While drinking among musicians in the 20th century is usually linked to rock and roll and other music streams that were popular among the youngsters, there was one classical composer that would probably outrock most metalheads. Jean Sibelius (1865-1957), a national icon in his country Finland, was a true party animal. Taking under consideration that…
In our serie of stories on historical drunkards we usually report about the drunken escapades. Not this time though, Robert Glenn Johnson Junior, better known as Junior Johnson, rather supplied people with tasty handcrafted booze. He kept a fine family tradition going as he was making and moving moonshine from a young age. As a…
The stereotype of the ignorant American is famous; unaware of anything going on in the world, highly selfish and unable to relate to other ways of thinking, all covered with a wide fake Hollywood smile. While of course not all Americans are anti-social idiots, like in almost every stereotype there is truth to this one…
The First World War was for New Zealand the period of national awakening. The country with back then just over a million inhabitants in total sent more than 100.000 soldiers and nurses to the frontline. Many of them gave their life in the Battle of Gallipoli or at the Western Front. But their most important…
With the start of the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century, the new inventions followed each other rapidly. Golden times for the brilliant minds. And when it came to brilliance, few in the last two centuries could compete with Nikola Tesla (1856-1943). As an engineer he invented and developed a large scale of electric devices.…
Scenes that remind of the American prohibition in Canada, as a pizza place in the city Edmonton was raided by the police. Employees started their own lucrative business as they were selling beer and hard liquor after hours, concealed in pizza boxes. In Canada it’s illegal to sell any alcoholic drink between 2 and 11…
In many countries around the world craft beers are on the rise; micro breweries, as well as hobby brewers experimenting on an even smaller scale for their own consumption. Not just because it’s fun, not because these people have way too much time on their hands, but mostly because it’s getting harder and harder to find…
We all have legendary and sometimes heroic stories from times when we were heavily intoxicated. You know we had our share. A bit cliché but no good story ever started with someone eating a salad. Anyway, every good story has heroes and villains. And where it comes to drunken fun there are even some supervillains…
Rome, once the place for drunken bacchanalia, officially lost all of it’s former glory. This cultural capital of the world introduced a prohibition for 3 days (Wednesday to Friday) in the city centre. Bars, restaurants and bistro’s are not allowed to sell any alcohol. And the reason? The local authorities are scared to death for…
When we are discussing inspiring people of the 20th century we usually hear names like Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi. That last one can be erased from the list as soon as possible, as far as we are concerned. Sure, his nonviolent fight for the civil rights of Indians was impressive, but how…
