1895
There are no bowlers in the American Bowling Congress at this time. In 2005 the American Bowling Congress, Women's International Bowling Congress and the Young American Bowling Association were disbanded to form a single entity called the United States Bowling Congress.
Mens Champion Lee Jouglard
The rules of tenpin bowling were established on September 9, 1895 when the American Bowling Congress (ABC) was created. The ABC has since been merged under the umbrella of the United States Bowling Congress (USBC) and that is who manages the rules and sanctions bowling today.
The ABC stood for the American Bowling Congress, which existed from 1895 until 2005. It was the sanctioning body for men's bowling, and the companion to the WIBC (Women's International Bowling Congress).In 2005, the separate men's, women's and youth divisions were reorganized and merged into the USBC, the United States Bowling Congress. But older awards, and bowling equipment, might still say "ABC (or ABC/WIBC) Certified."
In the US, the first organization for bowling that was formed was the ABC (American Bowling Congress) on Sept. 9, 1895 , which was a mens only organization. They created the rules for the sport in the US. In 1916, the WIBC (Women's International Bowling Congress) was formed to cater to women's bowling. While basing the rules from the ABC, the WIBC also had rules specific to their organization. In 1958, the American Junior Bowling Congress was formed to organize youth bowlers from preschool through college. They too based their rules from the ABC, yet had additional rules specific to their organization. In 1982, the name of the organization was changed to the YABA(Young American Bowling Alliance). On January 1, 2005, the three organizations merged to create USBC (United States Bowling Congress) in order to unify resources and be able to have an opportunity for bowling to become an Olympic sport.
Women's International Bowling Congress ended in 2005.
Women's International Bowling Congress was created in 1917.
United States Bowling Congress was created in 2005.
The American Bowling Congress was the first organization to establish rules for the game and equipment. Since then, the United States Bowling Congress maintains the rules of the sport in the US and other countries have their own organizations that maintain the rules in their perspective countries.
The United States Bowling Congress (USBC), the santioning body over US bowling, is located in Arlington, TX.
In the United States, ten pins were already fairly standard by 1895, when the American Bowling Congress was founded. Fifty years earlier, ninepins (with nine bowling pins arranged in a diamond shape) was the game of choice. But in the 1840s, several states approved a ban on ninepin bowling, in part because of the gambling associated with the sport. So proprietors added a tenth pin, rearranged the rack into its current triangle shape, and the sport of tenpin bowling was born.