Category: Daily Life in the Past

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

By Tim Lambert During the 20th century, people had more and more leisure time. In 1900 the average working week was 54 hours. By the 1980s it was 39 hours. Furthermore, in 1900 most people had no paid holidays except bank holidays. In 1939 a new law said that everyone must have one week’s annual… Continue reading A History of Leisure in the 20th Century

By Tim Lambert Early Lesbians Lesbianism has always existed, of course, but less was written about lesbians than about gay men. In the Ancient World, lesbianism was seldom written about. Sappho was a Greek poet who lived about 600 BC. She likely was a lesbian. Unfortunately, little is known about her and little of her… Continue reading A History of Lesbians

By Tim Lambert Early Marriage Marriage occurred in all eras of history and all cultures. Polygamy (a man having more than one wife) was first mentioned in the Old Testament in Genesis. A man named Lamech married two women (Genesis 4:19). Later King David and King Solomon had many wives. Almost everybody in Ancient Israel… Continue reading A History of Marriage

By Tim Lambert MEDICINE IN THE ANCIENT WORLD Medicine among Primitive Peoples The first evidence of surgery is skulls from the Stone Age. Some adults had holes cut in their skulls. At least sometimes people survived the ‘operation’ because the bone grew back. We do not know the purpose of the ‘operation’. Perhaps it was… Continue reading A History of Medicine

By Tim Lambert 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 an Italian comedy… Continue reading A History of Men’s Underwear