Cushion caroms, sometimes called by its original name, the indirect game, is thought to have developed in the 1820s in Britain, it developed out of an older game called the "doublet game", that dates to at least 1807. The game is sometimes incorrectly called "one-cushion" or "one-cushion billiards", which is the direct translation of its name into English from various other languages such as Spanish (""una banda"") and German (""einband"").
The object of cushion caroms is to score "cushion caroms", meaning a bounce off of both of the other balls on the table, with at least one rail of the table being struck by the cue ball before the contact with second object ball. Cushion caroms was not played for a number of years, but came back in the late 1860s. Its return was for similar reasons as to why balkline developed. It was frustration of many people with straight rail. The techniques such as nursing that were invented to make scoring much easier, also made the game very boring to watch. Thus, as straight rail lost popularity, cushion caroms was revived for a time. Cushion caroms is rarely played in the U.S., but it still has some popularity in Europe.
In three-cushion billiards, sometimes called three-cushion carom, three-cushion, three-cushions, three-rail, rails and the angle game, the object is to carom off both object balls with at least three rails being contacted before the contact of the cue ball with the second object ball. Arising sometime in the 1870s, the origin of three-cushion billiards is not entirely known. It is undisputed that the Internal Revenue Collector of the Port of St. Louis, Wayman C. McCreery, made the game popular. At least one publication states he invented the game as well.
The first three-cushion billiards tournament took place January 14–31, 1878 in C. E. Mussey's Room in St. Louis, with McCreery taking part. The tournament was won by New Yorker Leon Magnus. The high run for the tournament was just 6 points, and the high average a .75. The game was infrequently played prior to 1907, with many top carom players of the era saying they did not enjoy it. However, in 1907 after the introduction of the Lambert Trophy, the game became more popular in the U.S. and internationally.
By 1924 three-cushion had become so popular that two very well know players in other billiard areas agreed to play each other in it at a challenge match. On September 22, 1924 Willie Hoppe (last name rhymes with "poppy"), the world balkline champion and Ralph Greenleaf, the world pocket billiards (pool) title holder, played a well-advertised, multiple-day, 600-point match. Hoppe was the eventual winner with a final score of 600–527. The game's decline in the U.S. came about in 1952 when Hoppe, then 51-time billiards champion, announced his retirement.
Three-cushion billiards is a very difficult game. Averaging one point per turn at the table is professional-level play, and averaging 1.5 to 2 is world-class play. An average of one means that for every turn at the table, a player makes one point and misses once. This means that the player makes a point on only 50% of his or her shots. The highest run at three-cushion billiards for many years was 25, set by the American Willie Hoppe in 1918 during an exhibition. As of 2007, the high run record is 31 points, shared between Semih Saygıner of Turkey and Hugo Patiño who is originally from Colombia but resides in the U.S. The best game at the standard 50 points in a tournament is 9 innings by the Swedish player, Torbjörn Blomdahl in 2000, and 4 innings (count: 19-11-9-11) by Korean and U.S. national champion, Sang Lee in September 1992 in a game at SL Billiards in Queens, New York. The highest tournament average is 2.536 by Dick Jaspers from the Netherlands in 2002 at a tournament in Monaco. Raymond Ceulemans from Belgium has won an unmatchable 21 three-cushion billiards world-championships.
Three-cushion billiards is the most popular carom billiards game played in the U.S. today, where pocket billiards (pool) is far more widespread. Three-cushion retains great popularity in parts of Europe, Asia, and Latin America.
The principal governing body of the sport is the Union Mondiale de Billiard (UMB). That organization has been holding world three-cushion championships since the late 1920s. Decades later, the Billiards World Cup Association (BWA) competed with UMB, but faded in the late 1990s due to financial problems. The International Olympic Committee-recognized World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) cooperates with the UMB to keep their rulesets consistent.
In Artistic billiards, sometimes called fantasy billiards or fantaisie classique, players compete at performing 76 planned shots, each assigned a degree of difficulty. Each set shot has a maximum point value assigned for perfect execution, ranging from a 4-point maximum for lowest level difficulty shots, and climbing to an 11-point maximum for shots deemed highest in difficulty level. There is a total of 500 points available to a player. The governing body of the sport is the Confédération Internationale de Billiard Artistique (CIBA).
Each shot in an artistic billiards match is played from a well-defined starting position. In fact, in some tournaments the balls must be placed within two millimeters of a diagrammed position. Each shot must also be done in an established manner in order for points to be awarded. Players are allowed three attempts at each shot. In general, the 76 shots in the game—even the lowest difficulty 4-point shots—require a high degree of skill, much practice and specialized knowledge to perform.
World title competition first started in 1986 and required the use of ivory balls. However, this requirement was dropped in 1990. The highest score ever achieved in world competition was 374, by the Frenchman Jean Reverchon in 1992. The highest score in competition overall is 427 set by Belgian Walter Bax on March 12, 2006 at a competition held in Deurne, Belgium, beating his own previous record of 425. The game is played mostly in western Europe, especially in France, Belgium and the Netherlands.
Calibrachoa
Calibrachoa is a genus of the Solanaceae family. Plants of this genus can be used as potted plants. The plants are a lot like Petunias. Petunias and "Calibrachoa" together make up the clade Petunieae.
Tetrahydrocannabinol
Tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, is the chemical or drug made in the cannabis that causes a person to feel different. It is similar to at least 113 other chemicals in cannabis, known as cannabinoids, but not all of them will make you feel different or high after using it. There are about 540 chemicals in cannabis total. THC is a very fatty chemical and doesn't interact with water very well. THC is thought to be used by the plant for protection from bugs, light, and other harm from its environment. The THC chemical structure was discovered in 1964 by Dr. Raphael Mechoulam and Dr. Y. Gaoni at the Weizmann Institute in Israel.
THC is used in medicine as a treatment for many physical and psychological problems. It can be used to help people with pain or are sick from getting chemotherapy for cancer. There are some medications which have THC and can be ordered by a doctor depending on where and what country you live in.
Cannabis works by sticking to special receptors in the brain and body, which is known as the endocannabinoid system or ECS. Over time, a person will need more THC to feel the same effects as before. This is known as tolerance. A person may also experience withdrawal, which can be uncomfortable and is a result of stopping THC use quickly after using it for some time. People usually do not get addicted to using THC.