The coin-operated pinball machine

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Who

David Gottlieb, an American Jewish manufacturer

When

1931

Where

Chicago, United States

David Gottlieb's Baffle Ball, put out in 1931 for the price of a penny a game, was the first commercially successful coin-operated pinball machine, and it built an industry in the depth of the Depression. D. Gottlieb & Co. went on to make pinball for sixty years.

Sources

Part of “The Gifts of the Jews” — verified Jewish contributions to the world, with sources.