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10,000 BCE
First Permanent Settlements
Beer is discovered due to the gathering of wild grains. Hunter- gatherers collected the abundant cereal grains. The grains provided a reliable but unexciting source of food. It was then discovered that these grain had another unusual property: they could be stored for consumption for months or even years later. Having found this out encouraged people to stay in one place rather than constantly traveling from place to place.This led to the establishment of the first permanent settlements. -
9000 BCE
Adoption of Agriculture
Since the discovery of beer people collected wild cereal grins for storage and consumption.Soon people started deliberately cultivating wheat and barley. This created food surpluses and freed some members of society from the need to produce food. This paved the way for the emergence of civilizations. -
4300 BCE
Creation of Large City-States
in 4300 BCE villages began to band together creating larger towns which eventually led to the creation of even larger cities. By 3000 BCE the city of Uruk had a population of 50,000, was the largest of its day, and was surrounded by a circle of fields ten miles in radius. In Egypt political unification allowed Egyptian culture to in unchanged for nearly three thousand years. Both of these cultures were made possible by a surplus of food, grain in particular. -
3400 BCE
Emergence of Writing
Writing first emerged in Sumer, a region in southern Mesopotamia. Some of the earliest written documents are wage lists and tax receipts from Sumer. These documents had symbols for livestock, grain, textiles, and beer. This is due to the fat that the reason writing was invented was to record the collection and distribution of beer, bread, grains, and many other goods. -
2500 BCE
Construction of the Pyramids
Workers who built the pyramids were paid in beer and bread according to records found at the town where the workers ate and slept. The standard rations for a worker were 2-4 loaves of bread and two jugs that each contained about 4 liters of beer. One team of workers even deemed themselves the "Drunkards of Menkaure". -
870 BCE
Great Feast
King Ashurnasirpal II gave on of the greatest feast in history to mark his inauguration of his new capital at Nimrud. Everyone in attendence was collectively served 1000 fattened cattle, 1000 calves, 10000 sheep, 15000 lambs, 1000 spring lambs, 500 gazelles, 1000 ducks, 1000 geese, 20000 doves, 12000 other small birds, 10000 fish, 10000 jerboa, and 10000 eggs. The most significant part of the feast however was the king's drink of choice. Instead of the traditional beer, the king served wine. -
780 BCE
The Classic of Tea
A celebrated Taoist poet, Lu Yu wrote the book The Classic of Tea. The book talked about the cultivation, preparation, and serving of tea. Lu Yu wrote many other books about tea as the aspect never escaped his gaze. He described the individual aspects of the leaves , the best type of water to use when preparing the tea, and named the stages of boiling water. -
424 BCE
Peloponesian War
Since wine became so commercially known, vineyards became targets in war. During the Peloponesian war between Athens and Sparta, vineyards were often trampled and burned. On one occasion Spartan troops arrived just before harvest time at Acanthus. In fear of the vineyard being destroyed the locals held a ballot and decided to switch allegiances. -
323 BCE
Death of Alexander the Great
Alexander the Great, like his father, was known to be a heavy drinker. Alexander got into a drunken brawl with his friend Clitus leading to Alexander killing Clitus in this brawl. Some evidence says that the heavy drinking of wine lead to Alexander's death. It is difficult to evaluate the trustworthiness of these claims due to equation of moderate drinking and overindulgence. -
87 BCE
Death of Marcus Antonius
Usually choosing one wine over another isn't a matter of life and death but in this case it was. Marcus was on the wrong side of Rome's many power struggles. In attempt to seek refuge from Gaiu Marius, who was hunting down supporters of his rival Sulla, Marcus went to the house of an associate of far lower status. When Marcus's host sent his servant out to buy wine worthy of such a distinguished guest. When the vintner asked why the servant gave away the guest's identity and Marcus was killed. -
610
Spread of Islam
Wine culture remained mostly intact in Christian Europe, but drinking patterns changed dramatically, in other parts of the former Roman world, due to the rise of Islam. The founder of Islam, the prophet Muhammad, was born around 570 CE. At the age of 40 Muhammad felt himself being called to become a prophet. He fled to Medina because his teachings made him unpopular in Mecca. By Muhammad's death in 632 CE Islam had become the dominant faith in most of Arabia. -
1386
A Miracle Cure
On a winter night in 1386 the royal doctors were summoned to the bedside of Charles the II. He earned the nickname "Charles the Bad" after he suppressed a revolt with ferocity and cruelty. After a night of debauchery he was struck by a fever and paralysis. The royal decide to administer a medicine that was said to be created by a magical process and contain healing the powers. This medicine was distilled wine. -
Death of Oliver Cromwell
The first coffeehouses in London appeared during the rule of Oliver Cromwell. He came into rule after King Charles I was dethroned and executed. After Cromwell's death the public wanted to go back to a monarchy. During this time coffeehouses became centers of political debate and intrigue as the way was cleared for the ascension of Charles II. One of the king's advisers, William Coventry, noted that many of Charles's supporters often met in coffeehouses during Cromwell's rule. -
Marriage of Charles II and Catherine of Braganza
Charles II got married to Catherine of Braganza in 1662. This was the time when tea got its start after becoming fashionable at the English court following their marriage. Catherine was the daughter of King John IV and when Charles married her he revived a large dowry. The dowry consisted of the right to trade with Portuguese possessions, the Portuguese trading posts of Bombay and Tangier, a fortune in gold, and a chest of tea. Then a year later Catherine made drinking tea in small cups popular. -
Great Fire of London
In 1663 the number of coffee houses in London had reached 83. This changed when the Great Fire of London destroyed many of them in 1666. After the fire many more coffee houses arose in their places. By the end of the 1600's there were hundreds of coffee house. One authority puts the total at around 3000 thought that is very unlikely as the city only had a population of about 600,000. -
The Theory of Elliptical Orbits
During a coffeehouse discussion between Halley, Hooke, and Wren the topic of gravity came up. Halley wondered aloud if the elliptical shapes of orbits were consistent with a gravity. Hooke declared that this was true. Wren however was unconvinced after he tried to produce a proof himself. Halley recalled Wren telling him "give Mr Hook or me 2 months time to bring him a convincing demonstration." Neither took the challenge and the prize went unclaimed. -
Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica
Edmond Halley went to visit Isaac Newton. Halley recalled his heated coffeehouse conversation with Wren and Hooke. Halley then asked Newton the same question "Would an inverse-square law of gravity give rise to elliptical orbits?" Newton devoted himself to the problem. Newton sent Halley a paper in November that showed an inverse-square law of gravity did imply elliptical planetary orbits. After years of work Newton published the book Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica. -
The Molasses Act
The Molasses Act was passed due to French sugar producers selling New England distillers molasses at a lowered price. This caused British sugar producers to start losing to the French in the European sugar market. This angered the British so they decided to take action. By passing the Molasses Act people had to pay a duty of six pence per gallon on molasses imported into North American colonies from foreign colonies. -
George Washington Run For Virginia's Local Assembly
When George Washington ran for the local assembly in Virginia he used alcohol to persuade voters. His campaign team handed out 28 gallons of rum, 50 gallons of rum punch, 34 gallons of wine, 46 gallons of beer, and 2 gallons of cider. This led to Washington winning the election and later becoming president. -
The Boston Tea Party
Once the Tea Act was enforced and the company's ships arrived in America the colonists prevented them from unloading. A group of colonists dressed as Mohawk Indians boarded three of the company's ships in the Boston Harbor. They tipped over 342 crates of tea into the harbor over the course of 3 hours. Many other "tea parties" followed this one in may other American ports. -
The Tea Act
Due to reduced tea sales the company found itself with almost 10,000 tons of tea were sitting in London warehouses. Since the company still had to pay duty on the tea regardless if it was sold or not. This led to the company owing the government over 1 million pounds. This resulted in the Tea Act which included a government loan of 1.4 million pounds allowing the company to pay off its debts and gave them the right to ship tea from China to America so they didn't have to pay the British duty. -
Revolutionary War
Many people think that tea was the main cause of the Revolutionary War but rum played a role just as important. The day before the outbreak of hostilities Paul Revere made his famous ride from Boston to Lexington to warn Samuel Adams and John Hancock of the approaching British troops. During his ride he had a rum toddy at a tavern owned by the captain of the local militia. -
The Start of the French Revolution
When a meeting of the Assembly of Notables failed to sort out the financial crisis King Louis XVI was forced to take action. For the first time in 150 years, King Louis convened the States-General. The King was forced to sack his finance minister after the meeting at Versailles degenerated into confusion. Then in July of 1789 it was at Café de Foy, a French coffeehouse, that Camille Desmoulins, a young lawyer, set the French Revolution. -
Whiskey Rebellion
When William Miller was served with a writ a shot was at the marshal's party by on of Miller's associates. Although no one got hurt the two groups skirmished over the next two days. The "whiskey boys" mob swelled to about 500, and there were deaths on both sides.David Bradford, assumed leadership of the whiskey boy, an called on the town for help. Around 6000 people showed up to Braddock's field. At the end of the rebellion the federal soldiers wanted more whiskey which they paid for in cash. -
The Opium War
In the 1770's the British controlled a monopoly that quietly traded opium for silver so the British could use that silver to pay for tea. This then led to the Chines ad British fighting over the trade of opium in 1839. The Chinese government agreed that China's opium ban didn't give Chinese officials the right to destroy British Merchant's goods, but didn't support the trade if opium. The British ultimately declared war over the right to free trade and won the war within 3 years. -
Candler Takes Over
After John Pemberton's death from cancer Asa Candler took over Coca-Cola. Candler convinced everyone that he had Pemberton's best interests in mind after giving a speech to all the druggists in Atlanta.The only reason Pemberton is known today is because of Candler. If it wasn't for Asa Candler's efforts Coca-Cola wouldn't be as big of franchise as it is today. -
The United States v. Forty Barrels and Twenty Kegs of Coca-Cola
Harvey Washington Wiley put Coca-Cola on trial because unlike tea and coffee, Coca-Cola was available across America and drunk by children. In court people were against Coca-Cola, blaming its caffeine content for promoting sexual transgressions. The trial ended for about month and in the end it came down to the question of whether or not Coca-Cola misrepresented its product. The answer was no and the sale of Coca-Cola was legally sanctioned. -
The Cold War
During the Cold War Coca-Cola attempted to expand its operations behind the Iron curtain. This caused immediate backlash due to the fact that private companies were not allowed in communist states. This left the lane clear for Pepsi to expand behind the Iron curtain. Ultimately Coca-Cola's failure to expand behind the Iron curtain proved to be an advantage as they greeted Germans coming through the Berlin Wall with Coca-Cola in 1989. -
The Gulf War
During the Gulf War Coca-Cola sent in refrigerated trucks to supply troops stationed in Saudi Arabia. They could not compete with Pepsi who had 5 factories in the country. People around the world saw the American General, Norman Schwarzkopf, sign the cease fire with a can of Pepsi in his hand. This led to Coca-Cola pushing into the Saudi market to put Pepsi on the defensive and weaken its ability to compete with other markets. -
The Iraq War
By the time the Iraq war came, the idea of showing anti-Americanism through soft drinks was very popular. In Thailand Muslim youths poured Coca-Cola on the ground to protest the American-led invasion. This led to locally made colas such as Zam Zam Cola and Star Cola to become very popular. Then in April when American troops raided Saddam Hussein's palace they had a barbecue where they served hamburgers, hot dogs, and Coca-Cola.
