(41)To us it seems so natural to put up an umbrella to keep the water off when it rains.Butactually the umbrella was not invented as protection.against the rain,It was first used as ashade against the sun! 

(42)Nobody knows who first invented it but the umbrella was used in very ancienttimes.Probably the first to use it were the Chinese,way back in the eleventh century B C.Weknow that the umbrella was also used in ancient Egypt and Babylon as a sunshade. 

(43)And there was a strange thing connected with its use--it became a symbol of honor andauthority.In the Far East in ancient times,the umbrella was allowed to be used only by royalpeople or by those in high office.n Europe,the Greeks were the first to use the umbrella as asunshade.And the umbrella was in commonly use in ancient Greece. 

(44) But it is believedthat the first persons in Europe to use the umbrellas as protection against the rain were theancient Romans.Duringthe Middle Ages,the use of the umbrella practically disappeared.Thenit appeared again in Italy in the late sixteenth century.And again it became a symbol of powerand authority.Umbrellas have hot changed much in style. during all this time,though they have becomemuch lighter in weight. 

(45) It wasn’t until the twentieth century that women ’s umbrellasbegan to made in a variety of colors. 

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