1899 - San Francisco

In 1899, Charles Fey of San Francisco devised the "Liberty Bell", the forerunner of modern slot machines. The coin-operated one-armed bandits, as they became known, had a basic design of three spinning wheels marked with symbols.

1905 - Chicago

In 1905, the Mills Novelty Company of Chicago stole a machine and copied the design and soon afterward, other companies began producing similar products.

Chewing gum was incorporated into the earliest versions so that they could be classified as vending machines. This gave rise to the fruit symbols on the reels, indicating the flavors of the gum and hence the name "fruit machine". The symbol of a bell on the reels derives from the original Liberty Bell machine.

Slot machines spread rapidly across the USA until the 1950s, when federal legislation restricted their use.

1990s - The World

Slot machines were originally introduced as an amusement for the wives and girlfriends of high rolling gamblers, but by the 1990s the slots had surpassed table games in popularity.

Las Vegas has more that 165,000 slot machines of every imaginable type. Their success is due to their simplicity, as no skill is required to play them. New machines are continually being developed - the latest trend incorporating video and computer technology into dynamic interactive games.