Bingo can trace its origins to Italy around the year 1530. In 1530, a state run lottery game called “Lo Giuco de Lotto” originated. The game is still held every Saturday in Italy. "Le Lotto" migrated to France in the late 1700s in a form similar to the Bingo we know today. The initial alteration had three horizontal rows and nine vertical rows with numbered and blank squares in random arrangements. The columns were broken into sets of 10 numbers, 1-10, 11-20, all the way up to 90 in the last column. The bingo balls were chips in those days, and pulled out of a sac by the caller. The first player to cover a horizontal row was declared the winner.
Pastime

Germany used Bingo as a teaching device in the 1800’s. A version existed to teach its youth multiplication tables, spelling, history and biology. This holds true today as well, as a stroll through any toy store will yield numerous versions of bingo games to teach counting and numbers.

American bingo, or the bingo we know today, sort of began in 1929. It all started with a game called “beano” which was very similar to the Italian and French versions of Bingo. It was played at a Carnival near Atlanta, Georgia. It consisted of some dried beans, a rubber stamp and some cardboard. A New York toy salesman, named Edwin Lowe, observed the game, in which a player yelled “beano” when he filled a row. When Lowe introduced it to his friends in New York, Bingo got its new name. One of the players, in her excitement, managed to garble, “beano” into “bingo”. Lowe decided then, that the new game would be called bingo.

Thus, the origins of SaftyBingo began, inadvertently in the year 1530. However, the idea of “SaftyBingo” can be followed much easier, beginning in the early 1990’s

On the west coast, Workman’s Compensation was costing employers at a Seafood Processing and Distribution Center many thousands of Dollars. So, they designed a version of SaftyBingo to help curtail the false Workman’s Compensation claims. It began in-house, but was soon a sought after way to reduce insurance premiums in big and small business alike. From 4,000 employee firms, to firms with only 5 employees, SaftyBingo could help your company save money.

Soon after, SaftyBingo was outfitted to be adaptable to any type of business, anywhere. There are now at least a dozen versions and variations on SaftyBingo, serving the largest of companies, such as UPS and the smallest companies as well. Any workplace can benefit from SaftyBingo.