Domino is a game played with gaming pieces called dominoes. Its cousins include playing cards and dice, and it has become a popular pastime for many people of all ages, from professional domino players to casual games with friends. It is easy to make simple and elaborate domino art, from straight lines that will fall the way you want them to to curved lines, grids that form pictures when they fall, or even 3D structures like towers and pyramids.
Dominoes have been around for a long time, with their origins dating back to the 1300s in China. The earliest forms of the game used tiles that were arranged in sets of six and seven, each with an arrangement of markings (called pips) that represented the results of throwing two six-sided dice. The dominoes we know and love today are a European variant that is much smaller than the Chinese tile set. They feature a line that divides them visually into two square ends, with one end having an arrangement of pips and the other blank or identically patterned.
In the game, the player tries to lay down a domino in a row by turning over any piece that has a value that matches that of any domino already laid down. The first player to do this wins the round. Each round is played until the first player has all their dominoes in play or cannot play any more.
The name “domino” comes from the Latin word for domino, which means “little one” or “little one’s piece.” The etymology of the word is uncertain, but it may be related to the Arabic phrase domn
There are many different types of domino games, but the most common use of the dominoes is for domino rallies. The domino rally is a type of domino construction where the first domino is tipped ever so slightly, which causes all the others to follow suit in a beautiful and rhythmic cascade. Domino rallies are a great way to get a group together and have fun while building some cool artwork.
In 1979, Tom Monaghan, the founder of Domino’s Pizza, had a realization. He was hearing from customers that they loved the pizza he served, but they wanted Domino’s to be able to deliver it to them. It wasn’t enough to just open new stores, so he turned to the guerilla tactics that had initially made his business successful and began opening Domino’s locations near college campuses in Michigan. This helped increase the number of outlets, and the company was soon delivering pizza to customers across America in 30 minutes or less.
Domino’s is a large part of the Ann Arbor, Michigan, economy and has had tremendous success. The business has stayed relevant with the times and continues to innovate, including finding ways for customers to place their orders by texting or using devices like Amazon Echo. Technology is a huge component of the business and half of its employees work in software analytics. Domino’s is also a big advocate for community involvement and has a foundation that donates to local charities.