A History of the World in 6 Glasses - By Alexander Sweer

Neolithic Revolution

10,000 BCE

Hunting and gathering turned into a more settlement type of lifestyle. People started to cultivate crops and store them for food. They invented many tools and cultures. Such crops they cultivated were wheat and barley which eventually created beer.

A History of the World in 6 Glasses

Period: 10,000 BCE to 2000

Cuneiform

8000 BCE

These small tablets were used to mark contributions to the people such as gods and religious things among lots of others. They were used to make sure everything was in order and correctly received. They depict many things and even show images of beer used as contributions.

Pottery

6000 BCE

Pottery develops allowing them to store wheat and barley easier and making the discovery of beer a lot more obvious. This allowed the production of beer to increase massively and boosted the process of the rest of the drinks as well.

Irrigation and Domestication.

5000 BCE

Irrigation and domestication develop in the Fertile Crescent allowing the people to grow crops quicker and use animals as food sources and other things with them as well.

Villages Band Together

4300 BCE

The villages of the civilizations group together and develop large cities that become centers of trade and agriculture among many other things that allow them to develops and cause growth.

Origin of Wine

4000 BCE

The wine was first produced in the Zagros mountains in the Neolithic period. So it was invented a long time ago but was used much later than it was created.

Wages

3400 BCE

Documents and cuneiforms that showed how beer was given to people for meals and their work for jobs. Some from the city of Uruk which tell us it was used for many reasons and even for pay.

Cultivation of Vineyards

2750 BCE

Vineyards in both the Mediterranean and Egypt were cultivated for their own uses and religious activities.

Stories

2700 BCE

Stories involved beer such as the Epic of Gilgamesh and other writings or stories in old times. It was shown quite often due to it being a source of drinking without being bland like water.

Invention of Tea

2700 BCE

Tea was made by the Chinese in Asia. The current emperor found out how to make it by mixing a drink with tea leaves by accident which caused them to brew and develop the taste we know as tea.

Egyptians

2500 BCE

Egyptians wrote on texts that showed the allocation of beer for wages for pyramid workers and texts inside the pyramids that showed beer in them with many other things.

Medicine and Beer

2100 BCE

Beer involved in medical cuneiform tablets in the Sumerian city of Nippur. It was used in medicine because of how it was made and its uses besides just for drinking.

Greece

1500 BCE

The Greek mainland and Crete both used Wine as an elite drink for the higher up social classes such as government officials or leaders.

Egyptians and Beer

1400 BCE

Egyptians used beer for medicine as well in many documents made of papyrus. But they also made sieves for beer in the pharoahs tomb so that they could take it to the afterlife. Though for normal citizens they were given small jars of beer for their graves.

Pictograms

1000 BCE

Pictograms were developed of many things to communicate single words as symbols. Beer was one of many and changed from 3200 BCE and 1000 BCE over the times.

One of Many Great Feasts

870 BCE

A feast of King Ashurhasirpal the 2nd of Assyria drank wine at his feast instead of the usual and popular beer at the time. This gave the impression that it was a royal or elite drink, while beer was a more common drink.

Wine

835 BCE

The wine was made for the higher social classes in life to drink compared to the beer which was made for the masses. Wine for the Assyrians was made to be used for social rituals.

Greek Trading

500 BCE

The Greek civilizations had lots of power over trade with the Mediterranean sea allowing them to trade with other parts of Europe, Africa and tiny parts of Asia. They spread their influence and knowledge of the drinks they had such as wine.

Rome

150 BCE

The Romans on their peninsula became some of the most mass-producing civilizations of wine at the time and boomed with trade especially on the Mediterranean sea.

Rome and Wine

250

Rome involves wine heavily in its religion and even adds laws about and makes it necessary to have for its religious acts.

Islam

650

The gods of Islam have different ideals compared to the other single god religions when it comes to alcohol. In Islam, they have put it a ban on it and forbid it to be drank at all. While for Christians they have done the opposite and even use it for religious ceremonies.

Tea to Japan

1200

A monk brings the knowledge and cultivation of tea and its makings to Japan. The Shogun of Japan at the time was sick and was cured by tea he made for him. It quickly spread throughout Japan and became a part of the culture.

Printing Press

1400

The printing press was improved upon and changed to the point where the mass-production of books became the thing of that present. It became much easier to produce books and distribute them to people. This allowed the knowledge of many things such as drink relating things to spread to all civilizations.

Coffee bans

1500

Coffee was banned in Mecca by the Islamic religion, but the people of the faith didn't think so kindly to the fact it was lumped in with alcohol which was worthy of the ban. Coffee, on the other hand, was different from the people and was overturned by them and was instead allowed.

Rum

1650

Rum became the standard drink for sailors and replaced beer for them as the rations for the crew. It was then mixed with sugar and limes to prevent scurvy and be healthy in some way, in this process it was nicknamed grog.

Coffeehouses

1650

Under Charles the 2nd they often met for government meetings in these coffeehouses because they adored coffee and it was a relaxing and booming place for discussion. Though they became extremely popular, to the point where he had to attempt to suppress them due to their freedom.

Sciences

1760

Joseph Priestly was an English scientist who became very interested in the sciences of carbonation in sodas, but it had to all start for water first. He found that the gas from vats was heavier than air and could even extinguish fires. He also developed ways to use things like this for the medicine to help people and the steps for carbonated sodas.

Boston Tea Party

1773

American Protestors dressed up as Indians and threw overboard a shipment of tea on a British ship because they disliked the tax they had put on it and decided to rebel against them. Thought it was not received in the way intended, it lead to something major which would become the revolution.

Coca-Cola and the Military

1950

The attack on pearl harbor was the deciding factor for whether the USA would stay its shy self in the war or bring out its ugly side to show to the other nations. Though where the soldiers went, Coca-Cola quickly followed, it was used in bases and was sold to the frontlines easily and affordable for the soldiers. It became quickly known and very popular.

Coca-Cola gets Rejected

2000

In Iraq when America was invading they poured Coca-Cola on the ground because it got so popular that it got stuck together with the whole idea of what an American was. It became so relevant that it basically became a prime symbol of what and who we are. So Coca-Cola was against this because they wanted to expand across the entire world and helped the soldiers by sending trucks in the war.