37 Potent Facts About Alcohol In Its Various Forms

The Austrian wine market collapsed in 1985 when it was discovered that winemakers were adding antifreeze to artificially sweeten the wine.

27. When George Washington first ran for the Virginia House of Burgesses, he supplied 164 gallons of alcohol to only 396 voters so that they would like him. Washington won.

28. Russia banned the sale of vodka during World War I. The government immediately lost a third of its income.

29. A Texas A&M study invited people to taste wines labeled "France," "California," and "Texas," and while nearly all ranked the French as best, in fact, all three were the same Texan wine.

30. In 1974, the Cleveland Indians had a $0.10 Beer Night. Cleveland had to forfeit the game when their drunk fans started a riot during the 9th inning. Players had to attack fans with baseball bats to protect themselves.

Pythagoras invented a practical joke cup that would spill wine all over a person if they filled their cup too much.

32. Smirnoff Vodka's creator Pyotr Smirnov launched his brand to quick success in 1864 by giving panhandlers food and drink in return for asking them to fan out around the city of Moscow, demanding Smirnoff Vodka at local bars.

33. In the 1500s, British sailors would receive rations of rum as partial payment. To ensure the rum wasn’t watered down, they would measure the proof by dousing gunpowder with it, and then test to see if the gunpowder would ignite. The gunpowder would only ignite if the rum was greater than 57% alcohol by volume.

34. In 2000, a Wild Turkey whiskey storage facility caught fire, spilling 17,000 barrels of flaming whiskey into the surrounding woods, catching them ablaze. 20% of the whiskey flowed into the Kentucky River, disrupting its oxygen supply, killing 228,000 fish along 66 miles of the river.

35. In June of 1985, a drunk student named Stein Arvid Husbey hijacked a Boeing in Norway demanding to talk to the prime minister (Kåre Willoch). He later surrendered in exchange for more beer.

A "blind pig" was a lower-class establishment that sold alcohol during Prohibition (in contrast to a higher-class "speakeasy"). The owner would charge customers to see an attraction (such as an animal) and then serve a "complimentary" alcoholic beverage, thus circumventing the law.

37. The Code of Hammurabi decreed that bartenders who watered down beer would be executed.