Early plastic billiard balls sounded like gunfire. 🎱

Early plastic billiard balls sounded like gunfire. 🎱 . . . John Wesley Hyatt patented a celluloid molding process in 1870 while seeking an ivory substitute. He later recalled that two balls sometimes made a sharp, explosive report on impact. One Colorado saloon keeper noted that every man in the room immediately pulled a gun — but added he did not care so much about it.