William Alexander Spinks Jr. (July 11, 1865 – January 15, 1933) was an American professional player of carom billiards in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

[2][6] At his peak, his was a household name in American billiards;[8] The New York Times ranked Spinks as one of "the most brilliant players among the veterans of the game",[9] and he still holds the world record for points scored in a row (1,010) using a particular shot type.

He was both an oil company investor and director, and a flower- and fruit-farm operator and horticulturist, originator of the eponymous Spinks cultivar of avocado.

[11] In 1892, Spinks was particularly impressed by a piece of natural chalk-like substance obtained in France, and presented it to chemist and electrical engineer William Hoskins (1862–1934)[12] of Chicago for analysis.

Using the rock as a starting place, the two experimented together with different formulations of various materials to achieve the cue ball "action" that Spinks sought.

[6] They eventually narrowed their search to a mixture of Illinois-sourced[6] silica and the abrasive substance corundum or aloxite[7] (a form of aluminum oxide, Al2O3),[13][14][15] founding William A. Spinks & Company with a factory[2] in Chicago[6] after securing a patent on March 9, 1897.

While regular calcium carbonate chalk had been packaged and marketed on a local scale by various parties (English player Jack Carr's "twisting powder" of the 1820s being the earliest recorded example, although considered dubious by some billiards researchers),[10]: 46  the Spinks Company product (which is still emulated by modern manufacturers with differing, proprietary compounds)[10]: 46  effectively revolutionized billiards.

Even the basic draw and follow shots of pool games (such as eight-ball and nine-ball) depend heavily on the effects and properties of modern billiard chalk.

On December 19, 1893, in Brooklyn, Spinks played in an exhibition that also featured the great Maurice Daly and young champion Frank Ives, and gave demonstrations of fancy massé shots (see illustration).

[25] Spinks was reported in the press in 1895 to be specifically desired as a competitor in an upcoming seven-man invitational tournament for "second class" professional players (i.e., not the top 3), organized by Daly, and with as much as $1,200 (approx.

[39] Spinks was still considered a newsworthy contender over a decade later, for the World 18.2 Balkline Championship of 1909, being enumerated in "a fine list of entries" anticipated for the March event.

The inspiration for the new system was simply making it possible for the newly ascendant Willie Hoppe to be meaningfully challenged – his near-unassailability was hurting billiard tournament revenues, because the outcome was considered foreordained by many potential ticket-buyers.

The system was expected to level the playing field in other ways, especially making it easier for skilled amateurs to enter the professional ranks.

[54] Spinks was active in the growers' community, and in 1922 hosted a large regional farm bureau meeting of avocado farmers at his ranch-land "mountain estate".

[56] Considered "famous"[55][57] by 1918, the Duarte-based Spinks avocado orchards were contracted to supply seedlings in 1919 for the palace of Xu Shichang, President of the Republic of China, and other prestigious gardens in Asia.

[62] On September 1, 1891, Spinks married Clara Alexandria Karlson (b. December 12, 1871, Gothenburg, Sweden, immigrated 1872; died October 4, 1949, Los Angeles); they were to remain together for over 40 years.

After a period in a San Francisco apartment (c. 1900), they lived in the then-rural Los Angeles suburbs of Duarte (c. 1910) where their farm was, and Monrovia (later, by 1920) where they maintained a modest house.