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Football was a rough sport periodically
banned in England as early as 1349, since broken
bones and bloodshed were common and could result in the loss of a valuable
worker who needed time to recover. The playing field might be the area between
two villages, the ball an inflated bladder in a leather casing.
Hunting was practiced to put meat on the
table and for the sheer sport of it among the wealthy. Queen Elizabeth hunted on horseback using a
crossbow.
Tennis was played on a covered court with
balls stuffed with hair. Henry VIII was
an avid player in his youth.
Golf was brought to England in the seventeenth century by King
James I, but it was played in Scotland in the fifteenth century and known
as the Royal Game.
Pall-Mall was an early form of croquet played
by both men and women.
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The
population of London in 1500 was 40,000. By the year 2006, it was 7,512,400!
The Tower of London was variously used as a prison, a palace,
the royal mint, and a menagerie containing lions, crocodiles and other exotic
animals.
By 1604
Londoners were already complaining of poor air quality, the result of burning
so much coal. By 1652 the pollution was
so bad that one could no longer see the Tower from the roof of “Old St. Paul’s”
Cathedral, just one mile away! |
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Fun Facts