Slot machines, or as many of us know them, fruit machines, are everywhere you look: in every pub, every amusement arcade and even on casino online. But how old is the slot machine and why was it invented?

The term slot machine was in fact used for most vending machines; it was not until the 20th century that it became an official term for the slot machines we know today. They are also known as fruit machines in Britain and sometimes one-armed bandits. We owe all this to a man called Charles Fey. He invented the first mechanical slot machine in 1895 called the Liberty Bell.

Charles Fey was a car mechanic from San Francisco who went on to invent many gambling game machines. His Liberty Bell had three spinning reels on which there was the traditional Diamond, spade and heart pictures along with an image of a cracked Liberty Bell (hence the name). If you got a row of Liberty Bells after your spic you would gain the highest prize.

These simple, but effective, machines became highly popular, so popular in fact that Fey could not produce them fast enough. Gambling manufacturers try to buy the designs of Fey in order to mass-produce, but Fey refused. This resulted in another slot machine, a rip off of the Liberty Bell, being made. This was called the Operator Bell, made by Herbert Mills, who famously put fruit symbols on the spinners.

These mechanical machines were popular for many years, but as technology progressed so did the other machines around them. Electric machines became the norm, with electronic versions of roulette, horse racing and poker becoming the most popular. Then in 1975 the first electronic slot machine was produced by the Fortune Coin Company. Yet again the slot machine took over and is just as popular today as it was back in 1895.