Origins of the game
    The "Noble Game of Billiards" emerged in a form recognisable today in northern Europe in the 18th century, when it was played by royalty and other members of the nobility. It evolved, however, from a much older game, played on grass in the 15th century. Billiards is the ancestor of Snooker and Pool.    History
     Snooker was possibly born in India in 1875. It is said that Sir Neville Chamberlain, an officer in the Devonshire regiment would spend many hours around the billiard table with his fellow officers during the monsoon. Boredom caused various games, such as Pyramids, Life Pool and Black Pool, to be devised, involving more than the traditional three billiard balls. Chamberlain started to add various coloured balls, until a basic form of Snooker evolved.    History

Basic rules and objectives
    Billiards is played with balls on a rectangular table, covered in a green baize material. At the corners and the centre of the long sides are pockets into which the balls can drop. The players attempt to drop balls into the pockets by striking a cue ball with the point of a stick ('cue'), causing the cue ball to collide with the object balls. Some tables have no pockets, where the objective is simply to collide with the object balls.
    Snooker is also played on a billiard table. The objective here is to pocket balls of different colours, each worth a specific number of points.