[3] This came about after the landlord of the Adelphi Inn in Leeds was prosecuted for allowing darts to be played in his pub.

A dartboard was hung in the court and Anakin proved that darts was not a game of chance by hitting three double 20s in a row.

The original target in the game is likely to have been a section of a tree trunk, its circular shape and concentric rings giving rise to the standard dartboard pattern in use today.

[4] The standard numbered point system is attributed to Lancashire carpenter Brian Gamlin, who devised it in 1896 to penalise inaccuracy,[4][5] though this is disputed.

The London Fives board is another variation, with only 12 equal segments, with the doubles and triples being a quarter of an inch (6.35 mm) wide.

[A] Before World War I, pubs in the United Kingdom had dartboards made from solid blocks of wood, usually elm.

[9] In 1935, chemist Ted Leggatt and pub owner Frank Dabbs began using the century plant, a type of agave, to make dartboards.

[11] The first purpose-made darts were manufactured from solid wood, wrapped with a strip of lead for weight and fitted with flights made from split turkey feathers.

[12] The wooden shafts, threaded to fit the tapped barrel, were either fletched as before or designed to take a paper flight.

Shafts are generally made from plastics, nylon polymers, or metals such as aluminium and titanium; and can be rigid or flexible.

Longer shafts provide greater stability and allow a reduction in flight size which in turn can lead to closer grouping; but, they also shift the weight towards the rear causing the dart to tilt backwards during flight, requiring a harder, faster throw.The flight stabilizes the dart by producing drag, thus preventing the rear of the dart from overtaking the point.

[17] Modern flights are generally made from plastic, nylon, or foil and are available in a range of shapes and sizes.

Some manufacturers have sought to solve this by making a flight long and thin but this, in turn, creates other problems such as changing the dart's centre of gravity.

[17] The choice of barrel, shaft, and flight will depend a great deal on the individual player's throwing style.

Once a player reaches a low enough score, they are considered to be "on a finish", meaning they can win the game/leg with their remaining darts.

As the player's skill decreases further, the best place to aim curls into the centre of the board, stopping a bit lower than and to the left of the bullseye at σ = 100 mm.

This rule (referred to as a "Northern Bust" in London) is considered by some players to be a purer version of the game.

The most common nine-dart finish consists of two 180 maximums followed by a 141 checkout (T20-T19-D12), but there are many other possible ways of achieving the feat.

This style of dartboard is most often found in eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and parts of New York state.

[29] Failure to do so within a single throw (3 darts) results in the player losing half their accumulated score.

[30] The game can be tailored to the skill level of the players by selecting easy or difficult targets.

This means they can aim for other peoples numbers, taking a point off for each time they hit (doubles ×2, triples ×3).

For a brand named Jarts, the darts weighed about 1/4 pound, were 12 inches long, and had a pointed tip, the better to stick into the ground.

On December 19, 1988, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission introduced an outright ban on metal-tipped lawn darts in the US after publicity of thousands of injuries and several deaths.

The game is played across a pitch consisting of the top and bottom three segments (ideally on a Wide 5's dartboard).

Tikanheitto [fi] is a casual variety played in Finland, consisting of a simple ringed monochrome board, labeled 1 to 10 towards the centre.

The BDO was a member of the World Darts Federation (WDF) (founded 1976), along with organisations in some 60 other countries worldwide.

The WDF World Cup for national teams and a singles tournament has been played biennially since 1977.

Stages take place mostly in East Asia, with some rounds held in the United States and Europe.

The WDF rankings are based on the preceding 12 months performances, the BDO resets all ranking points to zero after the seedings for their world championship have been determined, and the PDC Order of Merit is based on prize money earned over two years.