HISTORY OF ENTERTAINMENT : While the types of entertainment are generally recognisable through the centuries and across different cultures, ...
HISTORY OF ENTERTAINMENT : While the types of entertainment are generally recognisable through the centuries and across different cultures, the exact form that the entertainment takes depends on the period and the technology available. For example, theatre, sports and games have always been common forms of entertainment and children have always played games. It is accepted that as well as being entertaining, playing games helps children's development. One of the most famous visual accounts of children's games is a painting by Pieter Bruegel the Elder called Children's Games, painted in 1560. It depicts children playing a range of games which were presumably, typical of the time. Many of these games, such as marbles, hide and seek, blowing soap bubbles and riding piggyback continue to be played. Others, such as pole vaulting, have developed into demanding sports and others, such as walking on stilts, are still seen in circus acts. Although most forms of entertainment have continued or developed over time, some once-popular forms are no longer regarded as such. For example, in earlier centuries, punishment of criminals or social outcasts was an accepted and popular form of entertainment. Examples include quick capital punishments such as hangings and beheading and some slower ones, such as stoning and drawing and quartering, lasted longer, affording a greater public spectacle. Many forms of public humiliation offered local entertainment. Gladiatorial combats, known from ... Less