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10,000 BCE
Neolithic Revolution
Hunter gatherers start to settle in the land known as the fertile crescent. The fertile crescent was an ideal place to settle due to its plentiful resources and the fact that the people discovered cereal grains could be kept and stored for months. The fertile crescent also had an ideal environment for wild sheep, goats, cattle and pigs. It had everything hunter gatherers needed there was no reason to leave. These permanent settlements would lead to the discovery of beer and farming. (pg. 11-15) -
10,000 BCE
Creation of Beer
Beer was discovered around 10,000 BCE after gathering of cereal grains became wide spread in the fertile crescent. It was discovered when gruel, which is cereal grains soaked in water, was left out for a couple days was turned into alcohol by wild yeast. After its discovery people kept improving it with trial and error. The discovery of beer may have played a central role in the adoption of agriculture and writing. Beer would later go on and be consumed by the rest of the world. (pg.11-20) -
7000 BCE
Farming
Farming is the main reason populations of villages and towns grew. The more the population grew the more they farmed. As hunting was overtaken by farming the main source of protein for people was semi fermented beer. With a steady food supply and a growing population people had time to do other things and maybe even create other things that would shape the future. Farming also lead to the domestication of animals which created another food supply. Soon the whole world was farming. (pg. 20-23) -
5400 BCE
Wine
No one knows for sure when wine was discovered. Its birth place is believed to be Mount Ararat and there it spread west to Greece and and south to Egypt. Egyptian King Scorpion I loved the drink so much he was buried with 7 hundred jars of it. Pharaohs got a taste for wine so they made there own vineyards in the Nile delta. Unfortunately wine in Mesopotamia was only for the rich due to the cost of shipping the beverage. In most places drinking wine was a symbol of wealth and power. (pg. 47-48) -
4300 BCE
Urban Revolution
When the first cities arose in Mesopotamia most of the population were farmers that lived inside the walls but worked outside on there farms. The rest of the population were the first humans to live completely urban lives, they became administrators craftsmen or merchants. Cities were safer, closer to religious and trading centers, and there was a steady food supply. Cities eventually started sprouting up in Egypt and its cities Memphis and Thebes became the ancient worlds biggest. (pg. 24-25) -
3400 BCE
Writing
The first known written document in Mesopotamia were wage lists and tax receipts. It was invented to record the distribution of goods. It then expanded overtime to record events and wright stories like the Epic of Gilgamesh. Egypt developed there own form of writing after the Sumerians to record good transactions and kingly exploits. Writing would also be used for religious purposes and recipes for foods and drinks like beer. (pg.24-33) -
2737 BCE
Origins of tea
According to Chinese tradition, the fist cup of tea was brewed in 2737 BCE by the emperor Shen Nung. He was credited with agriculture and the discovery medical herbs. in his medical treatise he wrote "tea leaves quenches thirst, lessons the desire to sleep, and gladdens and cheers the heart." But tea is not an ancient beverage, the story is a later invention of the 7th century. The first referance of tea is from the first century BCE After that it spread to the rest of the world. (pg.177-181) -
870 BCE
King Ashurbanipal II of Assyria's feast
King Ashurbanipal II had one of the greatest feasts in history to mark the inauguration of his new capital at Nimrud. The feast was held in the kings massive palace surrounded by canals gardens and waterfalls in the center of the city. There were 69,574 people at the feast and it went on for ten days. The feast was to show the kings wealth and power and he did that with his choice of drink. Wine. It had to be imported from the mountains which made it expensive, and only for the elite.(pg.43-45) -
212 BCE
Rome Defeats Greece
Roman civilization was based off of the Greeks, the architecture, language, gods, their constitution and wine. Some people saw this victory as a defeat because of the fact the Roman culture was a copy of the Greeks. Rome was essentially a child of Greece. After the war was over most soldiers would be rewarded with farm land and most would grow vines to cultivate wine. The Romans carried the Greek culture farther than ever before. This includes spreading wine all over the Roman empire. (pg.69-71) -
121 BCE
Opimian
Opimian is known as the most famous Falernian vintage. Only the richest could afford this wine. It was drunk by Julius Cesar. And 160 year old opimian was given to the emperor Caligula. A roman poet described it as immortal and in a roman legend it is said that the god of wine covered the mountain the wine comes from with grape vines. The wine from this the mountain is only for the elite and this is the mountain that opimian comes from. (pg.76) -
570
The Prophet Muhammad
The prophet Muhammad was born around 570 CE. when he was 40 he wanted to become a prophet, he had visions of Allah and the Koran. His teachings were pray frequently, almsgiving, and abstention alcohol drinks. which is the opposite for the Christians because they used it for religious purposes. By the time of Muhammad death in 632 CE Islam was the dominant faith in most of Arabia. (pg. 86-87) -
1300
Spirits Used for Medicine
Spirits were mad by boiling wine and when you drank spirits it was supposed to restore your health. When Charles the second of Navarre was deathly sick his doctors gave him distilled wine. It was known to have miraculous healing powers. The alcohol content of distilled wine was higher than any other drink. The medicine could have been drunken or applied to the affected part of the body. They would use spirits for many things pain or disease related. (pg. 97-99) -
1430
The Printing Press
The printing press was invented in the 1430's by Johannes Gutenberg. This invention was revolutionary it aloud the quick spreading of ideas for example in 1478 a book on distillation was written this book spread quickly along with the practice of distillation soon it was all over Europe.The book gave health benefits along with recipes and directions.The book spread distillation to countries where wine was expensive and scarce.This new drink quickly became a part of the Irish life style. (pg.100) -
1440
Slave trade
During the 1440's the Portuguese started sending African slaves to Europe from there trading posts in Africa. The Portuguese bought slaves in return for European goods from African traders, they took distilled drinks as payment. The Europeans needed these workers for there new sugar plantations they just captured from the Arabs. The slave trade grew immensely when Columbus discovered the new world in 1492. (pg. 102-104) -
1511
Coffee Banned in Mecca
Muslim leaders in Mecca believed coffee should be banned, like how they banned alcoholic drinks. This was because they believed it was intoxicating and because of this it goes against Muhammad's rule against alcohol. The governor of Mecca put coffee on trial, and after a discussion with legal experts about its intoxicating effects on the mind, coffee was banned. The sale and consumption of coffee was prohibited, but later higher authorities removed the ban and coffee could be sold again.(pg.138) -
Rise of Coffee
New rationalism spread through Europe along with the newest drink, coffee, which was discovered by Islam. Coffee was the preferred drink of information workers. who worked inside at a desk rather then doing labor outside. It woke people up in the morning made them sharp and alert which made it much more appropriate then the beer people drank in the morning. Water was not safe to drink in big cities so people either drank coffee and beer because it contains distilled water. (pg. 134-135) -
Rum
Cane brandy is a byproduct of the sugar making process causing it to be much cheaper than any other alcoholic drink which made it spread . This process was refined in Barbados. The brandy was very strong but unpleasant to drink. It was the first global drink. It was given to newly arrived slaves to help get rid of the weak and unruly. It soon became popular with sailors and replaced beer. The drink would be changed more and more as time went on water was added along with sugar. (pg.105-109) -
The first coffee house
The first coffee house was made during the rule of Puritanical Oliver Cromwell. It was opened by Pasqua Rosee a servant who acquired a taste for the drink traveling in the middle east. He was then forced out of the country because his business was competing with the taverns, people started to prefer coffee over alcohol. They were the opposite of taverns, well lit, adorned with book shelves, mirrors and pictures on the walls, and had good furniture. From then coffee houses spread. (pg.141-143) -
Triangle trade
Rum was mainly used as currency it completed the triangle trade. Rum was used to buy slaves. Slaves would work on sugar plantations, then the leftovers of the sugar would be used to make rum to buy more slaves. This trade went on until the civil war ended in 1865. One English trader said that rum over took brandy as the chief barter by 1712. Rum made the transatlantic trade self fueling and more profitable. (pg. 110-111) -
Principia
Robert Hooke, Edmond Halley and Christopher Wren were talking at a coffee house. Halley started talking about planets , and if an inverse square law of gravity give rise to elliptical orbits. A few months later Halley was talking to Isaac Newton, and he told him about his theory. Newton devoted himself to proving the theory and later proved it to Halley. But that wasn't all, the question lead Newton to produce one of the greatest books in the history of science the Principia. (pg.160-161) -
Boston Tea Party
When the tea act of 1773 was passed the colonists got mad. Some of the colonists depended on unfettered trade without interference from London. They were also mad the government handed the east India company a monopoly. A group of protesters against the act who feared for there livelihoods bored three of the company's ships and dumped the tea into the water other "tea party's" followed in other ports. This was followed by many acts passed by the British to assert there authority. (pg. 204-206) -
The British East India Company
The British East India Company had been trading tea, but it wasn't until the company established trading posts in China that tea became easily accessible. In 1718 tea passed silk for the most imported item from China. At its peak the company made more money than the British government, ruled over more people, and and the tax on the tea accounted for ten percent of the governments revenue. Many of its officials bought there way into parliament. The company had a monopoly on Chinese trade (pg.192) -
The Start of the French revolution
French coffee houses were subject to strict government oversight. The wealthy aristocrats didn't have to pay taxes, anything speaking out against the government was banned, and the only elected official was fired by the king. All this sent the french revolution in motion. Crowds were gathered at the Palais royal and the Cafe de Foy where one citizen Jacques Necker called to arms. Paris descended into chaos and the Bastille was stormed by an angry mob. (pg. 166-170) -
Opium War
The British were selling opium to Chinese merchants that were willing to trade for silver. The Chinese officials that knew about the trade were bribed. China sent Lin Tze-su to deal with the problem. He set fire to the merchants stocks of opium when they kept trading after that he arrested them. Then two British sailors killed a Chinese man, the British refused to hand them over. Lin banned the British from canton. This caused British government to declared war on China and they won (pg.208-211) -
Assam Tea Company
When an expedition confirmed that there was tea in Assam, a border region in India, scientist and officials were put to the task of making the wild plants into a tea industry. This was a difficult task but Charles Bruce an adventurer that knew the language of the people. By combining the knowledge of the locals with the expertise of the Chinese he found the solution. A group of London merchants created the Assam tea company. Assam tea quickly spread through Europe. -
Coca-Cola
John Pemberton was an experienced maker of patent medications who was trying to create a new medication. After a run of bad luck he started to get somewhere with a new medication. He started experimenting with coca a plant used to make cocaine. He first mixed it with wine he also added kola which was another wonder drug. due to the temperance movement he decided to make a non alcoholic version of his drink. He added sugar and soda water in place of the wine and named it Coca-Cola. (pg.233-237) -
Coca-Cola on Trial
When Coca-Cola became a very popular drink and children were drinking it a scientist named Harvey Washington Wiley started investigating the drinks effects on children. When he went to trial Wiley didn't have enough evidence, his case was founded on moral not scientific evidence. The court ruled in coca-colas favor but in an out of court settlement the company agreed to reduce the amount of caffeine by half. The company also agreed not to use children in advertisements. (pg.244-245) -
World War ll
America stayed out of World War ll because they were listening to George Washington's advice in 1796 that told us to stay out of permanent alliances, but after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor America joined the allies in World War II. As the soldiers crossed the seas to join the war so did Coca Cola. It became the main drink for soldiers it kept them sharp and energetic it was also cheaper. Coca Cola helped improved the morale of the soldiers and it reminded them of home. (pg.251-252) -
The Cold War
Russia and America were competing to see who was the biggest superpower. This was mainly fought not with guns but technological and scientific advancements. Coca-Cola became a symbol for freedom, democracy, and free-market capitalism. It was everything Russia didn't like about capitalism. Communist sympathizers in France launched a campaign against Coca Cola, they believed it was poisonous, all that did was give the company free publicity. It became the face of american values. (pg.256-258) -
Iraq War
After the Iraq war started people showed anti-Americanism through pouring Coca Cola on the ground in protest of the American-led invasion. Coca Cola was not bought in the Middle East, and locally made colas became popular there along with Pepsi, Coca colas biggest competitor. One locally made cola sold 4 million cans in the first week. Once the American troops had taken Saddam Hussein's palace in Baghdad they threw a barbecue with Coca Cola because the drink represented Americanism.(pg. 262-263)
