Merle Robbins

Merle Robbins (September 12, 1911 – January 14, 1984) was an American barber from Reading, Ohio, who invented the card game UNO.

In 1971, he invented UNO to resolve an argument with his son Ray, a teacher, about the rules of Crazy Eights. The original decks were designed and made on the family dining room table. He and his family mortgaged their home to raise $8,000 and created the first 5,000 UNO decks to sell. At first, he sold them out of his barber shop, while his son Ray handed them out to his students. In 1972, he sold the rights to UNO to International Games for $50,000 plus royalties of 10 cents per copy.

Today, the game is produced by toy giant Mattel in 80 countries and has sold 151 million copies worldwide.

Robbins died in 1984 in Cincinnati. He was 72.