For many thousands of years we humans endured the harsh, blinding, and everlasting warmth of the Sun as it heated our days, dried our ground and melted our ice. And as we did, so did we too endure the torment of rain, sleet and snow. Then one day, we humans decided we had had enough of the daily discomfort of the Sun's most direct rays and the rain's most direct droplets. So, around 4000 years ago, we decided to attach cloth to wooden stick to make the first parasol, though it would at first be used more for sunlight than raindrops. Egypt, China, Assyria and Greece have some of the earliest known records of the use of such a shading device. These early proto-types would be used by the higher-ups in society, and were held by their servants for their royal leaders. As time toiled away, the early umbrella went from being used by the most revered of ancient Egypt, to the wealthy women of Rome and Athens, then to complete absence for a thousand years in Europe (in the dark ages ironically), back to the female accessory of the renaissance. It would find its next chapter thanks to a particularly stubborn English gentleman of the middle 18th century: Jonas Hanway. He would use a more sturdy and male-oriented umbrella at every public appearance and after decades his stubbornness would pay off.  

The trend of carrying your umbrella would spread throughout Europe and brings us to where we are today. After thousands of years, this invention, which started out as mere cloth and stick, is now used by nearly every single human being around the world, ranging from sizes that can fit into your purse or pocket, to giant parasols that can shade half of a resort park. Being made from a variety of materials, the most common now metal and plastic, umbrellas have left their mark on history as a highly convenient way of keeping those long, harsh rays of the warm Sun off of our faces, shielding us from the far colder and damper days we face ahead.

Skyler Herzog is studying creative writing and game design at Brunel University. He is a founding member of Chasing Cow Productions.