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10,000 BCE
Beer
10,000BCE -
9999 BCE
1.)
Wild grains are farmed by pre-Neolithic peoples of Mesopotamia. The discovery that people can survive of agriculture causes permanent settlements to appear. The Neolithic Revolution is probably the single most important event of human history, other than the discovery of fire. It’s all thanks to the grains which will ferment in water and turn to beer 2000 years later. -
8000 BCE
2.)
Beer is invented in Mesopotamia by accident, because of grains fermenting in water. The Mesopotamians discover that they like this new combination and start producing it, albeit at low quantities for a few thousand years. Beer is the start of what becomes other beverages which help shape the world through history. -
6000 BCE
3.)
Pottery is first invented in Mesopotamia and Egypt, which is used to store beer. Pottery will also be used to store items such as documents on clay, tax forms, valuables and eventually clothes and tools. Pottery paves the way for modern storage and influences the first ships to have storage bays for long term travel. -
3500 BCE
4.)
The first writing documents are created on clay tablets using hieroglyphics. They are forms used to tax beer. This is an important breakthrough because it invented the way that we do taxes today, where a percent of what you have is taxed. Beer is also used a form of payment which is the first currency in a monetary economy. -
2000 BCE
5.)
Most of the world’s population, about 30 million people, live in cities and towns in Mesopotamia and Egypt, most of them work for wages which they use to buy beer. By this time beer had been mass produced and is a common staple among workers and royalty. It becomes known as a working man’s drink, which is true today. -
1999 BCE
Wine
2000BCE -
1998 BCE
1.)
3000BCE - Wine is first grown in Iraq and Egypt, and becomes the staple drink of many great civilizations. The Greeks, Romans and Byzantines thought that wine was the drink of the gods, even though the gods supposedly drank nectar, wine was created by the gods for the common man to drink. -
1997 BCE
2.)
2500BCE - Wine is first grown on the Greek mainland, which is a perfect climate for grapes, unlike the Egyptian climate. Which led to mass production for all of the Greek population, and led to the belief that wine was a drink of the gods. -
700 BCE
3.)
The Greek symposium is created. It is one of the first formal parties in the world, other than coronation feasts in Mesopotamia. The event of a formal drinking party is used by other civilizations, like Roman feasts, English ballroom dances and American presidential inaugurations. -
150 BCE
4.)
Romans replace Greece as the largest wine producer in the Mediterranean and invents new techniques to creating it. With the expansion of the Republic turned Empire at the time of Julius Caesar, it becomes the drink of Europe, from Britannia to Anatolia. -
Jan 1, 1400
5.)
Wine is eventually distilled and turned to pure alcohol, used to heal wounds and is the ‘savior’ of King Charles II of the Castille in Iberia. This new type of alcohol leads to the founding of Spirits such as Rum, Gin and Scotch in the Caribbean during colonial times. -
Dec 24, 1401
Spirits
1300CE -
Jan 1, 1402
1.)
1300CE - Arnald of Villanova, a professor at a French medical school produces a instruction for creating distilled wine, which was believe to have magical powers by Arabs and Europeans. It had the power to heal, since its high alcohol content could kill bacteria. -
Oct 11, 1492
2.)
Michael Patt von Shrick, an Austrian doctor, writes a formal book on the distillation of wine. Distilled Wine gains a god-like status when it causes King Charles of Navarre to go up in flames, due to its highly flammable content, it is said that it was divine intervention, since the Kings last order was to dramatically increase taxes. -
3.)
European Slave Traders begin to trade Rum and guns to African Slave Lords in order to make up for the 20 million people they massacred. Slaves were rewarded with Rum and slaves with an excess of it would have a high-status of society among the slaves. -
4.)
Spirits continue to buy slaves from Africa, about 15% of North and South Americans are African slaves. Rum influences the Trans-Atlantic Trade, Rum trade to the warlords in Africa increases, as more and more slaves go to the Caribbean. -
5.)
1770CE - Rum is more responsible for the Independence Movement in America than Tea is, since the taxes for sugar and molasses were much higher than that of Tea. -
Coffee
1470CE -
1.)
1470CE - Islamic Arabs combine Coffee beans with hot water to create the first coffee brew. Around 200 years later, coffee would be the prime drink to meet over to discuss sciences and thoughts, hence the ‘Age of Reason’. Coffee is still used today to sharpen the minds of those who drink it, and people will meet over coffee to discuss work related subjects. -
2.)
1650CE- The first European Coffeehouse opens in London, it becomes an instant hit and the house becomes a place for great thinkers to exchange ideas. Coffeehouses spread to the Americas, and to European colonies in Africa and China. -
3.)
1660CE- The Royal Society, Britain's Scientific Institution, forms in a coffeehouse of scientists. It is one of the first of its kind and spreads its ideas and finding to other newly created institutions. One such institution is Lloyd’s of London, which is the first marine insurance backer in the world. The company still exists today and insured ships heading to and from America with raw resources. -
4.)
1675CE - King Charles of England bans the coffeehouses in London. He was afraid of the Freedom of Speech and how people might conspire against him. However, many secret coffeehouses sprang up in residential areas and other places where institutions met. This law is similar to Prohibition in the United States, and was later revoked. -
5.)
1774CE- After the Boston Tea Party, and the American Revolution, American working people gave up on tea, and started drinking coffee as a substitute. It becomes the staple drink of America until the invention of Coca-Cola and its manufacture in the early 20th century. The lack of tea from Britain going to America severely hurts the British economy, and Britain invaded India through Calcutta to produce their own tea there. -
Tea
2700BCE -
1.)
2700BCE - Chinese Emperor Shen Nung brewed the very first cup of tea in China at this time. It would go on to be a more influential drink than Beer or Wine, since it affects regions like China, England and America later in history. -
2.)
1200CE - Tea enters Japan through China. It is used to create a ceremony in weddings and knighting of Samurai. This marks the first use of tea for anything other than drink in the world. -
3.)
1660CE - Catherine of Braganza introduces Tea to King Charles II of England. It quickly takes hold and becomes the staple drink of England and Great Britain. Tea will go on to shape the future of England, with its tax causing the loss of North America and the Opium Wars in China. -
4.)
The British East India company convinces the Crown to enforce the Tea Act, which would go on to start the Boston Harbor Tea Party, which was the first sign of resistance against the Crown by American colonists. -
5.)
The British-Chinese Opium Wars start in China after China refuses to trade silver for Opium, so that the British could trade Tea, since China did not accept payment other than silver. The devastating loss of China due to British superiority started Imperialism in China, and was a key factor in WWI. -
Coca-Cola
-
1.)
The first carbonated drink is created by Joseph Preistly in England, the discovery leads to soda being the most common drink in the world in the 20th century. It is because of this discovery that Coca-Cola is the most recognized word in the world, from Korea to Morocco, and is the one beverage that brings the world together, rather than the others which are only where the civilization that pioneered them were. -
2.)
John Pemberton experiments with medical ingredients and creates Coca-Cola in Atlanta, Georgia. It is first disliked because of its strong consistency, and is mixed into Seltzer water for better results. After his death, the Coca-Cola company is created, and distributes around the world. Starting in Georgia, the then-48 states and even to Europe and Japan. -
3.)
The first countries outside of the US to have Coke bottling plants are Cuba and Panama, which were under US jurisdiction at the time. This is the start of the global corporation which is responsible for bringing some parts of the world together. -
4.)
Japan becomes the first country to halt trade of Coca-Cola, because of its current state of war against the US in WWII. Coca-Cola looks for sales in the Soviet Union and Africa, until Japan surrendered and sales resume in Japan. -
5.)
Coca-Cola becomes a staple product in the household of the world, with more than 1.7 billion Coke products being consumed a day, over 30% of the population. Coca-Cola becomes the most recognized phrase in the world, with over 84% of people knowing its meaning. Many people from Africa, Asia and South America, over 5 billion people combined, will go there entire lives surrounded by Coke products.
