Croquet is a game played outdoors on a lawn.
Players use mallets to drive small wooden or rubber balls through hoops, called wickets, that are set in the ground. The winning player or team is the first to drive their balls through the wickets in a certain order.
Croquet was first played in France, where it was called paille-maille. In the 17th century, it reached England, where it became known as pall mall. The Pall Mall, a famous street in London, is named after a croquet court that once occupied the site.
In the 19th century, croquet was one of the most popular games in England and the United States. But around 1900, lawn tennis became popular, and many croquet courts became tennis courts.
Almost overnight, croquet disappeared, and today it is played only in a few clubs in England and the United States.
