13 April is National Scrabble Day, which is celebrated annually.
Scrabble was originally named Lexico and then Criss-Cross Words. Alfred Mosher Butts eventually settled on the name Scrabble.
The amateur artist and unemployed architect developed the word game in the midst of the Depression of the 1930s, but it wasn’t until 1948, the final name change and the registration of a trademark that he finally began to produce the game.
Although the creator of National Scrabble Day is unknown, it is celebrated on 13 April to honour the birth of Alfred Mosher Butts (born 13 April 1899).
Scrabble is played with two to four players who score points by forming words from individual lettered tiles on a 15 x 15 grid game board.
In the United States, the name Scrabble is a trademark of Hasbro incorporated. The game is sold in 121 countries with 29 different language versions, and over 150 million sets have been sold worldwide.
Some interesting facts about Scrabble:
• In 1984, Scrabble became a daytime game show on NBC
• In 2004, Scrabble was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame
• Some cities sponsor Scrabble tournaments on the weekend closest to National Scrabble Day
• The word ‘scrabble’ means ‘to grope frantically’.
To celebrate today, call your friends and play a game or two of Scrabble! Use #NationalScrabbleDay to post on social media.
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