Read an Academic Passage

[1]Coffee reached England in the mid-1600s, and London's first coffeehouse opened in 1652. Within a few decades, hundreds of these establishments had appeared across the city. Their popularity was not only about the drink. For the price of a cup, customers could sit for hours, read newspapers and pamphlets, and join conversations with strangers.

[2]Because conversation was open to anyone who paid, coffeehouses were sometimes called "penny universities." Merchants, writers and scientists used particular houses as regular meeting places, and many coffeehouses developed a specialty. Ship owners and traders, for example, gathered at Edward Lloyd's coffeehouse to exchange shipping news, and the insurance market that grew up there later became Lloyd's of London.

[3]Not everyone welcomed this new kind of public space. In 1675, King Charles II issued a proclamation ordering coffeehouses to close, partly because officials feared they spread criticism of the government. The order caused such protest that it was withdrawn before it could take effect. The episode shows how quickly coffeehouses had become part of city life, and how closely they were linked to political discussion.