We
divide history into periods:
PREHISTORY
Started about 5 million years ago, when the first humans appeared.
People...
- lived in caves.
- made clothes from animal skins.
- hunted and fished.
- collected wild plants and fruit to eat.
- made paintings, tools and objects.
They also...
- discovered fire.
- invented the wheel and writing.
ANCIENT HISTORY
Started about 3.500 B.C., when people invented writing.
First civilisations appeared, such as the Greeks and the Romans.
Both:
- made beautiful buildings and sculptures.
- traded (brought and sold things).
- wrote books.
- believed in many gods.
The Greeks...
- called the Iberian Peninsula: Iberia .
- invented democracy, coins and the Olympic Games.
- called the Iberian Peninsula: Hispania.
- built aqueducts, roads and cities.
- invented a language called Latin.
MIDDLE AGES
Started in the 5th century.
Christian kingdoms (north):
- built churches.
- priest and monks lived in monasteries.
- kings and nobles lived in castles.
- peasants lived in villages.
Al-Andalus (south):
- built mosques and palaces.
- more towns and cities.
- more artisans and merchants.
The Christians slowly conquered al-Andalus. This is called the Reconquista. Granada, the last Muslim kingdom was conquered in 1492.
EARLY MODERN AGE
Started in 1492, when Christopher Columbus discovered America.
- Explorers...
- used the compass and made better maps.
- had better and faster ships.
- discovered many places.
In Spain, this period in called the Golden Age.
- Writers:
- Cervantes (Don Quijote)
- Lope de Vega (Fuenteovejuna)
- The printing press was invented.
- Artists:
- El Greco.
- Diego Velázquez.
Spain conquered many lands in America, Asia and Africa. It established a big empire.
THE MODERN AGE
Started in 1789.
Industrial Revolution: changes and inventions.
- 19th century:
- People moved from the countryside to towns and cities.
- Factories used machines: to make lots of products.
- Steam trains: to move around quickly.
- Rich people: owned factories, had big houses and servants and go to school.
- Ordinary people: worked in factories and lived in modest houses.
- 20th century:
- More comfortable homes (machines for whasing, cooking, cleaning...).
- Cars, buses and planes: move around easily.
- Entertainment: cinema, radio and television.
- Everybody could see a doctor and go to school.