The History of Roulette
Roulette is one of the most popular casino table games of all time, and it has a very rich history that starts back in the 17th century. Blaise Pascal was trying to invent a machine that would lead to perpetual motion (not realizing that it's impossible), and this led to a form of roulette in France in the 18th century. The wheel itself was thought to have come from a French board game already called "Roulette," and these ideas combined to create a primitive form of the game we all know today.
Early Play in France
As far as the game goes that we would recognize as being the same as today's roulette, this was seen in 1796 in Paris, France, though it could have been adopted earlier. The earliest recorded description comes in this year from a novel written by Jaques Lablee that talked about the game being found in the Palais-Royal, a royal palace from the 1600s that was later partially turned into a gambling establishment. While there was an earlier reference to "roulette" from a book of game regulations written in 1758, it's not clear if this is a reference to the game we know today.