18.2 balkline during an exhibition in 1912. He set records with runs of 20 points in three-cushion league play in 1927 and three-cushion match play in 1945, and he ran a record 25 points in a 1928 exhibition against Charles C. Peterson. His grand tournament average of 1.33 in 1950 is also a record.

RALPH GREENLEAF - "The Showman" (b. Nov. 3, 1899, Monmouth, IL d. March 15, 1950)
The game of pool's first true showman. Rescued the game of pool (pocket billiards) from near oblivion. (Prior to his emergence, billiards' popularity was completely dominated by the carom games.) Won his first world title in 1919, and defended it nine straight times. Toured vaudeville with his beautiful show-business wife, Princess Nai Tai Tai. Dazzled audiences with spectacular trick-shot exhibitions, with a huge mirror suspended over the table, to enhance the spectators' view. Professionally, he was virtually untouchable, winning fourteen world titles by 1937. More than anyone else, he rescued the game of pool, by casting it into the spotlight, with a natural showman's flair.

Generally ranked second to Willie Mosconi among the all-time great pocket billiards players, Greenleaf won the world professional title 6 times and defended it 13 times.

He held the championship from 1919 through 1924 and also won it in 1926, 1928, 1929, 1931, 1932, and 1937. He set records in 1929 for high single-game average, 63, and high grand average, 11.02, on a 5- by 10-foot table.

A colorful showman, Greenleaf continued to attract spectators to exhibition matches until his death of a heart attack in 1950.

WILLIE MOSCONI - "The Mosconi Era" (b. June 27, 1913, Philadelphia, PA d. Sept. 16, 1993)
Just as "Billiards" was synonymous with "Willie Hoppe," to many fans, "Pocket Billiards" meant "Willie Mosconi." If Ralph Greenleaf had rescued pool in the 1920's, it was Willie Mosconi who kept it alive in its post-World War II decline. Mosconi was truly a wizard at the table. From 1940 to 1957, he had a near-stranglehold onthe world title, winning it fifteen times. It was during the "Mosconi Era" that pool replaced billiards as America's game of choice.It was upon his retirement in 1957, that public interest in the game all but withered and died. He entered his first major tournament in 1937 and won the world pocket billiards championship in league play in 1941 and in tournament play the following year. After losing the championship in a match with Andrew Ponzi in 1943, he regained the title by beating Ponzi in 1944 and held it until 1946, when Irving Crane won a world championship tournament.

Mosconi reclaimed the championship by beating Crane in a 1947 match. From 1950 through 1953 and in 1956 and 1957, Mosconi won annual tournaments to become world champion. He retired from competition after suffering a stroke in 1957.

In 1954, Mosconi ran a record 526 balls during an exhibition in Springfield, OH. He also set a record for highest run in a single game, 127 balls, in 1945, and his high grand tournament average of 18.34 balls in 1950 is the record for a 4 1/2 by 9-foot table.

Even after his retirement from formal competition, Mosconi was an enthusiastic promoter of pocket billiards for the Brunswick company, giving exhibitions and appearing in televised matches. He was technical advisor for the 1961 movie, The Hustler, which starred Paul Newman and Jackie Gleason.

JAKE SCHAEFER, SR. - "The Wizard"
“A player whose super-brilliance with a billiard cue won for him the sobriquet of ‘Wizard.” So sums the lead of a 1909 newspaper article signing the praises of JAKE SCHAEFER, SR. From the last quarter of the 19th century through the first decade of the 20th, Schaefer, Sr. was one of the most feared names in Balkline Billiards. Derivations of the game were invented just to stymie his genius – all unsuccessfully. He traveled throughout the world winning matches and gathering fans. On March 11, 1908, though desperately ill, he successfully defended his title in his final match for the 18.1 championship against Willie Hoppe by a score of 500 to 423.

JAKE SCHAEFER, JR. - "The Prodigy"
Perhaps a greater talent than even his father. Billiard historians generally rank him as the greatest of the American Balkline players. He was the world champion at 18.2 in 1921, 1925, 1926, 1927, and 1929-1933. He held the 18.1 honors in 1926-1927 and the 28.2 title in 1937-1938.

At the 18.2 game, he holds four records which have never been equaled in this country: best game average, 400 (from the break); grand average, tournament, 57.14; grand average, match, 93.25; high run, match, 432. To this day, holds four Balkline world records that have never been equaled or broken.

JOHNNY LAYTON - "The Diamond King"
Won the World Three-Cushion Championship twelve times, defeating such champions as Willie Hoppe and Jake Schaeffer, Jr. Perhaps the most "scientific" of all billiard world champions. Layton recorded the high three-cushion game mark of 50 points in 23 innings, a record which still stands today. He was credited with originating the method of using the diamond system, using table markers to indicate direction of ball rebounds, a style that he perfected through the application of his highly developed mathematical mind.

JIMMY CARAS - "The Boy Wonder"
The second living person to be inducted into the BCA Hall of Fame. Became known as the "Boy Wonder of the World" after defeating Ralph Greenleaf, at the age of 17. Won the world title four times, from 1931 to 1949. Won the U.S. Open eighteen years later, besting a field of 48 players. Mr. Caras, born in 1910 in Scranton, PA, won his first world championship in 1936 and also won world championships in 1938, 1939 and 1949. In 1967, he won the U.S. Open in a field of 48 players.

His record of "most balls", "most games won" and "fewest innings by a champion" still stand in the record book for that size field. Mr. Caras was inducted into the BCA Hall of Fame in 1977. He recently passed away and is greatly missed.

STEVE MIZERAK - "The Miz"
"The Miz" Steve Mizerak is a Hall of Fame inductee who began collecting titles in the late 1960's, including four U.S. Open Championships. He is one of the most recognizeable faces in the world of pool, appearing in the movie " The Color of Money" and a series of Miler Lite commercials. "The Miz" was named 5th in the 50 Greaest Players of the Century and currently serves as President of Steve Mizerak, Inc.

VISIONARIES AND INNOVATORS OF THE GAME

JOHN WESLEY HYATT - Inventor of the composite billiard ball
The inventor of the world's first plastic. His discovery of celluloid, in 1869, revolutionized not only the billiard ball, but countless industries worldwide. Strangely, his discovery had more to do with billiards than any plastic-related vision or enterprise. His search began as a result of a $10,000 prize, being offered for a substitute for ivory, in the composition of billiard balls.

Though his discovery was not deemed worthy of the prize, later advances in plastics led to the balls of today, and forever changed the face of the world. It can thusly be stated that the world's first plastic was actually the result of a billiard-related quest: the search for a new material, for the perfect billiard ball.

CAPTAIN MINGAUD - Invented the modern cue tip & Masse shots...honed the scientific edge of shotmaking
Invented the leather cue tip in the early 1800's. Imprisoned in France for political reasons. Was allowed the use of a billiard table inside his prison cell, and became obsessed with the game. Became a student of the physics of shotmaking, and truly transformed the cue into a scientific instrument. Revolutionized the "magic" one could impart on the cue ball, through the use of "spin" and "english."

Mingaud also discovered that by raising the cue almost vertically - in fact into the position in which the mace would be used - extraordinary spin effects could be obtained by striking a sharp downwards glancing blow to the left and right across the cue ball. This type of shot or stroke became known as the masse - French for mace. No other invention so dramatically affected "touch," control, positioning, and overall strategic pla

JOHN THURSTON - Brought table making into the Industrial Age..invented the first Slate table
English inventor and table maker. Among the first to mass-produce tables, with the onset of industrialization. Inventor of the slate table bed. Unsatisfied with the playability and warping tendency of wood, he set out in search of a new material. His discovery came in the form of slate, in 1826. Slate was cheap, readily available, and offered a far smoother surface. Its immense weight led to the construction of far sturdier tables. His innovation has truly withstood the test of time. Slate continues to be the material of choice in quality tables today.

CHARLES GOODYEAR - Gave us rubber and gave billiards bank shots
Discovered the process for the vulcanization of rubber. Applications of his discovery revolutionized the billiard cushion (as well as a hundred other industries). Vulcanized rubber was stable and consistent. Unlike previous rubbers, it retained its resiliency in the most searing heat and the bitterest cold. John Thurston was the first to use Goodyear's discovery in the construction of billiard cushions. The result was a consistent, reliable cushion. Bank shots, once unpredictable, became integral parts of the game. Vulcanized rubber has proven so unsurpassed, it is still used in cushions today. Charles Goodyear, sadly, profited little from his discovery. He was imprisoned for debt, his company folded, and he died a veritable pauper.

JOHN M. BRUNSWICK - The first big name in the American Billiards Industry
Swiss immigrant and woodworker. Emigrated to America in 1819. Built a billiard table factory in 1845. For nearly 150 years, Brunswick has been the most visible name in American billiards. Merged with his two largest competitors—Julius Balke, in 1873; and Phelan and Collender, in 1884. Officially became "Goliath," the largest billiard company in the world. Passed control to his family, upon his death, in 1886. For over forty years (until the Depression), the company enjoyed an incredible upward spiral of profits, growth and success. Entered (and soon monopolized) the bowling industry. Worked hard to improve billiards reputation, by teaching and donating tables to charitable groups. Drastically cut product lines during the Depression. Survived and grew again as economy improved. Sponsored thousands of tournaments over the course of the centuries. In the world of billiards, Brunswick remains the dominant name in American pool rooms and homes.