A history of the world in six glasses

  • 10,000 BCE

    Farming!

    People started farming cereal grains (used to make beer).
  • 10,000 BCE

    The Fertile Crescent

    Tribes farmed gathered wild grains in the Fertile Crescent, which stretched from Egypt to Iraq.
  • 6000 BCE

    Discovery of Beer

    It was discovered that by leaving a mixture of water and sprouted grains, a fermented liquid later named beer was produced
  • 6000 BCE

    Religious Reasons

    The Ancient Egyptians offered beer to the Gods, since they believed that beer had been created by the God Osiris, the God of Agriculture.
  • 5400 BCE

    Really Early Wine?

    Reddish residue found inside a jar used to store grapes in Hajji Firuz Tepe, a village near Zagros Mountains.
  • 4000 BCE

    Distillation equipment?

    Distillation equipment was found in Mesopotamia dating back to 4000 BCE.
  • 3200 BCE

    Writing

    Writing was invented in order to tax and keep track of the amounts of beer.
  • 3150 BCE

    King Scorpion I

    One of Egypt's first rulers, King Scorpion I, was buried with seven hundred jars of wine.
  • 870 BCE

    Wine!

    King Ashurnasirpal II of Assyria threw an enormous feast, and served wine as the main beverage, instead of beer.
  • 430 BCE

    Wine transportation

    Wine was very hard to transport, and by the time the boats had reached their destination, the boats had become "nearly worthless"
  • 170

    Galen tries to find the wine!

    Galen, the personal physician to emperor Aurelius, set out to find the best wine in the world to cure the emperor of a cold.
  • Sep 6, 618

    Tea!

    Tea grows more and more popular in the Tang Dynasty.
  • Sep 6, 780

    Tea tax

    The first tax on tea was imposed in China.
  • Sep 6, 1191

    More high tech tea

    The newest knowledge of growing and preparing tea is brought to Japan from China by the Buddhist monk Eisai.
  • Sep 6, 1300

    Arnold of Villanova

    French medical professor Arnold of Villanova produced instruction for distilling wine.
  • Sep 6, 1386

    Charles the Bad

    Charles the Bad had been struck by fever and paralysis, so royal doctors were called to his chambers and attempted to heal him by distilling wine and giving it to him as medicine.
  • Sep 6, 1470

    Sufis

    The Sufis used coffee to keep thm awake during religious nighttime rituals.
  • Sep 6, 1496

    Distillation Ban

    People started to distill wine on their own, and it was dangerous enough that it had to be banned in Nuremburg, Germany.
  • Sep 6, 1511

    Alcohol ban

    Religious leaders in Mecca ban the consumption of alcoholic drinks, making coffee a lot more popular.
  • The Pope likes coffee!

    Pope Clement was asked if Christians were allowed to drink coffee, since Muslims had banned wine, the holy drink for christians, and replaced it with coffee. Clement then tasted it and liked it so much that he approved.
  • Tea is brought to Europe

    A dutch ship containing a small amount of tea is brought to Europe, where it "became a novelty."
  • Brandy!

    Portugese planters created a strong new alcoholic drink from the byproducts of sugar and called it brandy.
  • Coffeehouses in London

    London's first coffeehouse was opened by Pasqua Rosee.
  • Coffeehouses in France

    The first french coffeehouse was opened.
  • Tea shops include women!

    Thomas Twining opened a teahouse next to his coffeehouse that allowed women to enter and buy tea.
  • Carbonated water

    Joseph Priestly discovers that, by juggling water between two glasses over a vat of fermenting alcohol at a brewery, the gas dispersed into the water crated soda water.
  • Syrup is introduced

    Syrup was introduced to flavor the already popular carbonated water.
  • French Wine Coca

    Thomas Pemberton created a very popular drink by mixing wine and the popular medicinal plant coca.
  • Coca-Cola

    Certain counties in Atlanta prohibited alcohol for a two-year period, so Pemberton had to create a popular, nonalcoholic alternative to French Wine Coca. He combined Coca leaves, kola nuts, lots of sugar, and carbonated water to make Coca-Cola.
  • Russian Coca-Cola

    Russian military general Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov loved Coca-Cola, but didn't want to be associated with such an American drink. So, he asked that a clear Coca-Cola were made, to resemble the popular Russian beverage, vodka.