Romans play Paganica where they walked across fields and hit a small leather ball with a curved stick and aimed to strike certain trees.  The winner was the person who hit all the trees in the fewest possible strokes.  This sport developed in two ways.  In country areas where there was adequate space, courses were laid out and the target became a hole.  Thus the game of golf evolved. 

In towns where space was limited, the game of Paille-Maille became popular.  In this game, a box-wood ball, a foot in circumference, was played down an alley, passing through a number of arches or hoops on the way.  The winner was the person achieving this in the fewest hits.

The name "Paille-Maille" comes from the Italian pallamaglio, which literally means ball-mallet, ultimately derived from Latin palla and malleus meaning ball and maul, hammer or mallet, respectively. [Wikipedia]

Peasants in Languedoc (southern France) played a game where they hit balls with shepherd crooks through bent willow branches. The word "croquet" may come from the French word "crochet", which means hook. The French thought the game’s wickets looked like the crochet hooks used for making laces and other items with string or yarn.

The game of le Jeu de la Crosse (or la Crosserie) was immensely popular in Normandy, especially at Avranches, but the object appears to have been to send the ball as far as possible by driving it with the mallet. [1911 Enclyclopedia Britanica]

Louis XIV played Jeu de Mail at Versailles, France.

Charles II of England and his courtiers played Pall Mall at St. James's Park in London. The walk in the park, now called the Mall, received its name from having been appropriated to the purpose of playing. [Wikipedia]

Pall Mall was played on a 1000-yard long strip of clay, covered with powdered cockle shells.  The balls were smaller (as in golf), and the object was to hit the ball from the hole at one end of the lane to the other in as few strokes as possible (as in golf).  Superficially, the playing equipment looks a bit like that used for croquet, which stands to reason, as it's the most practical design if you want to use wood for your clubs rather than iron.  That, as far as I can see, is the only connection between the two. [James Hawkins ]

Sir Walter Peel, namesake of the peel, started playing croquet.

Ye Game of Croquet published by Cremer in England.

Mr Punch's Pocket Book contained a cartoon by John Leech with the caption "Fanny, her eyes on him, placing her pretty foot on the ball, said 'Now I am going to croquet you.' And croqueted he was completely!" [Sport and the Making of Britian by Derek Birley]

Captain Thomas Mayne Reid wrote Croquet: A Treatise and Commentary, in which he argued that croquet was a character building alternative to actual warfare.

Croquet by Captain Mayne Reid published by Charles James Skeet of London, England, UK.

The sixth Earl of Essex wrote The Rules of Croquet Revised and Corrected by an Old Hand.  This work was produced to support sales of his Cassiobury Set of croquet equipment, was promptly snuffed out by the vice-chancellor in response to an action for breach of copyright brought by Captain Mayne Reid.

Thompson wrote The Rules of the Game of Croquet.

John Jaques bought the rights to the rules of croquet from Isaac Spratt, and printed 25,000 copies of Croquêt: Its Laws and Regulations.  Mysteriously, the first edition of this work is described as "thoroughly revised".

Croquet by Captain Mayne Reid was published by James Redpath, Boston, Massechusets, USA. Read entire book scanned by Bob Kroeger, and transcribed by Dr. Ian Plummer. Read entire book at scanned by Google.

The Park Place Croquet Club of Brooklyn organizes with 25 members. "Croquet is probably the first game played by both men and women in America."*

Peterson's Magazine described the game of Troco, Beugelen, or Lawn Billiards.

Here's a video clip of Beugelen, which has been played in parts of the Netherlands since the 17th Century (around the same time and place as the origin of Pall Mall).  It's nearly, but not quite obsolete, and survives only in the south-eastern province of Limburg.  Superficially, there's no similarity in the equipment to that used for croquet.  But if you watch what they're doing, the game is almost identical to Golf Croquet doubles. [James Hawkins ]

Walter Miller wrote Laws of Croquet.

The Laws of Croquet as Played by the Medes and Persians by ‘Rab-Mag’ was published by Hatchard in London, England.

Routledge’s Handbook of Croquet by Edmund Routledge was published by Routledge, Warne, & Routledge in London, England.

The Rules of the Game of Croquet, as Played at Sheriff Hutton Park by Leonard Thompson was publish by Cordeaux & Ernest in York, England.

The title Croquet Polka was registered at Stationer's Hall on May 14th by London music publishers Addison & Lucas.

R. Fellow of Boston, MA, USA, wrote The Game of Croquet, Its Appointments and Laws.

The Game of Croquet, Its Laws and Regulations published by Dean & Son in London, England, UK.

Laws and Regulations of the Game of Croquet by James Soutter & Son published by James Soutter & Son in Edinburgh, Scotland.

How to Play Croquêt by S. Kramer published by Adams & Co in Boston, Massechusetts, USA.

The Newport [Rhode Island] Croquet Club handbook Croquet as Played by the Newport Croquet Club said, "Whist exercises the memory and the power of calculating probabilities; chess the imagination and the faculty of abstract reasoning; but croquet, though it taxes these mental capacities less, combines them with the delights of out-of-doors exercise and social enjoyment, fresh air and friendship -- two things which are of all other most effective for promoting happiness."

Hand-Book of Croquet published by Milton Bradley & Company in USA.

Walter Jones Whitmore's rules of croquet published in The Field. [Guy Stapleton, of Moreton Historical Society, in When Cotswolds Became the Birthplace of Croquet]

Croquet. A Treatise by Captain Mayne Reid published by Houlston and Wright of London, England, UK.

Winslow Homer paints The Croquet Game.

Croquet: Its Implements and Laws by A Committee of Players published by Horace Cox of London, England, UK.

Handbook to the Game of Croquet by Cassell's Sixpenny Hand-Books published by Cassell, Petter, and Galpin of London, England, UK.

Halifax Archery and Croquet Club established on May 14th.

The Oxford University Croquet Club was formed.

Rev. Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, alias Lewis Carroll, published the rules for Castle Croquet: For Four Players in August in Aunt Judy's Magazine.

French dictionary for the first time defines croquet as a game.

Both men and women in the Christiania Boldlag (Oslo Ballteam) started playing croquet at Akershus Fortress, Oslo, Norway. [Tore Gulbrandsen]

The Game of Croquet; Its Appointments and Laws by R. Fellow of Boston, Massechusetts, USA, published by Hurd and Haughton of New York City, New York, USA.

The All England Croquet Club (AECC) was formed by the merger of the Grand National Croquet Club and two other rival clubs.  It later changed its name to the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. 

The Gentleman's Magazine published two articles by Cavendash entitled Croquet, and The Science of Croquet.

Croquet Tactics by Walter James Whitmore (actually W. T. Whitmore-Jones, 1831-1872) published by Horace Cox of London, England, UK.

First All-Comers Meeting was held at Moreton-in-the-Marsh, England. [1911 Enclyclopedia Britanica] Walter Jones Whitmore held the Grand Open Tournament on Moreton cricket ground. The croquet courts were about 45 yards by 35 yards with 8-inch hoops. 16 gentlemen played heats, quarter- and semi-finals before the final. Whitmore lost in the quarter-final to the ultimate winner Walter Peel. [Guy Stapleton, of Moreton Historical Society, in When Cotswolds Became the Birthplace of Croquet]

Walter James Whitmore (actually W. T. Whitmore-Jones, 1831-1872) was barred from the AECC, and formed the National Croquet Club.

The first women's croquet championship were held in England, and won by a Mrs. Joad.*

Chambers Book of Days published a picture of King Charles II attempting to knock the ball through the hoop. He was apparently very good at the game.

Sixth edition of Croquet: It's Principles and Rules by "Professor A. Rover" published by Milton Bradley.

Croquet: The Laws and Regulations of the Game by West Essex Croquet Club published by Walter Brettell of London, England, UK.

The handbook in the Milton Bradley croquet set said, "When we [Americans] work or fight, we work and fight harder than any other people.  We should be as enthusiastic in our play."

Arithmetical Croquet invented by Lewis Carroll.

Notes on Croquet and Some Other Bat and Ball Games by Dr. Prior was published, in which Pall Mall was described to highlight its dissimilarity with croquet.

Twelfth edition of Croquet: Its Principles and Rules by "Professor A. Rover" published by W. B. Keen, Cook, and Company in Chicago, Illinois, USA. [Library of Congress ]

The Complete Croquet-Player by James Dunbar Heath published by George Rutledge and Sons of London, England, UK.

Croquet Terms, Suggestions, and Rules by American Croquet Company of Geneseo, New York, USA, was published by Scrantom & Wetmore in Rochester, New York, USA.

The National Croquet Association [of England] (NCA) formed.

The NCA held its first national tournament. 

The NCA held a convention of 25 clubs on October 4th at the New York Croquet Club, and adopted a standard set of rules for the nine-wicket game.

South Bend Toy Works, OH, USA, begins manufacturing toy croquet sets.

R.B. Bagnall-Wild, Hon. Secretary of the Bath Lawn Tennis Club, proposed in The Field a simple formula by which byes were allotted in the first round to reduce the number of players in the second round to a power of two. The original system of compiling the draw was rudimentary. The names were bracketed in pairs as they came out of the hat. Unless the entries happened to be a power of two, it was inevitable that in the later rounds the competitors were reduced to an odd number,
which led to byes as late as the semi-final. [History of Croquet by David Prichard]

Peter Hampson Ditchfield's book Old English Sports, Pastimes, and Customs contains an illustration of Pall Mall.

McLoughlin Brothers copyrighted the rules for Tiddledy Wink Croquet, and E. I. Horsman came out with Lo Lo the New Parlor Croquet Game where "colored disks represent the [croquet] balls and the ‘mallet disks’ are used to snap them into positions or through the arches". The Horsman set is copyrighted by L. E. Lawrence.

Cassell's Book of Illustrated Sports quoted, "both sexes could join on terms of equality, ... Old and young could take part with equal chances."

The Complete Croquet Player published in London, England, UK.

The Gold Medals competition was instituted by the nascent Croquet Association, and played for the first three years at the All England Lawn Tennis Club in Wimbledon. [Chris Williams]

How to Play Croquet: With Hints and Suggestions for the Management of Croquet Meetings and Public Tournaments by Sir Walter H. Peel published (ISBN-10: B0008C82UA) by John Jaques & Son of London, England, UK. The preface by A. Law is dated February 1898. In his preface, A. Law explains that the author having died the previous October [sic] with the book completed save for the preface, he was then asked to write it to complete the book for publication. [viaLibri]

The UAECC adopted the first Laws of the Game.

The Peel Memorials, separate handicaps [events] for men and women, were instituted in [Sir Walter] Peel's honour. Jaques offered a 50 guinea cup, but it was thought more fitting that the memorial trophies should be subscribed by associates. Two large silver bowls were bought and have been played for ever since. [The History of Croquet by David Prichard]

The All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club changes its name to the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, but rehangs the placards of croquet champions taken down in 1887.

Lily Gower, the "Championess" of England, wins her first of three English national women's championships after only playing for one year.

First annual Charnwood Forest tournament held at Charnwood Forest Archery and Lawn Tennis Society in Swithland, Leicestershire, England.

Olymic Games in Paris, France, as part of the Exposition Universelle Internationale — the Paris World's Fair — includes croquet at Cercle du Bois de Boulongne; all players were Frenchmen.

The first 19 women to compete in the modern Olympics Games play in just three sports: tennis, golf, and croquet.* The first to compete were Mme. Brohy and Mlle. Ohnier of France in croquet.

Arthur Lillie publishes Croquet up to Date containing an article entitled Cowardly Tactics by Aunt Emma.

Rendell Rhoades Croquet Collection was donated to the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center in Fremont, Ohio, USA. Dr. Rhoades' enthusiasm for croquet led to the development of an esoteric collection of nearly 1,000 books and materials on croquet. From 1956 until his death in 1976, he operated a small private press, Rhodopress Publications and Rhodopress of Ashland, reprinting nine pamphlets on croquet. The collection includes a variety of books, pamphlets, periodicals, catalogs, trading cards, newspapers, photographs, postcards, scrapbooks, art prints, and advertisements, appearing in their original form and as photo duplicates and Rhodopress reprints. Also, see Croquet: An Annotated Bibliography from the Rendell Rhoades Croquet Collection by Nancy L. Rhoades.

Cyril Corbally of Ireland first swings the mallet between his legs, rather than a golf swing.

John Jaques publishes the Laws of Croquet for the Croquet Association.

Engraving of a match between C.E. Willis and a Mrs. Thornton entitled The Croquet Association Challenge Cup Competition at Sheen House Club, Richmond.

Judge Barlaine Deane in the London Divorce Court adjudicated a case of cruelty brought by the wife of the Reverend Fearnley-Whittingstall. He heard the lady explain that during a game of croquet her husband became so infuriated because she claimed that his ball had not properly passed through the hoop that he refused to speak to her for a week. "I do not think," said Judge Deane, "that there is a game so liable to put one out of humour as croquet."

The Championship of Oxford Open Singles Challenge Cup was first played.

The first issue of the Croquet Association Gazette appears on Wednesday, April 27th, edited by C. D. Locock.

The Croquet Championship won by C. Corbally at Roehampton, England.

The Champion Cup won by G. H. Woolston at Roehampton, England.

A Baulk Line introduced into the game.

Lily Gower wins the Men's Open! The rules had been very loosely drafted by the Hurlingham Club, and Lily had taken advantage of a tactical loophole which enabled her to enter. The rules were immediately tightened up.

Alternate A (the ability to play either ball) introduced into the game.

H. F. Crower Smith wrote A Croquet Alphabet.

The Relation of Billiards to Croquet published in the September issue of the Billiard Monthly.

Modern Croquet Tactics by C. D. Locock is published by E. J. Larby of London, England. Illustrated croquet advertisements to the end papers. 63 colour diagrams, monochrome photographs. 19cm x 13.2cm, 226 pages.

The Willis Setting of six wickets and one peg devised by C. E. Willis was adopted by the CA, and became International Rules or Association Rules croquet.

Either-ball law added to Laws of Association Croquet. [David Maugham]

Herbert Bayard Swope returns from being a reporter for the New York World in England, where he saw croquet, and starts playing at his home in Great Neck, Long Island, New York, USA. His version of croquet had nine wickets, four balls, strict sequence, and carry-over deadness.

First MacRobertson Shield held in England between England and Australia.

Herbert Bayard Swope moves to Sands Point, Long Island, New York, USA.

The Algonquin Round Table of Herbert Bayard Swope, Alexander Woolcott, George S. Kaufman, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Heywood Braun, Jack Barrymore, and Dorothy Parker popularize nine-wicket croquet on the East cost of America.

Holywood stars Harpo Marx, Louis Jordan, Darryl Zanuck, Tyrone Power, George Sanders, Gig Young, Prince Romanoff, and Samuel Goldwyn popularized nine-wicket croquet on the West coast of America.  Bets of $10,000 were made.  The level of play was high: at the start of a game, Louis Jourdan would light a cigarette, take a deep puff, and place it on the stake; then he would do an all-round run in time to pickup his cigarette for one last puff.

Roehampton experiments during the 2nd World War led to the Wichelo variation,
namely lifts at 1-back and 4-back and the contact. [Prichard]

East-West Croquet Match held on July 6-7 at Howard Hawks home in Hog Canyon, Plam Springs, California, USA.

Advanced Rules added to Laws of Association Croquet.

The Championship of Oxford Open Singles Challenge Cup was last played because the cup then "went missing".

Laws of Association Croquet published by the Croquet Association.

Tackle Croquet This Way by E. P. C. Cotter published by Stanley Paul, London, England, UK. 124 pages.

Keith Wylie (1945-1999) becomes the first player to complete a delayed sextuple (where the first peel, through 1-back, is not completed until after the first hoop has been scored by the striker's ball). This he did in the second game of the final in the 1971 Open Singles Championship at Hurlingham against Nigel Aspinall. [1990 Townsend's Croquet Almanack]

The History of Croquet by D. M. C. Prichard published by Cassell of London with ISBN 0304307599.

Rudolph "Foxy" Carter holds New England Regional Tournament at Newport Croquet Club.

Nigel Aspinal, John Solomon, Bernard Neal, and William Omerod come from England to Palm Beach, Florida, USA, to play American Rules Croquet against Jack Osborn, Archie Peck, Teddy Prentis, and Ned Prentis. The British spent much of their time sticking the American's balls in hoops. This was before the wiring-lift rule was in effect in the US, and the rule change was put into effect shortly after.

Keith Wylie writes Expert Croquet Tactics.

John Prince becames the first player to score two sextuples in one day,
on the November 8th during the President's First Eight at Gisborne,
New Zealand. [1990 Townsend's Croquet Almanack]

Jim Bast of Texas because the first American player to run a triple peel in an international tournament on May 25th during the Great Britian versus United States (Solomon Trophy) at Nottingham, England, UK.

World Croquet Federation (WCF) was formed as an "international governing body".

American Croquet Association (ACA) was formed by Stan Patmor of Arizona to "promote International Rules croquet in America".

Hans Peterson publishes Croquet Magazine co-edited by Bob Alman and Mike Orgill.

First Sonoma World Championship held at the Sonoma-Cutrer Winery, Winsor, California, USA by Brice Cutrer Jones.  It has since become the site of the World Croquet Championships.

Croquet was a "demonstration sport" at the World Games in Karlsruhe.

Croquet: An Annotated Bibliography from the Rendell Rhoades Croquet Collection by Nancy L. Rhoades published by Scarecrow Press in Metuchen, New Jersey, USA. The bibliography describes 679 croquet books, ephemera, pamphlets, and other items from this unique collection housed at the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center in Fremont, Ohio.

Charlie Smith of Santa Rosa, California, USA, played a seven-and-one-half hour game at the World Championships in Newport, Rhode Island, USA; the longest in World Croquet Federation history.

World Croquet Championship held at the Casino in Newport, Rhode Island, USA, and sponsored by Jaguar Cars.

The United States first competes in the MacRobertson Shield.

First sextuple peel performed by an American in a sanctioned tournament: Jacques Fournier in the United States Open at Palm Beach, Florida, USA.

Cheating, Gender Roles, and the Nineteenth-Century Croquet Craze by Jon Sterngass published in the Journal of Sport History by the North American Society of Sports History.

Maui Croquet Club (MCC) formed in Kihei, Hawaii, USA.

San Francisco Open discontinued after 15 years.

Maui Croquet Club (MCC) joins the USCA.

Croquet Fever held it's first International Rules tournament at The Lodge at Koele.

Jeløy Croquet Club (JCC) and Brevik Croquet Team (BCT) form the Norges Croquet Forbund (Croquet Association of Norway) in July. [Tore Gulbrandsen]

Croquet: A Bibliography -- Specialist Books and Pamphlets Complete to 2002 by David H Drazin published by Oak Knoll Press in USA, and Roefield Press in England.

Reg Bamford sets the world four-game peeling record runing two consecutive sextuple peels followed by two consecutive octuple peels in his last four games at The Resort at the Mountain Invitational. These were also the first octuple peels every completed in American tournament play.

Jeløy Grand Tournament played in May; the first international croquet tournament in Norway. [Tore Gulbrandsen]