[New] Who Invented Monopoly? Discover the Surprising Untold Story

Who hasn’t played Monopoly, the classic capitalism board game where you compete to gain property and wealth? According to its official origin story, Charles Darrow, an amateur inventor, sketched out the now-famous Monopoly board on his kitchen table during the Depression. The game became a bestseller, Darrow became wealthy and Parker Brothers was saved from bankruptcy. It’s your classic success story. The only problem: It isn’t true.

Part detective story, part sharp social commentary and part pop-culture celebration, Ruthless: Monopoly’s Secret History from American Experience takes you back in time to tell the untold true story behind the game’s invention, which features a feminist

DID YOU KNOW? Board Games

named Lizzie Magie, many other individuals and a well-known game company. It’s a tale of theft, obsession and corporate double-dealing. I won’t give it away here, but I will say that Magie — who was also an actor, poet, engineer and follower of progressive economic theories — invented Monopoly progenitor The Landlord’s Game, which was designed to illustrate the evils of landlords and monopolies. You can credit Ralph Anspach, an economics professor and ardent anti-monopolist (seen on the cover of this issue) for uncovering Monopoly’s fascinating story. Ruthless: Monopoly’s Secret History airs on Monday, February 20, at 9pm on KQED 9. It will also stream on KQED Passport at the time of broadcast.

Ellyn Hament, Managing Editor

• In 2007, a modern version of Monopoly was flown aboard the space shuttle Atlantis. The American public chose the Johnson Space Center as the most distinctive landmark in Houston. It was given an orange property space on the game board.

• John Spinello invented Operation in 1962 when he was a sophomore at the University of Illinois. He sold the rights to renowned toy designer Marvin Glass for $500 and the promise of a job when he graduated.