“... alcohol has existed longer than all human memory. It has outlived generations, nations, epochs and ages. It is a part of us, and that is fortunate indeed. For although alcohol will always be the master of some, for most of us it will continue to be the servant of man" The founding Director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism

The word alcohol comes from the Arabic ‘al Kuhul’, but no one knows when it was first used or by whom.

The discovery of late Stone Age beer jugs has established the fact that intentionally fermented beverages existed at least as early as the Neolithic period (cir. 10,000 B.C.)

The Aztecs used to get drunk at all major religious ceremonies so as not to offend their gods.

In the first century AD, the Roman Emperor Domitian was so alarmed about widespread drunkenness he ordered that half the vineyards in Rome be destroyed, and prohibited the planting of any more without his permission.

Gin Houses were everywhere in 18th century London, they advertised that drinkers could come and drink for a penny and get dead drunk for two pence. The floors of the Gin Houses were covered with straw so the intoxicated patrons could rest comfortably. In 1736, the situation was so bad that Parliament introduced the Gin Act, imposing severe restrictions on the sale of spirits. This Act resulted in a series of riots and civil disturbances, and was repealed in 1743.

In the USA in 1873, a movement called the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) would stage sit ins at local taverns, the members would kneel in prayer and ask the saloon owners to close their establishments. Women all over the country joined the movement and within a few months thousands of saloons had closed. The WCTU lobbied aggressively for alcohol to be banned and in 1920 they won. As a result prohibition began, meaning alcohol was completely illegal for 13 years.

While many Ancient Egyptian gods were local or familial, Osiris, the god of wine, was worshiped throughout the entire country. He was also credited with inventing beer, a beverage that was considered a necessity of life; and was brewed daily in almost every home.

A variety of alcoholic beverages have been used in China since prehistoric times. Laws against making wine were enacted and repealed forty-one times between 1,100 B.C. and A.D. 1,400.

Among Greeks, the Macedonians viewed intemperance as a sign of masculinity and were well known for their drunkenness. Their king, Alexander the Great, whose mother adhered to the Dionysian cult, developed a world wide reputation for outstanding drunkenness.

St. Martin of Tours was actively engaged in both spreading the Gospel and planting vineyards.

With the collapse of the Roman Empire and decline of urban life, religious institutions, particularly monasteries, became the repositories of the brewing and winemaking techniques.

The Arabs discovered distillation about 1,000 years ago, but it was Albertus Magnus (1193-1280) who first clearly described the process which made possible the manufacture of distilled spirits. Knowledge of the process began to spread slowly among monks, physicians and alchemists, who were interested in distilled alcohol as a cure for ailments. At that time it was called aqua vitae, “water of life,” but was later known as brandy. The latter term was derived from the Dutch brandewijn, meaning burnt (or distilled) wine.

During the black plagues in Bavaria, beer consumption was about 300 litres per capita a year (compared to 150 litres today) and in Florence wine consumption was about ten barrels per capita a year.

Distilled spirit was generally flavoured with juniper berries. The resulting beverage was known as junever, the Dutch word for juniper. The French changed the name to genievre, which the English changed to Geneva and then modified to gin.

In England in 1743 the national population of six and a half million people drank over 18 million gallons of gin. Most of this was consumed by the small minority of the population then living in London and other cities; people in the countryside largely remained loyal to beer, ale and cider.

In Medieval England, ale was often used to pay toll, rent or debts

In ancient Egypt, the phrase “bread and beer” stood for all food and was also a common greeting. Many alcoholic beverages, such as Egyptian bouza and Sudanese merissa, contain high levels of protein, fat and carbohydrates, amino acids and vitamins, all of which increase during fermentation. While modern food technology uses enrichment or fortification to improve the nutrition of foods, it is possible to achieve nutritional enrichment naturally through fermentation.

During Prohibition, temperance activists hired a scholar to rewrite the Bible by removing all references to alcohol beverage.

According to the famous writer H. L. Mencken, 17,864,392,788 different cocktails can be made from the ingredients in a well-stocked bar.

There are an estimated forty-nine million (49,000,000) bubbles in a bottle of Champagne.

A Nebuchadnezzar contains 15 litres or 20 bottles of champagne

The longest bar in the world is 684 feet (or about 208.5 meters) long and is located at the New Bulldog in Rock Island, Illinois.

The U.S. Marines’ first recruiting station was in a bar.

Adolf Hitler was one of the world's best known tee-totallers or abstainers from alcohol; his adversary , Sir Winston Churchill, was one of the world's best known heavy drinkers.

It is against the law in Alaska to give alcohol to a moose, and in Ohio it is illegal to give alcohol to a fish. It is illegal to run a tab in Iowa, and in Indiana it is against the law for liquor stores to sell milk or cold soft drinks. No North Dakota bar or restaurant may serve beer and pretzels at the same time; no Nebraska bar may serve beer unless there is also a kettle of soup boiling.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms refuses to let alcohol producers distribute scientific medical information or evidence on health benefits associated with moderate alcohol consumption.

Alcohol abstinence leads to increase risk of heart diseases.

Many of the health benefits of alcohol consumption are lost if it is not consumed on a regular basis.

Binge drinking (consuming four to five or more drinks in a single session) causes fatalities about one in every 8,666,667 “binge” sessions.

All 13 minerals necessary for human life can be found in alcohol beverages.

The national anthem of United States “The Star Spangled Banner,” was written to the tune of a drinking song.

There is a cloud of alcohol in outer space that is enough to make four trillion-trillion drinks.

The first European settlers in Australia drank more alcohol per person than any other community in the history of mankind.

In 1955 Bob Hawke drank 2.5 pints of beer in 11 seconds at University College, Oxford.

The East African elephant seeks out and eats fermenting mangoes, then they get drunk and boisterous and have inappropriate sex with other elephants they used to only think of as friends or colleagues.

[We would just like to note that we make no guarantees as to the veracity of any of these statements. We found them on the internet, which is where you can also find claims that Intelligent Design explains everything and that Kevin Rudd is a fun guy - Eds]

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