Monopoly

If your holiday customs include gathering the family around for a friendly yet cutthroat game of Monopoly, you should read this article: War-opoly: How History’s Most Popular Board Game Helped Defend The Free World. It tells about how during World War II, the allies hid miniature files, compasses, escape maps, and real money into the game, which was allowed into German POW camps, helping untold numbers of prisoners escape. It also tells about how Monopoly helped to spread capitalism in communist countries, which tried vainly to ban the game.

And to see what is next for our economy, judging from this cultural icon, consider that the latest version of this game heralds the elmination of money: all of that brightly colored cash is replaced by an electronic debit card!