[IP encyclopedia] History of Caesars toy Dice

Dice [Photo provided : imagetoday]

Patent : Dice (US1539015A)

Year : 1923

Country : U.S.A

Region : Norfolk Virginia

Name : Mitchell Paul





God does not play dice This is the quote of great scientist Einstein left behind. God may not have liked dice but it is likely that the toy that has been loved for the longest time by humans might be the Dice. Today the IP Encyclopedia introduces the history and related patents of the old toy DICE.

There is no record of exactly when the dice were made. However dice made of ivory and animal bone have been found in ancient Egyptian ruins which are presumed to be 10th century B.C. Just as you know animal joint bones with hoofs are close to regular hexahedron. In 1000 B.C dice appeared in the Indian religious literature Rigveda and in the comedy of the ancient Greek Athenian poet and playwright Menandros the phrase Dice has already been cast (Ἀνερρίφθω κύβος) appeared.

The phrase became famous by the ancient Roman emperor Julius Caesar famous for I came I saw I won (Vēnī. Vīdī. Vīcī) using the phrase as it is. The fact that the word dice appeared in ancient Greece and Rome and that it was surpassing just a play and the emperor spoke it shows that dice had already been used for a long time and became popular.

Caesars phrase The dice have already been thrown served as an important trigger for him to become emperor. Caesar was involved in a three-headed government along with Pompeius and Crassus but the Senate designated Caesar as a traitor which put him in a dilemma. Just before the final recommendation to turn himself who raised the name of Roman after winning the Gallic War as a traitor Caesar eventually led his army to the Roman mainland.

Just before crossing the Rubicon a small river in northern Italy he marches on with the phrase The dice have already been thrown. Virtually crossing the Rubicon River with the army was supposed to cause a rebellion. Caesar who took control of Rome along with soldiers who were dissatisfied with authority at that time became emperor through a coup.

The phrase The dice have already been cast is often quoted in situations rather than deciding the some important decision with the dice but in the situations where one has to agree to an important decision that was decided by oneself. In fact although the decision was made intentionally regardless of ones will the gambling nature of Following fate is interpreted as a strong meaning.

Like Caesar said dice were often used when leaving it to probability without any intention. Humans have been playing dice for a long time but in the case of territorial disputes between Norway and Sweden they settled the dispute with dice to follow the Gods will and the sentence and compensation were also settled by dice. Some people use dice for magical purposes as if it were the Gods will.

However in Christian society in the middle ages playing dice was sometimes branded as a devils invention. As the gambling nature of playing dice became worse and many people ran out of money the government and churches began to crack down on playing dice. Even today casinos and gambling houses use dice a lot but the meaning of dice which used to mean Gods will seems to have greatly degenerated.

Nevertheless it is still used in many games as a toy of pure meaning. The most common dice are regular hexahedrons with signs drawn meaning numbers from 1 to 6. According to patent information the oldest dice patent is a patent filed by Mitchell Paul in 1923 (US 1539015A) in the form of a regular hexahedron dice.

In China dice games that started in Tang dynasty have been continued until now. It is a game called Sugoroku that used two regular hexahedron dice that were popular throughout China. Nowadays it is used with board games and also as a drinking party game.

In addition to regular hexahedrons there are many dice with various sides. Generally a regular tetrahedron a regular octahedron a regular dodecahedron and a regular icosahedron containing a regular hexahedron are called a Platonic solid and angles of octahedron icosahedron 30 hexahedron 60 hexahedron and 120 hexahedron are not regular polygon however is all the same figure. so it is called the Face-transitive polyhedron.

Interesting thing is that there are polyhedral dice in South Korea which cannot be found in the above-mentioned types. In the Unified silla period there was a dice called Wooden dice which is a 14-sided dice made of oak wood. In Gyeongju historic landmarks where the remains of the unified Silla exist 14-sided dice are made as a product and Gyeongju Juryeonggu bread which is designed after it is famous.

The dice were initially made of animal bones but later on was made of wood metal and stone and these days they are mostly made of plastic materials. In addition dice that combine cutting-edge science are also on sale such as Luma Dice equipped with LED three-dimensional Billet Dice geometric structure Geo Dice and Boogie Dice which moves in response to even a little stimulation.

The probability of being in the realm of God began to be scientific evidence of quantum mechanics in the 21st century. Edisons rejection of quantum mechanics saying God does not play dice may not be true. I think that the dice of human toys will be an trigger for the huge scientific transformation of human beings. Now the fate of human science might be dependent on the dice.

Julius Caesar [Photo provided : Wikipedia]

Dice which is made by bone [Photo provided : Wikipedia]

Mitchell Pauls patent of dice [Photo provided : Google patents]

A Platonic solid dice [Photo provided : etsy homepage]

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