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10,000 BCE
The Neolithic Revolution
The Neolithic Revolution started around 10,000 BC. Before this historical movement, people who migrated out of Africa moved around from place to place as they were hunting and gathering food to survive. But then 12,000 years ago, humans living in the near east decided it was a more effective way to survive to settle down in one place and farm for their food. As these places turned into cities, beer became an important aspect of life for religious, social, and economic reasons. -
7000 BCE
The Spread of Farming Throughout The Fertile Crescent
The switch to farming instead of hunting and gathering is most notable in the Fertile Crescent in the Nile River Valley. New irrigation techniques were invented to make farming easier in the hot, dry lowlands. Clay huts and reed mats were the norm for a farming village at this time. Complex societies were arising throughout the Fertile Crescent as farming was more popular. Valuable items were kept in store houses, as well as surplus foods. -
5000 BCE
The Spread Of Greek Wine
Wine was the center of Greek Culture. As the Greeks Wine became more popular across Europe, colonists and traders began spreading wine and exporting it to Southern France, The Crimean Peninsula, The Danube Region, and Egypt. There was a massive amount of trade from the Greeks to other areas. The spread of Greek Wine also led to the spread of Greek Culture. -
4300 BCE
The World's First Cities In Mesopotamia
The land between the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers are known as Mesopotamia. At first the cities were just towns, but the towns banded together to make cities. The majority of the citizens in these ancient cities were farmers. Irrigation channels and farming fields were used. By 3000 BCE, the city of Uruk(a city east of the Euphrates) reached a population of fifty thousand people. These early civilizations were advanced tremendously by cities. -
3400 BCE
Creation of Cuneiform
Cuneiform was the earliest form of writing invented by the Sumerians. This writing contained pictograms and symbols on small clay tablets. The symbols were applied to the tablets using a stylus or pressing tokens into the clay. This invention is so significant because it helped people communicate better. Also, some tablets showed good diets for a human to eat, as well as recording ration payments and tax receipts. In time, symbols representing different objects became more abstract. -
2737 BCE
First Cup Of Tea
Emperor Chen Nung, inventor of the plow and credited for the discovery of medicinal herbs, was the first person to discover tea as legend has it. The emperor was boiling water to drink as well as using read brushes to fuel his fire. Some of the tea bush leaves blew into the water and infused into it. The result was a "delicate and refreshing drink" -
2700 BCE
The Creation Of The Worlds First Literary Work: The Epic Of Gilgamesh
Gilgamesh was a Sumerian Ruler who was in power around 2700 BCE. He wrote the worlds first noted literary work entitled The Epic Of Gilgamesh. This epic poem encompasses Gilgamesh, king of Uruk. Also, Enkidu who was a crazy man invented by the gods to stop Gilgamesh from oppressing the people of Uruk. After an initial fight, Gilgamesh and Enkidu evolve into very good friends. Together, they take a trek to Cedar Mountain and defeat Humbaba, the savage guardian. -
870 BCE
The Feast Given To King Ashurnasirpal II Of Assyria
A feast for the king of Assyria marks one of the biggest feasts in history. It was attended by 69,574 people. This feast marked the inauguration of the kings new capital at Nimrud in Northern Mesopotamia. An abundance of food was served, for example: lambs, doves, fattened cattle, and small birds. The kings choice of drink was unusual because it was different from his Mesopotamian heritage. It was wine. In Mesopotamia, only the wealthy could afford wine. This proved how wealthy the king was. -
146 BCE
Romans Defeating Greeks
The Romans defeating the Greeks made them the dominant power in the Mediterranean Basin. The Romans were arrogant and wanted to show off how great they were, and to do this they stole Greeks religions, culture, and customs. This led to many people believing that the Romans were defeated, instead of victorious. -
Jan 1, 613
The Rise Of Islam
The founder of Islam was Muhammad. He was born around 570 CE. When he was 40, he called it upon himself to become a prophet. He had many visions which the holy book of Islam(The Koran) was revealed to him by Allah(The Islamic God). Although his teachings were unpopular in Mecca, he moved to Medina, which his teachings were much more popular. Mecca is now the Islams holiest city, and is where millions each year take a trek there for the annual Hajj(pilgrimage). -
Oct 10, 732
Battle Of Tours
The Battle Of Tours was a battle fought by the Arabs and the Frankish Kingdom. It was fought between the cities of Poitiers and Tours in Central France. This battle was significant because it stopped the spread of Islam into Europe, because the Frankish Kingdom led by Charles Martel defeated the Arabs led by Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi. This battle resulted in Europeans saving their culture eventually, and marked the high point of Islamic Influence throughout Europe. -
Jan 1, 907
Tang Dynasty (618-907CE)
The Tang Dynasty in China lasted from 618-907 CE. This dynasty is widely regarded as a golden age in Chinese history. The capital of the dynasty, Changan, was the largest city in the world, with a population of 2 million people. There were many intellectual and cultural achievements. Culture was spread along the famous Silk Road. Painting, sculpturing, and poetry thrived greatly. -
Jan 1, 1386
Miracle Cure For Charles ||
The first notable production of spirits has an unusual story. Charles || of present day Northern Spain had fallen ill to a fever and had been struck with paralysis. To cure him, his doctors prescribed a medicine thought of to have magical healing powers. The medicine that was prescribed was the distillation of wine, or more commonly known as spirits. -
Jan 1, 1492
European Discovery Of The New World
Christopher Columbus was an Italian navigator. He made an accidental trip to The Caribbean while trying to find a westerly passage to the East Indies. Because of the abundance of sugar, Columbus declared the islands good for the sugar business. This led to an increase of slaves(around 11 million) exported to The Caribbean from Africa over the course of four centuries. The British, French, and Dutch established sugar plantations with these slaves. -
Jun 6, 1511
Attempt to Ban Coffee In Mecca
An early attempt to ban the consumption coffee is illustrated in Mecca. A local governor named Kha'ir Beg put coffee on trial. The governor showed coffees intoxicating effects on people, and he won his argument. Coffee was burned in the streets as a result of this. Higher authorities eventually overruled the councils decision, and coffee was back on the streets in no time. -
The First CoffeeHouse In Western Europe
In a surprising twist, the first coffeehouse was not in a metropolis area with trade and commerce, but rather in the university of Oxford in England. Professors worried that coffeehouses were a distraction to students from their studies, so for that reason the professors did not support the houses. Students spent all of their day in the coffeehouses, because they were the center of social interactions among students. -
CoffeeHouses in London
Coffeehouses in the late seventeenth century London were true social areas. Open to any man rich or poor, people left their differences "at the door." London consumed the most coffee in the world between 1680 and 1730. Comparing to the modern day, coffeehouses were the internet of today. Gossip and news from around the world were shared at the coffeehouses, and then passed on to other houses around Europe. -
Publishing Of Philosphiae naturalis principa mathmatica
Perhaps one of the greatest books in the history of science, this book published by Issac Newton was a true leap forward for science and philosophy. Newton used different principles to show universal gravitation and explain the motion of earth and other celestial bodies. At first scientists disregarded his work because it went against religious beliefs. But because of this work and other intellectual achievements by Newton, he is widely regarded as the greatest scientist in history. -
Empires Of Coffee(Around 17th Century)
Arabia was undoubtedly the biggest monopoly of coffee in the world, pretty much supplying the whole world with coffee. Many countries tried to break Arabs monopoly, the first of which the Dutch. The dutch soon were the dominant country in The East Indies. They set up coffee plantations in Java, which is present day Indonesia. Arabia was not able to compete with Java coffee on price. -
The First Tea Garden In London
Vauxhall Gardene was a tea garden in the style of a park It contained performers, bandstands, and walkways. It was a place of cultural influence. Food and drink were sold. Contrary to coffeehouses, tea gardens allowed women, and was a popular place to meet out with members of the opposite sex. -
The Molasses Act
The Molasses Act was an act passed by the British Parliament in London on the colonies in America. This act imposed a tax on rum, molasses, and sugar from non-british colonies into North American colonies. Distillers in the colonies ignored the act, and smuggled rum. This was because rum was the favorite drink of the colonists. Because of this, more colonist began to go against British laws. These rebellious acts eventually played a role in American independence from Great Britain. -
Industrial Revolution In Britain (Late 1700s)
The Industrial Revolution was a movement in Britain to make them more industrialized. This started with replacing skilled or unskilled laborers with machines. Machines and workers were forced to be under the same roof, so this led to proper supervision of the machines, incase they had a malfunction. Processes that would take hundreds of steps have now been reduced to taking just a few. This truly allowed Britain to become a more industrialized nation. -
The Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was a protest against the Tea Act of 1773. On the cold night of December 16th, 1773, the Sons of Liberty led by Samuel Adams dressed up as Indians and boarded a British ship. This ship carried 342 chests of tea. The colonists threw all of the tea overboard into the Boston Harbor. This protest increased tension between the Colonists and The British. The "no taxation before representation" slogan was vividly demonstrated in The Boston Tea Party. -
The Whiskey Rebellion
The Whiskey Rebellion lasted from 1791-1794. The purchase of whiskey was taxed by the American Federal Government. This tax was inflicted by Treasury Secretary Hamilton to fund the countries national debt. The rebels claimed that the Federal Government is the same as the British in the sense of imposing taxes on citizens. Eventually the situation escalated in 1794 with the stability of the American government threatened. This led to George Washington taking control and defeating the rebels. -
The Opium Wars (1839-42)
The Opium Wars were a series of wars fought between the British and the Chinese over the trade of opium and silver. The British sold Opium to China, and in return China gave the British silver. But when China tried to stop the trade of opium into China, the Opium Wars begun. This war was short and one-sided due to the superiority of European weapons. This was a true victory for British merchants, and an embarrassment for China. -
Creation Of Coca-Cola
John Pemberton was a pharmacist based out of Atlanta, Georgia. In May, 1886, he invented a beverage. At the end of the Civil War, Pemberton was trying to become a commercial success by creating different medicinal drinks and cures for different problems. He failed many times, but finally in 1884 he stumbled upon a new patient-medicine ingredient: Coca. He basically created coca infused wine, which grew to become more popular and eventually the beverage of the modern world. -
The United States v. Forty Barrels and Twenty Kegs of Coca-Cola
Similar to Kha'ir Beg put coffee on trial in Mecca in 1511, Wiley put the famous beverage Coca-Cola on trial in March of 1911. Religious followers thought the caffeine promoted sexual transgressions. The slogan "Eight Coca-Colas Contain Enough Caffeine To Kill" was used in the courts. This case in court was not scientific and more of morality, so therefore Coca-Cola won the case with one exception: The amount of caffeine in the drink had to be reduced to one half of the original amount. -
Establishment Of NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, more commonly referenced to as NATO, was an alliance formed between the United States and its European allies. This organization brings together the armies of several countries. It was formed as a result of the second world war. An effect of NATO was the start of the Cold War between The United States and The Soviet Union (present day Russia) -
Coca-Cola Invades Arab Market
When the Arab boycott of Coca-Cola finally played out and was done, the beverage company began making their way into Arab markets. The most notable was Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon. American troops in Saudi Arabia were also supplied with the drink. Coca-Cola made a big push for markets in Saudi Arabia to weaken Pepsi. The Pepsi Coca-Cola feud was at a high point at this time. -
Coca-Cola Today
Coca-Cola is the biggest supplier of carbonated soft drinks today. Industrialization, the growing of the United States, and globalization is all carried in some way shape or form by Coca-Cola. This drink truly changed the world. Increased Wealth, Freedom, and Quality of Life are all effects of this beverage in different countries around the world. Coca-Cola is the beverage that has spread American influence, supported globalization, and led us to where we are today in the modern world.
