Category Archive for vodka
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Pay up, Beardo! and the "Rasputin"
This week in 1698, Tsar Peter the Great tried to change the face of Russia... by instituting a beard tax. Fight the power - and put some hair on your chest - with a classic cocktail from America's most famous Russian-themed restaurant. Read more...
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Bugs' Birthday and The "Rabbit Ears"
This week back in 1940, Warner Bros. released the animated short A Wild Hare, officially introducing one of the biggest stars in movie history: Bugs Bunny. Learn how Bugs got his name and his catchphrase, then sip this wascally drink. Read more...
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The B3
This week in 1899, Bayer Corp. patented a little pill they called "aspirin." For a healthy heart, listen to the history of it's creation once a day, then take two of these and call us in the morning. Read more...
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The Thunderbolt
This week back in 1885, one-time hosiery salesman LaMarcus Adna Thompson patented the roller coaster. Hear about his invention's rickety ride from coal country to Coney Island, and then get your thrills in liquid form. Read more...
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The Electric Lemonade (Variation)
This week in 1937, lap-steel guitarist George Beauchamp and partner Adolph Rickenbacker patented the modern electric guitar, laying the foundations for ear-splitting rock 'n' roll, youth revolutions, and holding up your lighter during a power ballad. Read more...
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The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread
This week back in 1928, a Missouri bakery set the bar for greatness... when it started selling the first pre-sliced bread in history. Listen to the tale, then propose a (ahem) toast with this original cocktail. Read more...
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Past-Time
This week back in 1972, Bernice Gera became the first female umpire in pro baseball history...and then immediately resigned. Learn why she took herself out of the ballgame, then steal home to mix this All-American cocktail. Read more...
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Pac-Man
This week back in 1980, Japanese video game designer Toru Iwatani helped arcades go co-ed...by inventing a game for gals. Feast your ears upon the story of Pac-Man, then gobble up this eponymous custom cocktail. Read more...
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The Saint
This week in 1989, two respected electrochemists, Stanley Pons and Martin Fleischman, announced they'd discovered science's holy grail: A process for generating clean fusion energy at low temperatures. Read more...
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The Bloody Mary Shooter
This week in 1897, a young Bayer chemist named Felix Hoffman invented aspirin as we know it (and then used the same procedure to create another, far less innocuous pharmaceutical). Read more...
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The Murdered Moose & The Chocolate Moose
This week back in 1983 a legendary play opened on Broadway...and not legendary in a good way. Hear why theaterfolk still talk about "Moose Murders," then throw tomatoes after sampling the distasteful cocktail it inspired. Read more...
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See No Weevil
Back in 1915, the insidious boll weevil decimated the cotton crops of Enterprise, Alabama... and paradoxically paved the way for a stronger local economy. Read more...
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The Black and Gold
This week in 1892, William "Pudge" Heffelfinger put the "pro" in pro football. Read more...
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Deception
This week in 2001, British Army Major Charles Ingram, his wife Diana, and college lecturer Tecwen Whittock teamed up to win £1 Million on the UK version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" And if you're thinking that show doesn't allow teams... you're right. Read more...
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Rasputin
This week in 1698, Tsar Peter The Great tried to change the face of Russia... by instituting a beard tax. Read more...
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The Electric Lemonade
In 1931, lap-steel guitarist George Beauchamp and partner Adolph Rickenbacker invented the modern electric guitar, laying the foundations for ear-splitting rock 'n' roll, youth revolutions, and holding up your lighter during a power ballad. Read more...
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Zamenhof Fizz
This week in 1887, linguophile L.L. Zamenhof completed his decade-in-the-making magnum opus: the Lingvo Internacia -- a universal language that came to be called Esperanto. Read more...
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The Louie Louie
This week back in 1965, the FBI wrapped up their 31-month investigation into whether the song "Louie Louie" violated federal obscenity laws. Read more...
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Exchange Elixir
This month back in 1817, the New York Stock Exchange formally began. We celebrate by telling you all about its most famous symbol: The Closing Bell... and then retire to one of America's best-known restaurants to toast the end of a hard day on the floor. Read more...
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Deception
Who Wanted to Be a Millionaire and the "Deception" This week in 2001, British Army Major Charles Ingram, his wife Diana and college lecturer Tecwen Whittock won £1 Million on the UK version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Read more...
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The Tomato Water Bloody Mary
On July 2nd 1881, one Charles Guiteau shot President James Garfield. But it wasn't like Guiteau's life was full of normalcy preceding that murderous act; a delusional megolomaniac, he was also at various times a corrupt lawyer, a writer of plagiarized religious tomes and the member of a free-love cult. Read more...
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The Bloodyberry Fizz
This week back in 1844, the Navy's first propeller-powered steam ship, the USS Princeton, set sail from Alexandria, VA on a pleasure cruise. Read more...
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The Elk Cloner
In 1982, a 15-year-old computer geek named Rich Skrenta unleashed the world's first personal-computer virus: "The Elk Cloner." Read more...
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The Black & Gold
This week in 1892, William "Pudge" Heffelfinger became America's first pro footballer -- in fact, the receipt for his services is known as "Pro Football's Birth Certificate." Read more...
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The Jersey Devil
Seventy years ago this week, Orson Welles freaked out millions of American radio listeners with his radio dramatization of H.G. Wells' "War of the Worlds." Read more...
