Did you know that drinking coffee was once considered a sin? 

Since childhood, you’ve probably been told not to believe all that you hear, read or see. It is a good habit because it encourages exploring and questioning things. It is human to be suspicious of new things in our surroundings, and this holds true for certain practices and inventions as well! History is a testament to the fact that humans have not been receptive to certain practices and new inventions! Here are three practices that you will not believe were initially mocked at! 

Drinking coffee 
Like alcohol, coffee has a long history of bans, mistrust, fear and religious hypocrisy. In the 16th century, Omar, a Sufi sheik, discovered coffee by roasting and boiling berries in water. Sufis in Yemen valued it and used it to improve their focus. They used coffee to stay awake during their midnight prayers. Following this, coffee became quite popular and was consumed in public coffee shops as well. With time, drinking coffee was associated with enjoying various types of entertainment, including dancing, chess games, musical performances and most importantly gossiping, debating and discussing breaking news. Eventually, these coffee shops came to be known as ‘schools of the wise’. Here, you could learn about what was happening in your society! 

However, drinking coffee was soon banned. In 1511, a meeting of jurists (people in law) and academics in Mecca concluded that the consumption of coffee must be banned. This was because the Meccan governor Khair Beg, who led the opposition, feared that coffee would fuel rebellion against him. In 1532, there was a similar ban in Cairo, and coffee houses and warehouses were destroyed. Even Catholics believed coffee to be ‘Satan’s cruel invention.’ In 1647, there was a women's petition against coffee in London, which branded coffee as a ‘bitter, stinking, sick pool of water!’ From bans and petitions to a staple breakfast, coffee has surely come a long way!  

Using umbrella  
Umbrellas were invented 4000 years ago by the Chinese. They have been used in China and Egypt ever since. However, early in the 1750s, umbrellas were strictly prohibited in Britain. Many Britishers believed using an umbrella was a sign of weakness, especially among men! Seems ridiculous, right? But it’s true. So, when an Englishman named Jonas Hanway started walking about with an umbrella. it didn’t sit well with the public. 

Over the course of time, Hanway and his umbrella suffered a variety of abuses. Coach drivers were the ones who committed the most terrible abuse. Hanway’s umbrella threatened their business since Londoners flocked to their coaches when it rained, thus boosting their businesses on rainy days.  

However, people realised the utility of an umbrella with time. And by the time Hanway passed away in 1786, more people in England had started using these rain shields. Unfortunately, Hanway was not alive to see this shift. 

Buying computers  
There was a time when people were afraid of computers! An American journal, The Atlantic, reported that cyberphobia first appeared in the 1980s. A book Women and Computers (1996) documented that woman had cyberphobia, a term used to describe a dislike for talking or reading about computers. The book also claimed that women saw the computer as a threat and were worried about turning into its ‘slaves’. People also saw buying and using a personal computer as a burden, similar to how you would consider learning a new instrument!