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10,000 BCE
Emergence of Settlements
The first permanent settlements were built by families that learned to collect wild grains. They would need to stay near the fields so that the crop could be gathered when the harvest came. The families would continue to stay near the same field so they could defend their food, bread and beer, made from grains. This led to the development of farming, which brought on the Neolithic Revolution. This also shows why early peoples valued beer as civilized, it was a cause for settlement. -
9000 BCE
The Neolithic Revolution
Humans started using the techniques of farming to produce wheat and barley for bread and beer. People began learning how to cultivate land and this allowed for the development of settlements along rivers, beginning in the Fertile Crescent. Cereal grains, such as wheat and barley, were the predominant crop and once harvested were made into food. Grains could be mixed with water and baked into bread or left to ferment into beer, the two staple foods of the Neolithic Revolution. -
4300 BCE
Development of Cities
Cities began to develop as towns banded together and food became more abundant. Surplus food from farming allowed for other occupations, such as artisans and administrators. Villages then grew into towns and joined others to form large cities. They could hold tens of thousands of people, and the largest of the time, Uruk, had as many as fifty thousand people. As cities emerged, government workers, craftsman, and priest became increasingly common. -
3200 BCE
Adoption of Cuneiform Writing
Collection and distribution of resources, mainly grains and beer, got increasingly more complex as surpluses allowed or population growth. To record the flow of goods, pictograms were developed and etched into small stone tablets, creating the cuneiform of Sumer. The symbols became more abstract and quicker to write over time, as well as more numerous. As the variety of the symbols grew, beer and grains remained among the most popular being that they were standard wages. -
2500 BCE
Pyramids are Built
The Great Pyramids at Giza were constructed around 2500 BCE. They were paid for in loaves of bread and jugs of beer, standard wages at the time. Even the lowest workers got two jugs at four liters each per day. The workers on Menkaure's Pyramid were called "Drunkards of Menkaure" because of how much beer they consumed. This shows how essential beer was to early peoples, such as Egyptians, as wages. -
870 BCE
Feast of Ashurnasirpal
Ashurnasirpal held a great feast to commemorate the new capital of Assyria, Nimrud. There were almost seventy thousand people, all served meat for ten days. What was the most extravagant, however, was the ten thousand skins of wine, a show of great wealth as wine was expensive and had to be imported. This show of wealth leads one to realize how the Greeks and Romans valued beer-drinkers as uncivilized, wine was more expensive and present only at the more sophisticated events. -
800 BCE
Social Equalizer Created: The Symposion
In ancient Greece, sophistication of the highest level was exhibited at the symposion, a drinking party for males where politics, philosophy and science were often discussed. Wine and water were mixed, then served in a communal Krater, a large pot, to lessen the strength of the wine. This was viewed by the Greeks as civilized. Entertainment was often present in the symposion, which had a room dedicated to its purpose. -
424 BCE
Spartan Troops Arrive in Acanthus
When Spartans arrive in Acanthus, a city allied with their enemy, it is just before the grape harvest. To prevent the destruction of their vineyards, the people of Acanthus vote and decide to change sides. This highlights how important wine was to Greek culture, to the extent that one would change sides in a war to protect their wine. It also shows how divided the Greek city-states were, with wine as the unifier of Greece. -
180 BCE
Death of Marcus Aurelius
The Death of Marcus Aurelius marked the start of the decline of the Roman Empire. Germanic invaders from the north began to invade Rome and the seat of emperor began to turn over. Many Romans thought that the beer-drinking Germanic people were barbaric in their lack of wine. Instead, when they carved kingdoms out of Rome, the culture was a mix of Roman, Germanic and Catholic culture that continued to drink wine. This shows how engrained wine was in Roman culture, it endured even an invasion. -
87 BCE
Marcus Antonius is Killed
Gaius Marius had seized power in Rome in 87 BCE. He was hunting down those who opposed him, and Marcus Antonius was one of Marius' enemies. Antonius hid in the house of a poorer man, thinking he would not be found there. The owner of the house sent his servant to order a wine fit for the guest. When the vintner asked why the servant was ordering such an expensive wine, the servant gave away the secret. Antonius was found and killed, showing the connection between wine and class in ancient Rome. -
700
Tea Spreads through China in the Tang Dynasty
Tea had been in China as a medicinal drink since the first century BCE, but it became popular during the Tang Dynasty as a beverage. Tea helped keep Chinese healthier than any other drink, and did not intoxicate its drinker like alcohol. Tea was one of the many was China was more advanced than Europe, and would eventually China to reject all European products. China would close its ports to everything but gold and silver, indicating how highly the Chinese saw their society. -
1440
Portugal Begins to Ship Enslaved Africans to Sugar Plantations
After capturing sugar plantations from the Arabs during the crusades, the Portuguese began to ship slaves from West African ports to fill the highly laborious sugar farms. While slavers accepted many European goods in exchange for slaves, distilled drinks were the most highly regarded due to their alcohol content. Through their more potent drinks, Portuguese and other Europeans began to deal with slave traders in Africa to run their sugar plantations. -
1511
Coffee is Banned in Mecca
As coffee developed in the absence of alcohol in the Islamic world in the 1500s, coffeehouses became places of gossip and debate. Kha'ir Beg, the governor of Mecca, disapproved of these gatherings and banned coffee under the idea that it is intoxicating. Higher powers in Cairo nullified the ban on coffee, yet were still wary of the revolutionary nature of the coffeehouse. With the ban lifted, people throughout the Islamic world began to drink coffee and become aware of its stimulating effects. -
Jamestown Established as Permanent Colony
Jamestown was the first permanent settlement by the English in America. As it grew, there remained no place to purchase beer or other alcohol, and attempts to make it in the colonies failed. The colonists had to import all of their beer from England, an expensive journey. This allowed for the popularity of rum, which was cheaper because it was made in sugar plantations in the Caribbean. Rum was also stronger than beer, and could get colonist drunk for extremely low prices. -
First Western European Coffehouse Established
In 1650, the first coffeehouse in Western Europe was started, marking the beginning of the Age of Reason. Within the coffeehouses, political, scientific, and financial matters were discussed, all while social class was set aside, making all equal inside. Coffeehouses would have the latest newspapers and scientific pamphlets, allowing any man access to them for a few pennies, the price of a dish of coffee. This gave anyone the chance to pursue and debate knowledge, giving new opportunity. -
Scurvy combated by Grog
In 1655, Admiral Edward Vernon "Old Grogram" ordered to mix lime juice and water with whiskey on ships. This drink, known as Grog, helped sailors on British ships avoid scurvy because of the lime's vitamin C content. This allowed the British Navy to outperform that of other fleets which drank wine or eau-de-vie. They were able to prevent the leading cause of death among sailors, and win battles against France and Spain. It signifies how different drinks can turn the tide of a major battle. -
Tea Arrives in Europe
Tea became one of many things Portuguese traders shipped from China in the 1600's, and became famous when it was in Catherine of Braganza's Dowry in 1662. It became more and more popular in Europe in the 1700's, and it was most popular in England. Tea slowly rose in imports from China, and in 1718 it passed silk as the leading import from China. This sudden rise of tea allowed the East India Company to gain power as it controlled much of the trade in the East to Britain. -
Mathematical Principals of Natural Philosophy (Principia) Published
Inspired by scientific colleague Edmond Halley, Isaac Newton published Principia, which proved an inverse-square law of gravity that applied to both heavenly and earthly bodies. Newton was prompted to write his work on gravity after Halley, Christopher Wren, and Robert Hooke met for a coffeehouse on elliptical orbits. Newton's book promoted the idea of experimentation instead of following old Greek knowledge. This paved the way for science in the Age of Reason. -
Europeans Begin to Grow Coffee
In the 1690's, Europeans became worried about their dependency on Arabia for coffee, and attempted to grow coffee themselves. The Dutch began to grow coffee plants in greenhouses, and eventually began to grow more in Java, a Dutch colony. The French, given a coffee plant by the Dutch, transplanted a branch to the West Indies, where they began to grow the plant. Europeans began to outpace the Arabs in growing coffee, showing their resentment towards dependency on other cultures. -
Molasses Act of 1733
In 1733 the British Government passed the Molasses Act, which taxed a duty of sixpence on imported molasses to the colonies. They passed this act because British sugar plantations were losing out to French ones. French plantations sold more molasses to the colonies as its main use, making rum, was banned in France. The duty on imported molasses angered the colonists due to the fact that rum was a large part of the colonial economy. The colonists started to become irritated by the British. -
The Boston Tea Party
As smuggled tea became increasingly popular in America from a tea duty in England during the 1700s, the East India Company began to look for a way to sell their stockpiles of expensive legal tea. They persuaded Parliament to pass the tea act, giving them a monopoly on tea in America and direct shipment from China, forcing colonists to pay the duty. Angry that Britain taxed the colonists without their vote, three ships full of tea were raided and the tea dumped, starting the road to revolution. -
Start of the French Revolution
Outside of Café de Foy, on July 12 1789, Camille Desmoulins shouted, "to arms, citizens!" sparking the French Revolution. With the French Government restricting the flow of information in Parisian cafés and the sacking of trusted Jacques Necker, the revolutionary nature of the coffeehouse initiated the people of France to take arms and storm the Bastille two days later. Without the innovative thinking and political debate of the coffeehouse, the French Revolution would not have developed. -
United States Federal Government Imposes Duty on Distilled Drinks
To pay for the Revolutionary War, the US government imposed a duty on distilled drinks once they left the still. This was unpopular in the whiskey drinking west and south, and angry farmers formed the whiskey rebellion. When the federal government sent thirty thousand militiamen to resolve the problem, the rebellion quickly dispersed. The militiamen, weary after the march, bought enough whiskey from the area in cash that the farmers could pay the excise, as whiskey was important. -
End of the East India Company's Asian Monopoly
In 1813 the East India Company's monopoly on trade in Asia was removed, with the exception of China. In 1834, the monopoly on trade with China was removed. This was amid concern about the corruption of the company's officials. The Company began to focus not on Asian trade as it had previously, but on administering its Indian territories. It began to use Opium to obtain Chinese tea. This allowed the Assam Company to form, eventually surpassing China in tea production. -
The Opium Wars
Tea, popular in Britain since the 1700s, was mainly exported from China, where it was traded for silver by the British East India Company. As the price of Silver grew, they began to trade Opium through merchants in Canton to China to fund tea for Britain. When Chinese commissioner Lin raided Canton and destroyed the opium, the British declared war on China for destruction of property. Industrial advancements led Britain to a quick win, forcing China to open its ports and legalize Opium. -
Coca-Cola Formula invented as Patent Medicine
Coca-Cola was invented by John Pemberton in 1886 Atlanta as a nonalcoholic form of coca wine and a patent medicine. Patent medicines were popular at the time as many distrusted official medicine sources. Coca-Cola grew in the absence of alcohol during a prohibition test in Atlanta. The company went through financial troubles in the late 1880s, but continued to prosper. It became more and more popular in America. -
Coca-Cola put on Trial
Coca-Cola was put on trial in 1911 in The United States v. Forty Barrels and Twenty Kegs of Coca-Cola. This was due to the passage of the Pure Food and Drug act, which attempted to put an end to quack remedies and misleading patent medicines. Coca-Cola was ruled as "pure" because the title was said to have told customers about the coca plant and caffeine from the kola nuts. The company had to reduce its caffeine by half and it stopped advertising to children. -
The Great Depression
When the stock market crashed in 1929, it sent the United States into the Great Depression. Around the same time, prohibition was lifted. Many thought this would be the end for Coca-Cola, but the company kept on selling its drinks. It depicted a happy, carefree life at a low price in its ads, making it one of the few luxuries that survived in the 1930's. This signifies the integrity of the Coca-Cola drink, an American culture that flourished in the worst economic crisis the nation has ever seen. -
The United States Enters World War II
The United States entered the war after Pearl Harbor was bombed by Japan in 1941, breaking its isolationism. As American troops were sent to fight for the Allied cause, along with them American cultures spread. Coca-Cola was one of these cultures, and became commonplace to US soldiers, even given an exemption from the sugar ration. As Americans won battles in Europe and the Pacific, the drink won people and began to spread internationally along with American victory. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, it was the beginning of the end for communism in the cold war. As people began to pour into West Berlin, they were met capitalist Coca-Cola, a drink that symbolized America. Citizens of nations formerly under Soviet influence began to embrace democracy, and with the idea of democracy was the taste of Coca-Cola. By the 1990s, Coca-Cola became the most popular soft drink among former communist nations, joining the economic success of American capitalism.
