-
10,000 BCE
End of last Ice age
The end of the last ice age caused many wild grains to grow wild in the Fertile crescent. This area encompasses a large amount of the middle east and stretches from Egypt to parts of Iraq and Iran. The amount of plants and animals available in the Fertile crescent cause many groups to venture into these areas in which they discovered cereal grains which could be harvested and feed fmilies for a long time, this led to the development of the first permamnent settlements. -
7000 BCE
Discovery of Alcohol
With humans beginning to settle down in permanent settlements in the fertile crescent the abundance of cereal grain was massive. Through time the people that lived there soon discovered that Cereal grain had multiple uses, when put in water it tastes sweet. The second realization of uses of the cereal grain was by far the biggest of them all. It was realized that when gruel was left out for a few days it could have an intoxicating affect, the first alcohol had been discovered. -
6500 BCE
The first wine
Records sugget that the first wine was produced sometime between 9000 and 4000 BCE however no exact date is certain. It is known that the first wine was created somewhere in the Zagros mountains. There were a series of things that made it possible for wine to even be made in this region, the wild eurasian grape vine, Vitis Vinifera Sylvestris and an abundance of cereal grains. The wine makers would use the fermented juice of crushed grapes to make the wine. -
4300 BCE
Banding together of villages
The first cities to occur on earth happened between the Tigres and Euphrates river in a land known as Mesopotamia. The majority of the population worked in agriculture and only lived within the city walls and did the majority of their work outside them. Public events started taking place however such as markets and religious ceremonies. WIth so many people living in such a tight space the water supply would be bound to become contaminated, therefore the mass drinking of beer prevented such. -
3150 BCE
Burial of KIng Scorpion I
Wine was deemed as very important to the Egyptians and thus they wanted to make sure it was brought into the afterlfe with them so during the burials of KIngs and pharoahs the Egyptians would bury mass amounts of wine and other goods with them. In this kings case he was buried with seven hundred jars of wine something unheard of at the time due to the scarcity and value of wine. -
3000 BCE
First Writings
Although the first technical writings werent of letters and instead of symbols or pictures they served the same purpose. Writing at first was mainly used to record tax payments aswell as other payments within cities. There were specific symbols for specific items such as the symbol for beer which was a jar shape. Beer was a main form of payment and thus was important to be written down and kept track of and recorded. -
2500 BCE
Consruction of pyramids
Some records of how the Pyramids were built indicate that the pyramids were built by many workers who worked in a few months shifts and the laborers were paid in beer aswell as bread. This is very different than the notion that there were many slaves who built it that were subject to harsh conditions. Others say that farmers built the pyramids however both suggest that the workers were paid in bread and beer which ended up creating the idea that they symbolize prosperity and well being. -
870 BCE
The feast of King Ashurnasirpal II
The king of Assyria had recently built a new capital and what better way to show it off than with a masive feast. Over 70,000 attended this event and at which they were served thousands of dfferent animals ranging from cattle to duck to doves. However what stood out the most was the refreshments. Over ten thousand skins of wine were served, before wine had been very hard to come by and only recieved in small quantities but now this rich king had just supplied an entire city with it. -
31
The Crucifixion of Jesus
A wine commonly used when none better was around was Posca. THis could be given to soldiers in order to cslm them or be given to any other lesser figure, however this exact wine was most likely given to Jesus at his crucifixion. Legend says that a Roman soldier offered Jesus a sponge dipped in Posca at his crucifixion going to show that wine has played an important role in some of the biggest moments in World history. -
632
Rise of islam
Muhhamad had seen himself as a prophet and claimed that allah revealed the Koran to him. He was very unpopular in the city of Mecca and fled however by the time that he died his religion had grown to be one of the most dominant in the middle east. However Muhhamad viewed alcohol as a gift from the devil which distracted worshippers from following the teachings of god so wine, beer and Alcohol all together were outlawed in Muslim countries. -
1386
The death of Charles the II
The ruler of a kingdom in Northern spain was very ill and was suffering from many conditions including fever and paralysis. His doctors decided to try something not common at all at the time and the doctors decided to give him spirits or the distillation of wine. The doctors decided to drench the sheets he was in with Vitae and a maid accidentally caught it on fire with a candle and the KIng went up in flames eventually dying. -
1430
Invention of the printing press
Although the printing press was invented much earlier it wasnt introduced to Europe until around the 1430s. The printing press created a cultural shift in Europe making a more literary continent and it helped spread ideas and information. Some of the information which was actually spread was the process of distillation ideas and innovations like these could then be spread throughout Europe so Everyone knew how to do it. -
1492
Colombus sailing the Atlantic ocean
In 1492 Colombus set sail from Spain in hopes of finding a Westerly passage to asia, however what he found instead would be greater than they would have ever imagined. Colombus discovered two new continents and helped the European powers set up colonies that would last generations until eventual revolution. None of this would have been possible however if it wasnt for distilled drinks which enabled the ship crew to not have to drink any of the drity water on or off the ship. -
1510
The slave trade
Following the deaths of millions of native Americans in the Americas , the Europeans needed a new way of getting free manual labor to work their colonies. So they looked to Africa. European slave traders traded different types of spirits to the traders in exchange for men to be brought to the Americas. Spirits and Alcohol became so prestigious in Africa that at some points it became rude to even start negotiations without offering alcohol first. -
Pope announces verdict
WIth the arab world bringing in new concotions such as coffee to Europe and the arab world having such controversy as to whether they could drink it. THe pope was asked on whether christians could drink it as the muslims were drinking it. Upon tasting it and very much liking it the Pope anounced that all christians could drink coffee legally. -
The "Proclamation for the suppression of coffee houses"
The king of England had been planning on going against coffee for quite a while and he had been questioning the power that could brew within them so he made a proclamation to start shutting down and closing coffee houses. What followed was a public outcry, to people who lived in England, coffeehouses had become a regular social, political and commercial part of life for them. The proclamation and fees were soon gotten rid of however as it was seen that not many would comply. -
Isaac Newton's explanation of Gravity
After a series of meetings at a coffee house between scientists, a discussion arose about the theory of gravity. A theory was proposed about the movement of planets and how gravitational pull would affect this. A bet was made between the men about whether they could prove such a theory, they could not prove it. However when a scientist visited England he met with Newton to discuss this and Newton said he had already proven it. Afterwards Newton produced a book which explained these fidnings. -
The start of the London Stock Exchange
Trading of stocks at this point had already been widespread in coffeehouses in London aswell as the exchange of other goods. However some men were not always able to pay their dues and as a result were kicked out of many coffeehouses in London. After many years of arguing that coffeehouses were places where all should be allowed to go the banished from the coffeehouses decided to start their own. This would originally be called New Jonathans but would eventually be changed to The Stock Exchange. -
American Revolution
Following the placement of colonies in the Americas by England settlers had come to AMerica to escape the government that had so hated back in EUrope so, when England tried taxing the colonies without the settlers even getting representation in congress thats when things started to turn ugly. Following new tax after new tax the colonists revolted and revolted each time until they had had enough and eventually declared themselves as a free nation and went on to win the revolutionary war. -
The French Revolution
There had been growing unrest against the king of France and when the king called upon his army after discussions at the meeting of the national assembly broke down, crowds gathered at Palais Royal and the crowd feared a massacre by the army would insue which resulted in a young lawyer shouting at the crowds to fight back and Paris became engulfed in madness and chaos.Observers had noticed that in the days preceding these events revolutionaries had met day after day in a particular coffee house.
