Interesting Facts You Didn’t Know About the Game Monopoly

Monopoly has been the source of strife and discord amongst friends and families alike since 1935, ever since Parker Brothers put the game up for sale. Although it’s a great way to pass the time, many people aren’t quite aware of the interesting tidbits that surround this game. Like what are the most landed spots, and is Charles Darrow really the game’s original creator? All these questions and more will be answered in the list of interesting facts about the game monopoly.\r \r 1. The Three Most Landed on Spots on the Board\r \r A great tip to keep in mind if you really want to win the fame is by getting on the squares that are landed on the most. This would be the GO, Illinois Avenue and New York Avenue as the top three. The Go to Jail square will send you straight to jail which means that you must roll again to get out of prison. Up next is Illinois Avenue followed by Go, New York Avenue and B&O Railroad. As for the least visited? That would be the three Chance squares, the Community Chest Square and the Mediterranean Avenue.\r \r 2. The 21-Second Winning Strategy\r \r Even though monopoly is a game of strategy, it is very much possible to come out on top in a mere 21 seconds with only two players. This was discovered by Daniel J. Myers, a professor of sociology at Notre Dame, along with his son. Together, the duo came up with the winning strategy: four turns and nine rolls. But for it to work, that player would have to be extremely lucky ,starting with rolling double sixes right at the beginning of the game, among other things.\r \r 3. People Have Hurt Each Other Over the Game\r \r As mentioned in the intro, Monopoly is an unexpected source of many fights, even violent ones. Like that time in 2011 when what was supposed to be a simple game night turned into a bar brawl between 60-year-old Laura Chavez and 48-year-old Clyde Smith after the latter was caught cheating. Smith responded by hitting Chavez with a wine bottle who in turn retaliated with a knife. Smith survived but what a wild way to end a simple board game.\r \r 4. The Real Creator Was a Woman Who Wasn’t Credited\r \r Charles Darrow is often credited as the inventor of Monopoly, but the real genius behind the game is a woman named Elizabeth Magie. She first created the Landlord’s Game in 1903 as a way to teach people about the evils of monopolies. Darrow was a fan of the game and he seized the opportunity to pitch the game to Parker Brothers who gave him a royalty for it. Knowing that Magie was the real owner, Parker Brothers bought two of her games for $500 only to release a few hundred copies, then sold millions of Monopoly all over the world.\r \r 5. Escape Maps Were Smuggled to British POWs During WWII\r \r During World War II, John Waddington Ltd, a printing company was issued by the British secret service unit M19 to print out silk maps. This company also happened to be the printer of Monopoly in the UK. At one point an M19 agent named Christopher Clayton Hutton devised a plan to put maps and other materials into board games that would be sent to prisoner of war camps. They even managed to stash a few useful items including compasses, tools and money underneath the fake ones.