A History of the World in 6 Glasses Timeline by Jessica Bluitt

Nomadic people living in Egypt and Mesopotamia settled in one location and began to build villages. Small huts built to hold a few families were made near each other to make various villages throughout the area called the Fertile Crescent. A small amount of crops were grown in the fruitful valleys near water sources and one of the most important items of food was cereal grains. The production of these grains led to the making of bread and beer.

In the Nile Valley in Egypt and the hot lowlands of Mesopotamia, new crops and animals were domesticated. New irrigation techniques and a more efficient way to store crops led to a surplus in food, which ultimately led to an exponential growth in the population. This surplus in food also led to a system of keeping track how much people were contributing to the amount of crops in the village, which began a very simple form of currency.

A form of pictogram writing was created by the Sumerians to record wages that people made and the amount of food that families got, such as the amount of bread and beer they own. This writing was called cuneiform, and was made by pushing seals with impressions onto wet clay and waiting for it to dry. Cuneiform can be compared to the famous form of writing used by Egyptians; hieroglyphics, as they are both symbols that are used to represent items.

Many different cultures across the world incorporated beer into religious ceremonies. The Sumerians showed that they were hospitable by sharing beer out of a shared container through straws. They, as well as the Incas, Aztecs, and others shared beer with the Gods as well as family and friends. Beer was used at various religious occasions such as funerals throughout Africa, the Eurasian subcontinent, and the Americas.

In Mesopotamia and Egypt, many villages joined together to make cities. When cities were made the people living there were less vulnerable to invaders than they would have been in their villages. In 3,000 BCE in Mesopotamia, the largest city called Uruk had a significant population for that time,fifty thousand people. Similarly, Egypt created one of the most impressive cities of the ancient world, Thebes, which had a huge population that grew much larger every year.

The Greeks expanded their wealth by trading products throughout most of southern Europe as well as Egypt. Wine, which was considered a prestigious beverage, was the main export of the Greeks, and made them much more successful. Countries other than Greece also considered wine to be a sophisticated drink. Ancient Greece, and by extension wine, became known as one of the most intellectual and refined cultures/drinks of their time.

The Greeks believed themselves to be the superior civilization of their time, and put themselves far above ‘barbaric’ Persians. Throughout the fourth century, Alexander the Great made it his goal to unify the independent city-states, as well as defeat Persia, which at the time was in control of Mesopotamia, Syria, Asia Minor, and Egypt. The Greeks believed that one of the many things that made them superior was their love of wine and how they prepared it to please the gods.

Romans imported grains from slave labor in colonies in Africa. As a result of having excess amounts of food, the population of Rome expanded rapidly and turned into the busiest metropolis in the world at the time. Wine became a main export of the Romans; they sold it as far away as Egypt and India as well as many other regions surrounding the Mediterranean sea. This was a main cause of the switch from beer to wine as the dominant beverage in society.

The Roman emperor in 395 CE, Theodosius, divided the Roman empire into the eastern and western region. This was the start of the downfall of western Rome, as their defense was weakened with the split of the empire and they fell victim to invasion. The main invaders of western Rome were Germanic tribes called the Visigoths and the Vandals. The self centered people of the Roman empire believed Germanic tribes to be uncivilized, as they were rowdy, vulgar, and unsophisticated beer lovers.

Although wine was used in Christian religious ceremonies, in Islam the overindulgence of wine was strictly prohibited. Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, decided that alcohol in excessive amounts was a drink of Satan, as it altered people's ability to think for themselves and act in a civilized way. This core Islamic belief shaped the way that Muslims saw the moral integrity of Christians, as Christians drank wine regularly.

Throughout the 7th and 8th century, China was the most powerful and impressive nation in the world. A hugely successful trade route called the Silk Road was made in China, and trade with Japan, India, and Korea flourished at the time. Items such as food and musical instruments were imported to China and in return, silk, paper, ceramics, and tea were exported to other countries. Tea was used as a form of currency during the Tang dynasty, and arrived in Europe due to trade routes.

In Córdoba, Baghdad, and Damascus, Muslim scholars used Greek, Persian, Roman, and Indian concepts and in turn had various products and ideas involved with medicine, math, and astronomy. Some of these include an astrolabe, a modern numerical system, anesthetics, new mathematical concepts, and compasses. As a result of this, Islam was perhaps the most contribution group of people to the Age of Exploration. To voyagers, one of the most important discoveries was the process of distilled beverages.

During the rein of the Sung dynasty, Mongolian invaders led by a barbaric yet strategic man named Genghis Khan took over China. The Mongols invaded quickly and not only conquered China, but was in control of a significant portion of the Eurasian landmass and controlled the largest united empire ever. These nomadic people were brutal and did not act how the Chinese would consider 'civilized', as much like all nations at the time China believed itself to be superior to all.

Although Europeans took control of many sugar plantations in their Crusades to save Jerusalem, they were not knowledgeable enough of maintaining them, so the Portuguese bought slaves from traders in Africa. These slaves were treated as less than human, and were kept barely alive enough to to work all day out in the plantations. As a result of this secretive slave labor, Madeira was the larger exporter of sugar in the world by the 16th century.

Christopher Columbus, an Italian man travelling for Spain, tried to find a fast route by sea to the east Indies in search of gold and spices. What he discovered instead was the Modern day Caribbean islands. He declared that this land could be used to grow sugar, and slaves were kidnapped from Africa and used to work on more sugar plantations. This process of trading people and goods from the Americas to Europe and Africa became known as the Trans Saharan trade route, or triangular trade.

The philosophical expert Francis Bacon challenged old Greek teachings about the world that were rooted in religious agendas and not the truth. Bacon, Galileo, and various others were opposed and threatened by the church, but remained to discuss what they believed. New philosophers at the time in England and the Netherlands began to prefer coffee as the beverage of intellect and reason, and it sharpened perception and improved work ethic.

In search of a territory that was suitable for the growth of tobacco, English explorers came across the island of Barbados, which is located in the region around the Caribbean. What the settlers found was an unoccupied island that was terrible for growing tobacco, but excellent for growing sugar. In a short amount of time Barbados was the leading seller of sugar in the world, and the process of distilling sugar into a powerful alcoholic drink known to the Portuguese as brandy.

As Muslims were against indulging in alcoholic beverages like wine, coffeehouses in Mecca and Cairo were common, although at first many people opposed the drinking of coffee. Due to the fact that coffee slightly altered perception and actions, some people considered it to be intoxicating. However, those who supported it claimed that the alteration was in a positive and hard work orientated direction, and coffeehouses flourished in Islam. The popularity of the houses also spread to Europeans.

Due to philosophical discussions that occurred at coffeehouses, King Charles II wanted a reason to end them. He issued a proclamation that was supposed to suppress coffeehouses, but it failed. Equivalently, in France, doctors opposed the opening of coffeehouses and claimed the drink had severe health impacts. Like the king's proclamation, these reports by doctors could not stop the spread of the beloved beverage.

As the Scientific Revolution was occurring, men such as Hooke, Halley, and most famously Isaac Newton learned more about astronomy. What Newton theorized was a revelation; that there is a direct correlation between elliptical planetary orbits and gravitation pull around the sun. These ideas, like many others during the Age of Reason, challenged old Greek ideals. Although he received public backlash, he stayed with his theory, and today we know he was indeed close to being correct.

Considering that many British people smuggled tea into England, the British East Indies Company imported tea from China to make it more available to the public. This plan was unsuccessful until they established trading posts in China so tea could be directly exported to Britain. Tea became China's main export over silk and made up 60% of exports. The company's only rival, a Dutch business, was defeated after a series of wars and the British East Indies Company gained power of global tea trade.

As Britain and France had been long time enemies,Great Britain tried to stop France from selling cheap molasses to the colonies in America. As a preventative measure, the British unsuccessfully passed the Molasses Act to tax imports of molasses. Colonists resented the British government for trying to tax them without someone to speak for them, and the saying "no taxation without representation" was made. New acts like the tea, stamp, and sugar act were passed, which led to the Revolutionary war.

In order to pay off debt from the French and Indian war, Great Britain passed the Tea Act so that the colonies would have to pay taxes for imported Chinese tea and not Britain. This plan backfired, and the colonists had a strong resentful reaction. They stopped buying goods from Britain altogether, and refused to pay taxes. In December in 1773, angry protesters dressed up like natives and broke into boats containing British tea and poured it in the Boston harbor, wasting large amounts of money.

François-Marie de Voltaire, a philosopher who had been imprisoned, studied Isaac Newton, a British scientist, and John Locke, a philosopher who believed that all men are equal and we should all be entitled to happiness. Motivated by these ideas, Voltaire made a book criticizing the French government, and implying thoughts of Revolution. Although this book was banned in France, it may have been the start of the spark of rebellion that only grew more and more until the French Revolution began.

Patent medicine became popular in the 19th century because the companies producing them boasted of curing all sorts of symptoms. John Pemberton had success in the industry after he used a new ingredient called coca. Coca had been used in South America to enhance perception and curb hunger because it contained the drug Cocaine. Pemberton made a lucrative drink called French Wine Coca containing wine and coca leaves. After an alcohol ban he added sugar to coca to produce the famous fountain drink.

In order to profit from tea, a group of London merchants made the Assam Company. They learned how to produce tea well. They were not successful at first, as company officials spent too much money. After the director of operations was fired, the Assam tea industry rose and showed the idea that anyone could make tea. In India and China by 1872 the price of tea was the same, and China was overtaken as the worlds lead tea producer. China fell into despair, and became victim to chaos and rebellion.

In the 19/20th century Americans made the assembly line more efficient with machines, and our Industrial Revolution occurred. Mass production became possible, and we were a leading competitor to Britain. Eventually, the U.S. overtook them and had the strongest economy in the world. Next, the Cold War against the Soviet Union began, which was a competitive conflict that some people hardly consider a war. By the end of the 20th century, America maintained its status as a global superpower.

America became a global superpower and stopped isolationism after Pearl Harbor was assailed by Japan and the U.S. became involved in World War 2. As men served in the war, they brought the beloved coca cola with them and spread it all over the world. Nearly all American military personnel loved the fizzy drink; it was brought with the allied forces to D-day and was a password used by troops. The axis powers criticized the drink for being too American, even though they consumed it themselves.

Coca Cola became used as American propaganda against the axis powers of Germany and Japan during World War 2. It became symbolic of the American dream and the concept of economic success. It's opposers argued that Coca Cola was the embodiment of laziness and a lack of work ethic, which were common stereotypes of American people. However, after the Allied forces emerged victorious from the war, it was clear that Coca Cola truly was the American beverage, which stood for victory.

The axis powers during World War 2 were not the only people that denounced Coca Cola. During the cold war, the Soviet Union claimed that coca cola had negative health affects and that it stood for capitalism which was considered by them inferior to communism. The Cold war, a passive aggressive conflict between the United States and Russia, lasted for many years until the Berlin wall fell, as well as communism failing. East Germans drank coca cola as a symbol of freedom, as it still is today.