Snooker wasn’t drafted in a boardroom. It was improvised by British officers in colonial India, then refined in Britain, and finally mass-marketed by television. Here’s the clean timeline—names, dates, broadcasts—that explain how a club pastime became modern prestige.

1875: The mess-hall experiment

In Jabalpur, India (1875), army officer Neville Chamberlain blended elements of black pool and pyramids into a new cue sport. The nickname “snooker”—army slang for a rookie—stuck after Chamberlain mocked a poor shot. That origin (place, person, year) is unusually clear for a cue sport.

From India to Britain

Touring pros and officers carried the game home. By the 1910s it had moved from novelty to fixture in British clubs, with enough momentum to justify standardized rules.

Rulebook & early championships

In 1919 the Billiards Association & Control Council consolidated snooker’s rules, including the re-spotted black for tie-breaks. In 1927, the first professional championship was staged—pushed by Joe Davis and promoter Bill Camkin. Davis won the inaugural title and dominated for the next decade-plus.

Color TV & the Crucible era

Snooker’s modern boom began in 1969 with the BBC’s Pot Black, created to show off color TV—perfect for a game built on vivid balls. From 1977 onward, daily BBC coverage from the Crucible Theatre turned snooker into appointment viewing. Peak moment: the 1985 “Black Ball Final” (Davis vs. Taylor), drawing ~18.5 million UK viewers after midnight.

Timeline at a glance

• 1875 — Neville Chamberlain formulates snooker in colonial India.
• 1919 — Rules consolidated by BA&CC; re-spotted black added.
• 1927 — First professional championship; Joe Davis wins.
• 1969 — BBC launches Pot Black for color TV.
• 1977 → — Crucible era; daily TV coverage cements the brand.
• 1985 — Black Ball Final hits ~18.5M UK viewers post-midnight.