Happy Birthday, Monopoly! World's Most Popular Board Game Celebrates 80 Years

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Happy Birthday, Monopoly!

The world's most popular board game is celebrating 80 years of capitalist cunning and dinner-table deals.

The board game based on the real-life streets of Atlantic City was "born'' on March 19, 1935, when Parker Brothers acquired the rights to it.

In the decades since, an estimated 1 billion people have weighed the merits of buying up utilities and railroads or trying to hit it big with Boardwalk hotels.

Though Atlantic City itself has seen many changes since 1935 -- a shrinking casino industry, rising taxes and new emphasis on non-gambling attractions -- the city's mayor, Don Guardian, says it's still relevant to the city.

"The concepts of capitalism, money, buying up properties, raising the rent, buying out your competition kind of remain today, too,'' he said.

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