Category: Daily Life in the Past

By Tim Lambert The Invention of Telephones Alexander Graham Bell experimented with ways of using electricity to transmit sound, helped by his assistant Thomas Watson and in 1876, he patented the telephone. Over the following decades, telephones had a huge impact on daily life. In 1878, Queen Victoria was given a demonstration of the telephone.… Continue reading A History of Telephones

By Tim Lambert The Invention of Television Today, television is the main form of entertainment for millions of people worldwide. The word is made up of the Greek word ‘tele,’ meaning ‘far off’ and the Latin word for vision ‘sight’. John Logie Baird, the man who invented television, was born in 1888. Baird invented a… Continue reading A History of Television

By Tim Lambert In the Ancient World, it was important for kings and emperors to be able to send and receive messages over long distances. Not surprisingly, many Ancient Civilisations had systems for delivering messages. In the Roman Empire, a service called the Cursus Publicus carried official messages using relays of horses. In the Middle… Continue reading A History of the Post Office

By Tim Lambert Rich People in Ancient Egypt Rich Egyptians lived in large, comfortable houses with many rooms. Walls were painted and floors had colored tiles. Most wealthy houses had enclosed gardens with pools. Inside their homes, rich Egyptians had wooden furniture such as beds, chairs, tables, and chests for storage. However, instead of pillows,… Continue reading A History of the Rich

By Tim Lambert The Seaside in the 19th Century At the end of the 18th century, wealthy people began to spend time at the seaside. They believed that bathing in seawater was good for your health. Seaside resorts like Brighton, Worthing, Margate, and Eastbourne boomed. A man named Richard Hotham deliberately created a new seaside… Continue reading A History of The Seaside

By Tim Lambert Toilets in the Ancient World In the ancient world, people were capable of designing quite sophisticated toilets. Stone Age farmers lived in a village at Skara Brae in the Orkney Islands. Some of their stone huts had drains built under them, and some houses had cubicles over the drains. They may have… Continue reading A History of Toilets

By Tim Lambert Early Toys Before the 20th century, children had few toys and those they did have were precious. Furthermore, children did not have much time to play. Only a minority went to school but most children were expected to help their parents by doing simple jobs around the house or in the fields.… Continue reading A History of Toys

By Tim Lambert Early Trousers The Cro-Magnon people who lived in Europe during the last Ice Age wore trousers made from animal skins. In a cold climate trousers were practical clothing.  Much later, about 3,00 BC people in Central Asia wore trousers because they spent much time riding horses. Again, trousers were a practical form… Continue reading A History of Trousers

By Tim Lambert Early Underwear The ancient Egyptians sometimes wore loincloths. The Romans also wore underwear. Both Roman men and women wore a loincloth or shorts called a subligaculum. Women also wore a band of cloth or leather around their chest called a strophium. During the Middle Ages, men wore linen shorts called braies, but… Continue reading A History of Underwear