To us it seems so natural to put up an umbrella to keep the water off when it rains.But actually the umbrella was not invented as protection against rain.Its first use was as a shade against the sun.
Nobody knows who first invented it,but the umbrella was used in very ancient times.Probably the first to use it were in Chinese,was back in the eleventh century B.C.
We know that the umbrella was used in ancient Egypt and Babylon as a sunshade.And there was a strange thing connected with its use:it became a symbol of honor and authority.In the Far East in ancient times,umbrella was allowed to be used only by royalty or by those of in high offices.
In Europe,The Greeks were the first to use the umbrella as a disappeared.Then it appeared again it Italy in the late sixteenth century.And against it was considered a symbol of power and authority.By 1680,the umbrella appeared in France and later on in England.
By the eighteenth century,the umbrella was used against rain throughout most of Europe.Umbrellas have no changed much in style during all this time,though they have become much lighter in weight.It wasn’t until the twentieth century that women’s umbrella began to be made in a whole variety of colors.
