Category: Daily Life in the Past

By Tim Lambert Glass is sometimes made by lightning. If it strikes sand, it forms glass globules called fulgurites. There is also volcanic glass. If lava cools rapidly, it may form a dark, volcanic glass called obsidian. Early humans used it to make sharp cutting tools. It’s not certain where people first started making glass… Continue reading A History of Glass

By Tim Lambert Early Hats People have worn hats since Ancient Times. They protected the head from the elements. But hats also sometimes showed a person’s wealth and status. In Ancient Greece people sometimes wore wide-brimmed hats to shade themselves from the Sun. In Europe in the Middle Ages, men wore hoods or berets. In… Continue reading A History of Hats

By Tim Lambert Basil Basil is native to India but it was known to the Greeks and the Romans. From the 16th century, basil was used to make pesto sauce in Italy. Bay Bay leaves are native to the Mediterranean area. Bay was well known to the Greeks and the Romans, who held it in… Continue reading A History of Herbs

By Tim Lambert Early Holidays In the Middle Ages, wealthy people went on pilgrimages for religious reasons. However, pilgrimages were not holidays – or they were not meant to be! In the 14th century, Chaucer wrote the Canterbury Tales about a group of pilgrims on their way to Canterbury. In England, people went on pilgrimages… Continue reading A History of Holidays

By Tim Lambert Early Hospitals The first hospitals were founded in the Ancient World. There were hospitals in India and Sri Lanka before 200 BC. By the 2nd century AD, the Romans had military hospitals called Valetudinaria. In the late 4th century The Roman Empire split in two, east and west. Meanwhile, Christians believed they… Continue reading A History of Hospitals

By Tim Lambert Prehistoric Houses Ice age humans lived in caves some of the time but they also made tents from mammoth skins. Mammoth bones were used as supports. They wore boots, trousers, and anoraks made from animal skins. When the ice age ended a new way of life began. By 8,000 BC people in… Continue reading A History of Houses

By Tim Lambert Housework in Pre-Industrial England In Pre-Industrial Europe, housework was much harder work than it is today. Many people simply had hard earth floors, which tended to become dusty and required regular sweeping. Until the 18th century, carpets were a luxury, and they were often hung over tables rather than put on the… Continue reading A History of Housework

By Tim Lambert Early Immigration Into England About 650 BC a people called the Celts arrived in Britain. Then in 43 AD, the Romans invaded. After they left in the 5th century Angles, Saxons, and Jutes from Germany and Denmark invaded. They gradually conquered what is now England. Finally, in 1066 the Normans conquered England.… Continue reading A History of Immigrants in Britain

By Tim Lambert Knickers in the 19th Century Women did not usually wear knickers until the end of the 18th century. However, after about 1800, women also wore underwear called drawers. Today we still say a pair of knickers. That is because in the early 19th century, women’s underwear consisted of two separate legs joined… Continue reading A History of Knickers

By Tim Lambert Several new sports and games were invented during the 19th century. Although a form of tennis was played since the Middle Ages lawn tennis was invented in 1873. Snooker was invented in India in 1875. Volleyball was invented in 1895. In the early 19th century working people had very little leisure time.… Continue reading A History of Leisure in the 19th Century