Why was the yoyo invented?

The original invention of the yo-yo goes way back to the greeks, mayans ,various Filipino tribes, Chinese and a number of ancient civilizations.The reason why the yo-yo was invented was for practical reasons such as being used as a weapon to catch prey or against an enemy.

But the actual name "yo-yo" comes from a Filipino American toy inventor named Pedro Flores in the 1930's who had a factory of yo-yos' . Pedro Flores originally termed it "yo-yo" from his native Filipino Tagalog language meaning "come back". The Filipino's had yo-yos' for centuries where natives used it as a weapon against enemies or to catch prey.

Donald Duncan an American entrepreneur purchased the rights from Pedro Flores and kept the name "yo-yo" and began mass producing the toy under the company name "Duncan Yo-Yo". In 1950's the US Supreme court ruled the name "yo-yo" as a generic name hence bringing forth its current synonymous term of the toy.