Some people have never heard of the sport of curling. Others have heard of it, but they certainly don’t know where it came from or what it is. Curling actually was invested in Scotland sometimes round 1541.  A number of paintings from the period show people engaging in an activity that looks like curling, and a curling stone was found that dates 1511.

In 1716, the first Curling Club was formed. Called the Kilsyth Curling Club, it is actually still in existence today.

Today, the game is most prevalent in Canada, having come to the area by Scottish emigrants.  The first Curling Club in the United States began in 1830 and then moved to Switzerland and Sweden as well before the end of the 19th century.  Curling today is also played in Japan, Australia, New Zealand, China, Korea and throughout Europe.

Curling has even become part of the Olympics and it was given official Winter Olympic Games status during the 1998 Winter Olympics. Ironically, the 1924 Winter Olympics curling competition was recognized as an official Olympic event in February of 2002. The first Olympic medals for the sport, therefore, were awarded almost 80 years after the games were played.

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