Category: Daily Life in the Past

By Tim Lambert Celtic Warfare About 650 BC the Celts introduced iron into Britain and they made the first swords. Warfare was common during the Iron Age and many hill forts (fortified settlements) were built at that time. (Although there were also many open villages and farms). The Celts fought from horses or light wooden… Continue reading Celtic Daily Life

By Tim Lambert The industrial revolution created more demand for female and child labor. In the early 19th century when children worked in textile factories they often worked for more than 12 hours a day. In the early 19th century parliament passed laws to curtail child labor. However, they all proved to be unenforceable. The… Continue reading Children in the 19th Century

By Tim Lambert Philosophy and Religion in Ancient China The Chinese worldview was very different from the Western worldview. The Ancient Chinese Heaven was a kind of universal force. Heaven chose the dynasty to rule but it was a moral force. If the king or emperor were evil Heaven would send natural disasters as a… Continue reading Daily Life in Ancient China

By Tim Lambert Traditional games remained popular in the 18th Century. These included games such as chess, draughts, and backgammon. So was tennis and a rough version of football. Then in 1759, a man named John Jeffries invented an entirely new board game called A Journey Through Europe or The Play of Geography in which… Continue reading Leisure in the 18th Century

By Tim Lambert In the Middle Ages, the main pastime of the upper class was still hunting. Lords hunted deer with packs of dogs and killed them with arrows. They also hunted wild boars with spears. Both men and women went hawking. In the evenings they feasted, danced, and played board games such as chess… Continue reading Leisure in the Middle Ages

By Tim Lambert In the 19th century, the population of the USA grew rapidly. Immigrants from Europe poured into the country. By 1810 the population of the USA was over 7.2 million and it continued to grow rapidly. By 1820 it was over 9.6 million and by 1840 over 17 million. America rapidly expanded westward.… Continue reading Life in 19th Century America

By Tim Lambert Egypt was said to be the gift of the Nile. Each summer the Nile flooded and provided water to grow crops. For irrigation Egyptians used a device called shaduf. it was a ‘see-saw’ with a leather container at one end, which was filled with water, and a counterweight at the other. When… Continue reading Life in Ancient Egypt

By Tim Lambert Cities in Ancient Greece Ancient Greek cities were protected by stone walls. Inside them, most of the land was occupied by private homes. However, there were also many temples and workshops. In a typical workshop, a craftsman worked with one or two assistants and perhaps a slave. Methods of government varied among… Continue reading Life In Ancient Greece

By Tim Lambert Society in Anglo-Saxon England Everyday life in Anglo-Saxon England was hard and rough even for the rich. Society was divided into three classes. At the top were the thanes, the Saxon upper class. They enjoyed hunting and feasting and they were expected to give their followers gifts like weapons. Below them were… Continue reading Life in Anglo-Saxon England

By Tim Lambert When the Second World War began on 3 September 1939 it was feared that the Germans would bomb British cities causing great loss of life. So children from British cities were evacuated to the countryside. Altogether 827,000 schoolchildren with 103,000 teachers and helpers left the big cities. Furthermore, 524,000 children below school… Continue reading Life in Britain During the Second World War