From Stone Age to Phone Age

Time to check the phone, by byronv2 http://bit.ly/1J2u0Qz, used under CC BY-NC 2.0

• Saturday 13 June 2015, 12.00PM to 1.00pm
• Free admission
  Booking required
  Book tickets
• Ron Cooke Hub, University of York (map|getting to campus)

Wheelchair accessible.

Event details

Who invented beds? When did we start cleaning our teeth? How old are wine and beer? Which came first: the toilet seat or toilet paper? What was the first clock?

Every day, from the moment our alarm clock wakes us in the morning until our head hits our pillow at night, we all take part in rituals that are millennia old. In this cheerful and entertaining talk, historian Greg Jenner (Historical Consultant to CBBC’s Horrible Histories) reveals the astonishing origins and development of the daily practices we take for granted.

This is not a story of politics, wars or great events, instead Greg Jenner has scoured Roman rubbish bins, Egyptian tombs and Victorian sewers to bring us the most intriguing, surprising and sometimes downright silly nuggets from our past. Drawn from across the world, spanning a million years of humanity, this talk is a history of all those things you always wondered - and many you have never considered. It is the story of your life, one million years in the making.

About the Speaker

Greg Jenner is the author of A Million Years In A Day: A Curious History of Everyday Life, From The Stone Age To The Phone Age, and is Historical Consultant to CBBC’s comedy series Horrible Histories. He studied at York University from 2001-5. 

Tickets