A famous story says a goat herder called Kaldi found coffee in the 9th century. But historians think it is only a legend. Nobody has a written record of people drinking coffee before the 15th century.

The first real proof of people drinking coffee is from the 15th century in Yemen. Sufi monks made a dark drink from coffee cherries. It helped them stay awake and focus during long prayers at night. Merchants and travelers soon took coffee across the Middle East.

In the middle of the 16th century the first coffee houses opened in Istanbul. People nicknamed them "Schools of the Wise" because scholars gathered there to play chess, recite poetry and talk. But some religious leaders did not like coffee houses because people talked there about society and politics.

Traders brought coffee to Venice in the early 1600s. By the 1650s, the first coffee house in England opened in Oxford. People called them "penny universities." Anyone who paid one penny for admission could listen to lectures and debates. Soon, coffee houses opened all over Europe.