George Howard Monks (1853–1933) was an American surgeon who also invented board games.

Monks was born in Boston, Massachusetts and graduated from Harvard Medical School in 1880.

Subsequently, he followed a 4-year internship in European medical centers during which he invented in 1883 the game Halma (ancient Greek for “jump”) derived from the British game Hoppity together with the mathematician Thomas Hill.

Halma and the derived Chinese checkers knew great commercial success in the following years.

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