Coffee houses were a new institution in which men met together to talk, listen to poets and play games like chess and backgammon.

BBC: Coffee and qahwa: How a drink for Arab mystics went global

Seeing entries for Monopoly, Scrabble and Trivial Pursuit (three Parker Brothers' board games), I was immediately struck by the absence of chess and backgammon.

WSJ: Book Review: Robertson's Book of Firsts