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10,000 BCE
Start of Civilization
Before this time farming was uncommon in the lifestyles of humans in the Near East. They had traveled in small nomadic groups once they had migrated away from Africa around 50,000 years into the past and relied on hunting and gathering to survive. Then that way of life shifted into farming and settling down in villages. Which led to the inventions of many new technologies. -
10,000 BCE
The Discovery of Beer
The discovery of beer dates back to around 10,000 BCE in an area stretching from modern day Egypt, Turkey and the border between Iraq and Iran, known at the time as the Fertile Crescent.It was discovered that gruel, particularly if it was made with malted grain, if left unattended for a couple of days turned into beer. -
9000 BCE
Discovery/Invention of Wine
Wine was first produced during the Neolithic period, between 9000 and 4000 BCE, in the Zagros Mountains and modern day Armenia and northern Iran. It consists only of fermented juice of crushed grapes left in pottery for long periods of time. -
3400 BCE
Earliest Origins Of Writing
The earliest written documents are of Sumerian wage lists and tax receipts. This was the common use of written language as for writing was originally invented to record the collection and distribution of grain, beer, bread and other goods. These documents were written on small, flat tablets of clay consisting of symbols made by pressing tokens into the clay or scratched using a stylus. -
2737 BCE
First Cup of Tea
According to Chinese tradition, the first cup of tea was brewed by the emperor Shen Nung, who was the second of China's legendary emperors. His reign spanned from 2737-2697 BCE. -
2500 BCE
Construction of the Pyramids
The pyramids were first built in around 2,500 BCE over a span of about 85 years, Workers who constructed the structures were given beer as payment. At the time of the pyramids construction the standard ration for a laborer was about three or four loafs of bread and two jugs containing about four liters of beer. Higher managers and officials were given higher ration of both. -
2000 BCE
Expanding Civilizations
The world's first cities arose in Mesopotamia. By 2000 BCE a few dozen large city-states held an enormous portion of the entire population of southern Mesopotamia. Those city-states included Uruk, Ur, Lagash, Eridu and Nippur. These civilizations were made possible by by an agriculture surplus, mostly in grain.Grain helped run the city-states as the logical medium of exchange and the basis of the national diet. It was a sort of edible money being consumed in many forms, as bread and beer. -
870 BCE
A Changing View of Wine
The feast of the inauguration of King Ashurnasirpal II of Assyria created a turning point of the viewpoint of wine. By serving ten thousand skins of wine at his feast he displayed his wealth. Only the elite could drink wine and its most common use was for religion. -
400 BCE
Beginning of Distilling and Distilled Drinks
After Greek wisdom had been lost to the minds of most Europeans, Arab scholars in Cordoba, Damascus and Baghdad were adding to ideas from Greek, Indian and Persian teachings to further advance in areas like technology and medicine. Along with many other achievements, they happened to refine and give more popularity to a new kind of drink, distillation. Distillation is a process that involves vaporizing and recondensing a liquid. -
212 BCE
Fall of Greece
By the middle of the second century BCE the Romans won victory over the Greek. Rome had displaced Greece as the most dominant power in the Mediterranean basin. -
1 CE
Major Increase in Rome's Population
Rome's population grew from about one hundred thousand in 300 BCE to around one million by 1 CE, likely from the availability of wine in Rome. This huge increase made Rome the world's most populous metropolis. -
455
Split of Rome
In 395 CE, soon before his death, emperor Theodosius I divided his empire into the western and eastern halves, in an effort to make the empire easier to defend. Each to be ruled by one of his sons.But the western side soon crumbled. Later, in 410 CE, a Germanic tribe known as the Visigoths sacked Rome and established a kingdom over much of Spain and western Gaul. The second time Rome was plundered by the Vandals and ended in the western empire being split into several kingdoms. -
1386
Distilled Wine was Thought to be a Miracle Medicine
On a cold winter night the ruler of a small kingdom in the area now known as northern Spain, Charles II, had been struck with a fever and paralysis. Doctors made the decision to administer a newer type of medicine that is believed to have miraculous powers. The medicine did not cure him but instead sent him ablaze as a candle made contact with the sheets covering King Charles II that were soaked with distilled wine, a flammable liquid. -
1511
Attempts to Ban Coffee
The earliest known of several attempts to ban coffee was by religious leaders in June 1511.Some Muslim scholars objected that it was intoxicating and therefore subject to the same religious prohibition as wine and other alcoholic drinks, which the prophet Muhammad had prohibited. -
1524
Attempts to Close Coffee Shops
There were further attempts to close coffee shops such as in Mecca in 1524 and Cairo in 1539. Because no law was actually being broken, theses short-lived attempts ultimately failed. -
"Proclamation For The Suppression of Coffeehouses"
On December 29, 1675, King Charles II attempted to suppress coffeehouses. He had, in fact, known of the freedom of speech allowed in coffeehouses and their suitability for hatching plots. This resulted in a public outcry and the proclamation was widely ignored. -
London Consumes More Coffee Than Anywhere Else
Between the years of 1680 and 1730, London had consumed more coffee than anywhere else on Earth. Coffeehouse references appeared frequently in diaries. -
The Theory of Gravity
On a January evening in 1684, the theory of gravity was discussed between Hooke, Halley and Wren while enjoying coffee in one of the many coffeehouses. Which lead to Halley bringing up the topic to Isaac Newton -
America's Favorite Drink
Rum was widely more popular than brandy during the second half of the seventeenth century. It was far cheaper than brandy and didn't have to be shipped across the Atlantic. It was also stronger as well as being made out of leftover molasses. -
The Invention of Soda Water
The invention of soda water took place in a brewery in Leeds, where all other artificially carbonated soft drinks were also made. The inventor was Joseph Priestley, an English clergyman and scientist. -
The Tea Act of 1773
The Tea Act of 1773 issued a tax to be paid by colonists on tea. The colonists were outraged. They boycotted British goods and refused to pay tax to the government in London. -
The Boston Tea Party
As a result of the Tea Act of 1773, colonist prevented ships carrying tea from unloading. And on December 16, 1773, a group of those protesters dressed up as Mohawk Indians and emptied three shiploads of tea into the Boston Harbor. Similar "tea parties" followed. -
Trading Opium For Tea
At this time, the British were making less money from tea than it cost to import it from China. They still had to pay the Chinese for the tea, so they struck a trade. A problem with this is that the Chinese were not interested in trading tea in return for European goods. Therefore they traded opium, which would later result in the Opium War -
Excise on Whiskey
By 1791, whiskey had taken over most of beer's former duties. It became a form of currency commonly used among settlers. In March, in order to pay off the national debt caused by the Revolutionary War, a law was passed. Distillers could either an annual levy or an excise duty of at least seven cents on each gallon of liquor produced. Due to violence caused by the new law, the liquor excise ultimately failed. -
Scurvy Prevented by Grog
Around 1655, rum had become popular among sailors and within a century became the navy;s preferred drink over beer. The use of grog helped establish British supremacy at sea. Scurvy, a disease that was the cause of death of most sailors, was prevented by regular doses of lemon or lime juice. Which was included in grog. -
The Opium War
The Opium War of 1839-42 was fought between England and China as a result of the opium trade. It was short and one-sided, due to the superiority of European weapons. The war came to an end when the Chinese were forced to sign a peace treaty that granted Hong Kong to the British, opened five ports for the free trade of all goods and required the payment of reparations to the British in silver -
Invention of Coca-Cola
In May of the year 1886 John Pemberton, a pharmacist, invented a drink in Atlanta, Georgia. He stumbled upon the recipe of Coca-Cola when trying to make patent medicines -
From a Drug to a Drink
In the year 1898 a tax was imposed on medicines, a category which included Coca-Cola.The company was against this and fought to win exemption from the tax. They ended up winning but with the exception that Coca-Cola would have to be sold as a drink rather than a drug. -
World War II
Coca-Cola gained global popularity during World War II. The United States was in isolation until the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 that brought America into the war. Coca-Cola was sold to soldiers at a discount price of five cents during this time. The drink was already popular among soldiers and was supplied to them on exercises as a refreshing, nonintoxicating beverage. -
Today
Carbonated soft drinks are now the most widely consumed beverages in the United States and the Coca-Cola Company is the biggest single supplier of such drinks. In other parts of the world, the company supplies 3 percent of humanity's total liquid intake.
