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10,000 BCE
End of The Last Ice Age
The end of the last ice age marked the beginning of settlement. Nomadic peoples began to domesticate animals and collect cereal grains such as wheat and barley. These cereal grains were extremely important because they could be easily stored. When stored in water the grains were ferment and create a drink called beer. Beer would soon become a bases of the formation of civilization. -
9000 BCE
Neolithic period
This period produced the worlds first civilizations such as the ancient Egyptians and Sumerians. In the beginning of the first civilizations beer was a social drink. It was used for social entertaining puropes. Many of the social adaptions made throughout this period still hold to today. -
6000 BCE
Invention of pottery
The invention of pottery revolutionized the way things were stored and created. In particular wine. Wine was becoming the new drink of the times. It was difficult to store before the invention of pottery but once created wine would begin to revolutionize society. -
3400 BCE
First forms of writing
At this time the first evidence of a written language exists. The first writings give insight to the importance of many parts of culture. We see that the importance of beer is stressed in the pictorial writings. Which in turn we can figure out that beer had such a great importance to developing civilizations that lots of the first writings were about the drink. -
2700 BCE
Gilgamesh the Summerian King
The Summerian King Gilgamesh was the inspiration for the worlds first great literary work. "The epic of Gilgamesh". This literary work was shaped by the culture of the time, including beer. As beer was of such importantance that took up a large chapter of the book. Beer on a massive scale impacted the development of civilization. -
1550 BCE
The Ebers Papyrus
The Ebers papyrus was a written document from ancient Egypt containing medical recipes. It shows that beer played a large role in medicine because the tablet contains recipes that list beer as an ingredient. The discovery of this tablet expresses the developmental impact that beer had on civilization. -
570 BCE
Muhammad is born
Muhammad is the creater of Islamic faith. A major rule in Islam is to abstain from alcohol. This is largely based on the heavy drinking habits of other cultures. Islamic faith especially believes that wine is the devils drink and should not be consumed. -
539 BCE
The fall of the Neo-Babylonian empire
As the neo-Babylonians began to increase the amount of wine in their empire the more they began to believe they were supported to all other people's. The Persians were dominating and maybe the constant want for only wine of the Babylonians caught them off guard when the Persians began to attack. -
331 BCE
Alexander the Great defeats the Persians by uniting the Greeks
The Greeks at this time were drinking wine day and night. They would drink wine while having intellectual conversations. This lead the Greeks to believe they were superior to foreigners. To show their superiority they had to fight the dominating Persians. Under Alexander the Great the Greeks united to defeat Persia. -
323 BCE
Death of Alexander the Great
The great General Alexander passes away. It is believed that wine heavily contributed to his death. He helped improve Europe a lot so his death was very tragic and the contribution of wine to his death plays a role in the significance a drink can have on history and life. -
1430
Creation of the print and press
The print and press revolutionized the way information was spread. Many people in particular wrote about a popular medicine and social drink called Spirits. This invention created by Johannes Gutenburg allowed so much information to be shared such as distillation processes for spirits. -
1440
Portuguese Began Shipping Black Slaves
When the Portuguese began the slave trade they traded spirits for the people. Spirits were widely popular and the more slaves the got the more spirits they gave. The trade of spirits for slaves began an era for slaves. -
Puritanical Oliver Cromwell dies
When Oliver Cromwell died the people turned in favor of restoring the monarchy. Popular places that began to become places for political talk and debate happened to be coffee houses. The people would host meetings and discussions at the coffee houses regularly -
Tea in England
Tea began to become popular when Charles II married Catherine of Braganza . Catherine was a heavy tea drinker and in her marriage she brought her habits. Being from Portugal she opened the trade flow more. Tea happened to be something they'd trade. The English court soon picked up her habits and the rise of tea in England began. -
The Great Fire of London
Coffee houses were becoming more and more popular. There was thought to be around 83 in 1666 but soon most were most were wiped out in the great fire of London in 1666. Although a tragedy the fire opened the doors for a coffee house boom. By the end of the century there as said to be three thousand coffee shops. -
The establishment of London penny post
After the establishment of the London penny post regulars in coffeehouses would often have their mail delivered there. It became popular for regulars to enter a coffeehouse drink coffee, listen to new news, and receive mail. Coffeehouses were a basis of life. -
The discovery of the concept of gravity
Coffee houses were often a place of intellectual conversation. In a coffee house on one fateful day three men had conversation that would soon lead to proving the concept of gravity. One of these men came upon isaac Newton. The man told Newton about the coffee house conversation and with this information he was able to prove the concept of gravity. -
The first coffee plant given to Louis XIV and Paris
The only coffee tree in Paris was own by Louis XIV. The tree was a gift from the Dutch to Louis XIV. This tree was well protected in Jardin Des Plantes as it was the prized and only coffee tree. -
Tea displacing silk as the mainstay of imports in China
Throughout the centuries China's biggest export was silk. Though the tea boom was steadily replacing silk. Tea was becoming e staple for places such as Europe and Asia. It was displacing previous major exports. -
Molasses act
The molasses act was an a taxation on molasses to attempt to get New England rum distillers to buy molasses from the British sugar islands. The islands however did not have nearly enough sugar to supply the rum makers. The taxation was also very high when New England recused sugar from England directly. The molasses act directly impacted the making of rum, -
Sugar Act
The sugar act was passed after the French and Indian war to reinforce the previously ignored molasses act. These began to interfere with the favorite drink of rum. The phrase 'no taxation without representation'soon became widely popular in America to express their anger. -
Tea act
The English had begun to give heavy taxation to the Americans. Tea in particular was heavily taxed and the Americans were outraged. As a result of anger many people dressed as Mohawk Indians and dumped 342 chests of tea into the harbor. -
The English and the Dutch
The English and the Dutch were in war. They were both superpowers fighting for the control of the tea industry. In the end the Dutch were defeated. The wars outcome determined that the English would rule almost total control of the global tea trade. -
Treatment for scurvy
Scurvy was a popular disease in the eighteenth century. The disease was cause by a lack of vitamin C. The drink spirits mixed lemon or lime juice would help build vitamin C levels and help treat and prevent scurvy. -
Opium trade and tea debt
England had built up a debt with China from purchasing tea. The Chinese however would only take silver as a payment which the English did not have much of. Meanwhile in China people were coming more and more addicted to opium an illegal drug. The English were secretly trading with the people. They would give them opium in exchange for silver to pay of their tea debt. This illegal trade would eventually lead to the opium war. -
Discover of coca-cola
Quick remedies became widely popular in America. John Pemberton began working to create medication. He used coca to for healing and energy effects. When mixed with soda water he created the drink known as coca-cola. -
Ban on alcohol
With a ban on alcohol coca win as no longer able to be sold. Pemberton needed to produce a successful non-alcoholic remedy fast. He made a mix of coca and kola and masked the bitterness with sugar. He intended it to be dispensed into soda after and coca-cola was born. -
Tax on medication
A tax was imposed on medication in 1898 that was originally supposed to include coca-cola. The tax however did not get imposed onto the drink because it fell into a category that as a drink not a drug. Being excluded from this tax may have saved coca-colas popularity. -
Pure food and drug act
Though the pure food and drug act helped make coca-cola more widely desired because it did away with competators, it also led to investigation of the drink. Harvey Wiley wanted an investigation on the drink because it contained caffeine. Though he claims that parents were unaware their children were drinking a drug. Coca-cola fought back saying their name implied the presence of caffeine. The investigation did not negatively impact the company. If anything their win boosted their company. -
War in Iraq
After Iraq made claims against coca-cola saying they wouldn't bring their company their because the Arab area would be bad for business the company came saying they wanted to put their business their. The people in Iraq soon protested the brand and used as a way to show anti-Americanism. Showing coca-cola is a major part of America.
