Bowling Sports Oddities and Trivia Some random facts and trivia about the sport bowling. A MINI-ENCYCLOPEDIA OF SPORTS ODDITIES BOWLING Bill Knox bowled a perfect game at the Olney Alleys in Philadelphia in 1933. This feat is not that unusual in itself, but Knox bowled the entire 12 frames without ever seeing the pins. He had a special screen placed just above the foul line to block his view of the lane and the pins, his purpose being to illustrate the effectiveness of spot bowling. The 10-pin bowling that we know today was invented to circumvent a congressional ban against 9-pin bowling because of its association with gambling in the 19th century. The 10-pin game, thought up by an enterprising fan, caught on and led to the creation of the American Bowling Congress in 1895.