Ancient Inventions

Coffee

Coffee is first mentioned in the tenth century A.D., by the Arabian doctor Rhazes. The earliest coffee was grown in Ethiopia, spreading from there to Yemen in southern Arabia, where the custom of roasting beans began around 1200 A.D.

The drink became popular with the whirling dervishes, who drank it to fuel their lengthy dances. In the fifteenth century they introduced it to Mecca. Soon after this, coffeehouses developed there, and grateful Muslim pilgrims spread the habit to every corner of the Islamic world, including Iran, Spain, Egypt and Turkey.

In 1643 the first coffeehouse opened in Paris, to be followed by ones in Oxford in 1650 and London in 1652. The first of the famous Viennese coffeehouses was opened in 1683, using sacks of coffee left behind by the Ottoman Turks after their unsuccessful siege of Vienna in that year.

Read about other ancient inventions that shaped history and paved the way for modern inventions.