8,000 B.C. :- Fruits / cereals / berries mixed with water and wild airborne yeast to form crude alcoholic beverages.

2,000 B.C. :- Evidence of beer prescriptions in Sumarian literature. Rules on sale of alcohol documented in Babylon.

1,500 B.C.:- 15% of physicians prescriptions in Egypt contain beer.

1,000 B.C.:- Ayurveda (India) includes reports on consequences of heavy drinking. Also references in the Bible and the ancient writings of Persia, Greece, etc. Alcohol used by priests and shamen to reach states of ecstasy and frenzy during religious ceremonies.

800 A.D.:- Distillation process developed (by Jahir Ibn Hayyan).

Middle Ages:- Distillation developed in Europe by monks and physicians for medical purposes.

1740's:- Gin consumption in U.K. reaches record levels following reduction in duties. In London gin sold in one in four houses.

1930's:- Prohibition in U.S.A. results in major increase in organised crime. Illegal "speakeasies" used to sell "bathtub" spirits.

2