Billiard ball
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US Billiard balls
In the US, Billiard balls are balls used to play the game of US billiards. The balls are numbered and colored as follows:
- yellow
- blue
- red
- purple
- orange
- green
- brown
- black
- yellow and white
- blue and white
- red and white
- purple and white
- orange and white
- green and white
- brown and white
Note that balls 1-7 are often referred to as "solids" and 9-15 as "stripes".
European Billiard balls
In the UK and Europe, Billiard balls are the three balls used to play the games, known variously as English billiards or Carambole billiards (of which Three cushion billiards is a variant) but generally just "billiards" within respective countries. European billiard balls are not numbered. They are coloured as follows:
Composition of billiard balls
In the past, many balls were made of ivory; since the animals that produced this have become endangered species, other materials, such as wood and various plastics have been used.
In 1865, John Wesley Hyatt patented a composition material resembling ivory (Celluloid) for a billiard ball (US50359), winning $10,000 prize from Phelan and Collender of New York City for the best substitute for ivory. This was the first U.S. patent for billiard balls.
Modern billiard balls are most often made from phenolic resin.