Brief fun history of probability theory

Source

Ancient Greeks and Romans made crude dice from animal bones, various stones, minerals, and ivory. When they were tested mathematically, some were found to be quite accurate.

A mathematician named Jerome Cardan (1501-1576) used his talents in mathematics and probability theory to make his living as a gambler. He is thought to be first person to formulate the definition of classical probability.

During the mid 1600s, a professional gambler named Chevalier de Mere made a considerable amount of money on a gambling game. He would bet unsuspecting patrons that in four rolls of a die, he could get at least one 6. He was so successful at the game that some people refused to play.

He decided that a new game was necessary to continue his winnings. By reasoning, he figured he could roll at least one double 6 in 24 rolls of two dice, but his reasoning was incorrect and he lost systematically. Unable to figure out why, he contacted a mathematician named Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) to find out why.

Pascal became interested and began studying probability theory. He corresponded with a French government official, Pierre de Fermat (1601-1665), whose hobby was mathematics. Together the two formulated the beginnings of probability theory.

Source - Allan G. Bluman. Elementary Statistics: A Step By Step Approach.

Today probability theory is applied in vast verity of industries such as math, statistics, gambling, computer gaming, commerce, even in politics.