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Monopoly is the best selling, most popular and well known board game in history. It is produced in 26 languages and sold in 80 countries around the world. But, believe it or not, when, in 1934 Charles B. Darrow introduced the game to Parker Brothers, they rejected it. But, this was during the time of the Great Depression when people had little to lose. So, fueled by the hope of fame and fortune, Mr. Darrow enlisted the help of a friend who was a printer, and he produced and sold the game on his own.

Immediately people were taken with the game, and Darrow could not keep up with the orders. When he brought the game back to Parker Brothers, they saw they error of their ways and signed Darrow. That was in 1935. Since then, there have been over 500 million players. Rather unbelievable for a game that almost never made it to the public.

There are now, in 2007, over 20 additions of Monopoly, the most recent being the Spiderman version. There is a version to satisfy just about every individual interest including the many children's versions; Disney, SpongeBob SquarePants, Transformers, and Disney Princess.

Monopoly is now made by Hasbro and can be purchased on Hasbrotoyshop.com as well as countless other stores and websites around the world.

Some fun facts about Monopoly:

The longest ever game of Monopoly was played 70 straight days
Fidel Castro ordered all known sets of the game be destroyed
The total amount of money in a Standard Monopoly game is $15,140
There is a Braille edition of Monopoly
In 1978, Neiman Marcus offered a Chocolate version for $600

For more information on Monopoly and its history, go to http://www.hasbro.com/monopoly /default.cfm?page=history

Learn more about this author, Debbie N.
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