Top 10 facts about alcohol
ALCOHOL Awareness Week (see alcoholconcern.org.uk for details) begins today, so let’s raise a glass to celebrate with some facts.
Alcohol Awareness Week begins today
1. The word “alcohol” was first seen in English in the 16th century when it meant a fine powder.
2. In the 17th century, the word was most often used for a black powder made from antimony sulphide and used for eye make-up.
3. Since drying and grinding was used for making such powders, it came to be used for distillation processes, particularly those used in spirit making.
4. For chemists, the term “alcohol” covers a wide range. The alcohol in drinks is ethyl alcohol.
5. Shakespeare did not use the word “alcohol” but wrote in Macbeth that drink “provokes the desire, but it takes away the performance”.
Is Indonesia going to ban alcohol?
Shakespeare did not use the word alcohol in Macbeth
6. The average Briton spends about £50,000 on alcohol in his or her lifetime.
7. Every second, the British drink 247 pints of beer and 232 glasses of wine.
The average Briton spends about £50,000 on alcohol in a lifetime
8. In the 18th century, Empress Catherine I of Russia banned women from getting drunk.
9. Alcoholic drinks made from fermented grapes date back as long ago as 7000 BC in China.
10. “It is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink: lest they drink and forget the law,” (Proverbs 31, 4-5).