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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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coffee
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The drinking of coffee in Arab countries goes back to at least the 15C and it began to spread through Europe in the 16C. The first coffee house in London opened in 1652, and soon the social life and much of the business of the capital city was being conducted in such establishments (where other new drinks, *tea and *chocolate, were also available). They became much like *clubs, linked with particular interests or professions.
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Edward *Lloyd's coffee house, where ship owners and sea captains congregated, developed into London's market for marine insurance; Jonathan's became the *Stock Exchange; and Francis *White's chocolate house, a favourite haunt of aristocratic gamblers in St James's Street, evolved into the club of that name. By the mid-18C the coffee houses were declining, partly because genuine clubs with members were taking their place, and it was not until the arrival of espresso bars in the 1950s that they again played an important part in British life.
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