The Most Dangerous Jobs of Yesteryear
If you think your job is hard, you might feel better after learning about some of the most dangerous, unlawful and just plain unpleasant jobs that people have been stuck with throughout history. From Greek and Roman times up to the twentieth century, men, women, and children have been forced to risk injury and death to earn a living.
Read on as we reveal three of the most dangerous occupations from past times. If nothing else you might reevaluate that boring office job, or better yet, find yourself newly grateful for modern health and safety rules.
There are few jobs that were more dangerous in years gone by than mining. Miners might be suffocated by a collapsing tunnel, crushed by falling rocks, or killed by falls, explosive gas or sudden flooding. In Roman times the life expectancy of a worker in the silver or quartz mines was about three months - no wonder that only slaves did this work. The coal mines of the Industrial Revolution were deeper and more dangerous than ever before. Even young children were put to work carrying buckets of coal or as "trappers", opening and closing the mine's trap doors, and paid barely a living wage.
During the Age of Sail, boys and teens would sometimes be hired by the British Navy to carry bags of highly inflammable gunpowder from the hold of a ship to the gun deck. Although the boys' small size made them less likely to be seen and shot, powder monkeys still ran the constant risk of death by explosion as they ran back and forth through enemy fire. This term has later come to be applied to any worker who risks their life by carrying or setting explosives.
For hundreds of years, adventurers have been setting out to explore the Arctic and Antarctic regions. Modern advances in technology and communication have made polar exploration safer than ever before, but this was not always the case. Extreme dangers from cold weather, storms, and difficulty navigating meant that most expeditions never returned. The danger in this job, however, is probably one of its main attractions. At least, that was what the Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton counted on when he advertised an expedition in 1912: "Men wanted for hazardous journey... constant danger, safe return doubtful".
Read on as we reveal three of the most dangerous occupations from past times. If nothing else you might reevaluate that boring office job, or better yet, find yourself newly grateful for modern health and safety rules.
There are few jobs that were more dangerous in years gone by than mining. Miners might be suffocated by a collapsing tunnel, crushed by falling rocks, or killed by falls, explosive gas or sudden flooding. In Roman times the life expectancy of a worker in the silver or quartz mines was about three months - no wonder that only slaves did this work. The coal mines of the Industrial Revolution were deeper and more dangerous than ever before. Even young children were put to work carrying buckets of coal or as "trappers", opening and closing the mine's trap doors, and paid barely a living wage.
During the Age of Sail, boys and teens would sometimes be hired by the British Navy to carry bags of highly inflammable gunpowder from the hold of a ship to the gun deck. Although the boys' small size made them less likely to be seen and shot, powder monkeys still ran the constant risk of death by explosion as they ran back and forth through enemy fire. This term has later come to be applied to any worker who risks their life by carrying or setting explosives.
For hundreds of years, adventurers have been setting out to explore the Arctic and Antarctic regions. Modern advances in technology and communication have made polar exploration safer than ever before, but this was not always the case. Extreme dangers from cold weather, storms, and difficulty navigating meant that most expeditions never returned. The danger in this job, however, is probably one of its main attractions. At least, that was what the Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton counted on when he advertised an expedition in 1912: "Men wanted for hazardous journey... constant danger, safe return doubtful".