Have you ever picked up a fresh pack of playing cards? A crisp smooth deck of 54 cards, Thousands of years of history sitting in your palm. Playing cards have multiple uses. Card games are a big one. There are hundreds of card games in this world. WAR, Blackjack, Poker, and more. These games all have one thing in common. CARDS. Cards are the basis of all of these games. In this article, I will show you the history of cards and some cool facts with it.

Cards originated in China at around 1000AD. These cards then spread to India. After India, they spread to Persia. Then they spread to Egypt during the era of Mamluk control. The cards finally reached Europe during the 14th century from the Mamluks

The Mamluks had developed a 4 suit variety of cards. It was known as cups, coins, swords, and polo-sticks. These suits then evolved into the leaves, hearts, bells, and acorns. This variant then evolved into the French variety of trèfles, carreaux, cœurs, and piques. Also known as Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts, and Spades.

One cool fact about cards is that there are more ways to shuffle a deck of cards than there are atoms in this world. To be exact the amount of variants there are is 52 factorial, or 52 x 51 x 50…etc.So every time you pick up a deck of cards just know that nobody else in history probably has held that combination of cards. Another cool fact is that if you get a new pack of cards, and perfectly shuffle them, or faro shuffle them, which means to shuffle exactly one card over another, 6 times, the cards will return back to the original order.

In conclusion, playing cards are a product of centuries of refining,  innovating, and much more. A unique piece of functional art being held in your hands. Next time, be astonished by the just the sheer amount of history that goes in these cards. If you would like to learn more on your own, click here