Category: Daily Life in the Past

By Tim Lambert Early Men’s Underwear Men’s underwear has a very long history. Both Roman men and women wore a loincloth or shorts called a subligaculum. During the Middle Ages, men wore linen shorts called braies. The Industrial Revolution made the mass manufacture of underwear possible. The word pants is derived from a character in… Continue reading A History of Men’s Underwear

By Tim Lambert Ancient Money At first, people simply bartered, that is they exchanged goods for goods. However, eventually, it became convenient to have one thing that could be exchanged for any goods. Before the Celts used coins, they used iron bars as a form of currency. The Chinese used cowrie shells. However, finally, people… Continue reading A History of Money

By Tim Lambert Musical Instruments in the Ancient World The Egyptians played many instruments. They played castanets, drums, and bells. They also played stringed instruments like the harp, the lyre (a kind of vertical harp), and the lute. They also played wind instruments like flutes and trumpets. The Egyptians also played a rattle called a… Continue reading A History of Musical Instruments

By Tim Lambert Until the year 1752, in England, New Year’s Day was, legally on 25 March, which was the Feast of the Annunciation when an angel told Mary the mother of Jesus that she was pregnant and would have a son. (It was also called Lady Day). However long before the legal change, most… Continue reading A History of New Year

By Tim Lambert Early Newspapers Newspapers began circulating in the 17th century. The first real newspaper in England was printed in 1665. The first successful daily newspaper in Britain was printed in 1702. The first American newspaper was printed in 1690. It was called Publick Occurrences Both Forreign and Domestick. The first newspaper in Canada… Continue reading A History of Newspapers

By Tim Lambert Early Panties Roman women sometimes wore panties called a subligaculum. However, after the fall of Rome, women did not usually wear panties until the end of the 18th century. Their only underwear was a long linen garment called a shift, which they wore under their dress. In modern times, women’s panties were… Continue reading A History of Panties

By Tim Lambert The name pencil comes from a Latin word, Penicillus, which means brush. In the Middle Ages, in England, a pencel was a small brush made of camel hair, used for painting. Graphite was discovered in Bavaria in the 15th century. However, a pure deposit of graphite was discovered in Borrowdale, Cumbria, England.… Continue reading A History of Pencils

By Tim Lambert Pewter was an alloy of tin and lead (although today lead is no longer used. Modern pewter is made of tin, antimony and copper). The earliest known pewter was made in Egypt in about 1,500 BC. The Romans also made pewter. In the Middle Ages, pewter was used by the Church and… Continue reading A History of Pewter

By Tim Lambert The Invention of Photography Photography is the art of capturing images. The word photography means drawing with light. It comes from the Greek words photos graphe. The word was coined by John Herschel in 1839. Photography began when people discovered that certain light-sensitive chemicals would ‘fix’ an image when exposed to it.… Continue reading A History of Photography

By Tim Lambert The Domestication of Pigs Pigs are intelligent animals. Wild pigs are clean animals. However, for humans, pigs are very useful. Pigs were first domesticated in Western Asia about 8,000 BC. They later spread to Europe. Pigs were independently domesticated in China about 6,000 BC. In the Roman Empire, pork was a common… Continue reading A History of Pigs