What were the historical origins of table tennis?

Answer 1

The game of Table Tennis has its roots in lawn tennis.

When lawn tennis became very popular in the 1870s & 1880s, game makers tried to emulate its success by developing indoor versions of the game.

So there were card games, board & dice games, rackets & balloon games and even tiddledy winks tennis games.

But the first use of the name Table Tennis occurred on a board and dice game by J.H.Singer of New York around 1884 and it's also known that a game of Table Tennis was offered in the 1887 game catalogue of George S. Parker, founder of the famed Parker Brothers in America.

But the first action game of tennis on a table was in 1890, so it was David Foster of England who is the founder/inventor of table tennis in 1890.