58
votes
What would have been the typical drinks for a US farmer in the late 18th/early 19th century?
The time period of interest is entirely prior to the rise of the railways, and even to the construction of such infrastructure as the Erie Canal (completed 1825). Thus anything regarded as a typical ...
- 71.3k
49
votes
Accepted
Were there any drunk driving laws before the automobile?
In the UK, the 1872 Licencing Act made it an offence to be:
... drunk while in charge on any highway or other public place of any
carriage, horse, cattle, or steam engine, or who is drunk when in
...
- 77k
34
votes
Accepted
Did early northern Europeans drink alcohol?
Yes.
Residue analysis has found chemical signatures consistent with the presence of honey, and organic compounds associated with fermentation suggesting that mead was being drunk by the late ...
- 77k
24
votes
Were there any drunk driving laws before the automobile?
"Causing bodily harm by wanton or furious driving" (whether drunk or not) was made illegal by the Offences against the Person Act 1861. It is interpreted as applying to:
drivers of horse-drawn ...
- 393
19
votes
Accepted
Why is rum naval?
Interesting question, you could've found the answer just like I did from a search.
Rum took its place in the ships due to its availability, shelf life, and cost. Check the links for detailed ...
- 568
19
votes
Accepted
How alcoholic were ancient Greek and Roman wines, before and after dilution?
That is very difficult to put a single number on.
Like today, ethanol content in wines ranges from 5–25%, but usually between 9–16%.
It depends a bit on how strong one prefers, or how the Greeks ...
- 80.2k
11
votes
Accepted
What's the earliest evidence of drug abuse?
The way that the question is framed is laced with quite modern conceptions of "abuse" and "drugs" that would be completely incomprehensible for earlier people.
Yet the word 'drug' ...
- 80.2k
10
votes
Did early northern Europeans drink alcohol?
Mead was the alcoholic drink of northern Europe, particularly "Celtic" northern Europe, e.g. the British Isles and northern France. It also figures prominently in the literature of the Scandinavians. ...
- 104k
9
votes
Accepted
Are there examples of battles fought under the influence (of alcohol)?
One example, which I heard about in Dan Carlin's Hardcore History podcast (disclaimer, he's not a historian and sometimes prefers good story telling to historical accuracy and uncertainty), is from ...
- 3,155
9
votes
What exactly happened with beer and Leeuwarden in 1487?
While the veracity of this site on the history of crime may be doubtful, it appears to be the only easily located English-language source
The ban was put in place to protect sales of local suds in ...
- 71.3k
9
votes
What exactly happened with beer and Leeuwarden in 1487?
I came across this question today, and saw that JMVanPelt in his answer mentioned a Dutch book for which no English translation was available. I have translated the relevant parts of it below. I have ...
- 187
8
votes
Why is rum naval?
Rum was an important article of trade in the Caribbean because of the sugar trade. Rum is the fermented distillate of molasses. During the age of exploration, molasses was normal product of sugar cane ...
- 37.7k
8
votes
What exactly happened with beer and Leeuwarden in 1487?
Some more info to complement what @PieterGeerkens has found: there's a very scholarly work on the subject on Google Books, Het Bier-oproer te Leeuwarden, in het jaar 1487, in zijne oorzaken en ...
- 2,256
8
votes
Are there examples of battles fought under the influence (of alcohol)?
It is well known that Russian front line troops were given 100 gram of vodka daily. Sometimes this norm was doubled. This was introduced by Stalin's personal
order during the Finnish war 1940, and the ...
- 38.3k
8
votes
Accepted
What is the earliest known reference to the phrase 'water of life'?
I believe there's two questions here: what is the earliest use of "aqua vitae" and when did it become synonymous with "distilled spirits". I'm going to answer the latter, when did "aqua vitae" become ...
- 54.5k
8
votes
When did we stop diluting wine?
Ancient Macedonians were known to drink wine undiluted with water ― a trait which their southern neighbors in Greek city-states like Athens considered barbaric. Other groups that liked to drink their ...
- 269
8
votes
Accepted
What would have been on the menu in an Ancient Egyptian tavern?
The underlying assumptions informing this question are not totally invalid, but present a very practical challenge. We do know pretty well what they ate, but we not know enough about what and/or how ...
- 80.2k
7
votes
Accepted
Which material did the Vikings drink Mead from?
Horn. The drinking horn, known for centuries , was documented in use in several Viking era sagas such as the Prose Edda and Beowulf.
from wikipedia:
Horn fragments of Viking Age drinking horns ...
- 37.2k
7
votes
Accepted
What is the strongest alcoholic drink that existed during the Middle Ages in Europe?
While chemical distiallation as a process was known since Aristotle's time in the Mediterranean world and Middle East, the process was not generallay applied to alcoholic beverages until much later. ...
- 71.3k
7
votes
Are there examples of battles fought under the influence (of alcohol)?
It is rumoured that on the evening of June 15, 1815, Marechal Ney may have enjoyed too much of M. Dumont's Burgundy in Gosselies, and that his late start to Quatre Bras the following morning may be in ...
- 71.3k
6
votes
Price of a shot and a bottle of whiskey in 1870s American West
There is a terrific site, Legends Of America. It goes into pretty good detail about the history of the Old West, including noted people and vices. In its discussion about the real Gem Saloon of ...
- 3,606
6
votes
How did the maximum strengths of alcoholic beverages in Western Europe increase from wine which Romans watered to 80 proof to absinthe?
Strength of drink was always a matter of choice.
All distilled beverages are produced by taking distilled alcohol and adding more things - usually water, sugar, and/or herbs. The technology to produce ...
- 6,344
5
votes
Why did Greeks and Romans dilute their wine?
Whist adding wine to water even in small quantities does help to purify it, I don't believe that this was a primary motivation. The water used would most probably have been finest spring water anyway ...
- 51
5
votes
Who made wine from poisonous Heracleum?
“The northern group of nationalities, especially the Itelmen of Kamchatka, had had another stimulant - wine from 'sweet herb'. The secret of its production passed from them to Russian Cossacks and ...
- 51
5
votes
Are there examples of battles fought under the influence (of alcohol)?
Liquor (sake) was an important ingredient of preparing Japanese soldiers for suicidal Banzai Attacks.
The most important of these took place in June 1944 on Saipan, which contained supplies, ...
- 104k
5
votes
How exactly were beer/bread made in Ancient Egypt?
No ancient recipe has been found, however Dr. Delwen Samuel has chemically analyzed beer residues on ancient pottery. She suggests ancient Egyptians used malted emmer (emmet which had already been ...
- 151
4
votes
Did alcohol consumption increase in the U.S. after 1933?
Consumption appeared to rise enormously after Prohibition was ended. After looking at several graphs, this one seems to agree with most:
As always, pick sources with care.
- 1,877
4
votes
Why is rum naval?
Rum is "associated with naval practice" mainly because it was issued to the sailors of the Royal navy. Earlier they used beer and/or wine as a part of daily ration. When the operations in Caribbean ...
- 38.3k
4
votes
Accepted
What was the main role of alcoholic drinks in ancient to medieval times?
Your thinking is overly binary. It is very possible, indeed likely, that it was likely a combination of the two plus a few other factors you are forgetting depending on place/time/occasion/society.
...
- 512
3
votes
Why did Greeks and Romans dilute their wine?
It was done because the very best wines came from Greece where dried grapes were used instead of the normal harvest. This produced a much sweeter wine that required dilution to make it drinkable. It ...
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