SIPPING THROUGH HISTORY

Which was JFK’s drink of choice? White House favorite beverages revealed

Image: Paolo Bendandi

From the Oval Office to the local tavern, every president has had their own preferred libation. Some of these beverages even offer a glimpse into the personal tastes and cultural influences of America's leaders.

Let's raise a glass and explore the favorite drinks of these ten U.S. presidents. Cheers!

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Despite the fact that he was the proud owner of his own distillery - located in Mount Vernon -, Washington rarely drank whiskey. Instead, he loved to unwind after a long day with a dark porter beer sweetened with molasses that he brought from Philadelphia.

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As a Francophile and expert wine connoisseur, Jefferson had an affinity for French wines, particularly Bordeaux and Champagne. His extensive wine collection at Monticello was often praised by guests and friends, and keeping it full and replenished almost brought him to financial ruin. His fanaticism for the beverage went as far as to consider wine a healthy alternative for whiskey - which, in turn, he saw as "poisonous" and detrimental to American society.

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Unsurprisingly, Honest Abe's drink of choice was plain water. Lincoln was known for his temperance and moderation, abstaining from alcohol for most of his life. His simple tastes reflected his humble origins and dedication to self-discipline. However, despite his personal preferences, he saw no issue in owning a bar with an old militia friend in New Salem, Illinois.

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Teddy Roosevelt, a man of robust tastes, favored the classic Southern cocktail, the mint julep. This refreshing blend of bourbon, mint, sugar, and ice was a favorite at the White House during his term. Despite claiming to "never have been drunk" in his life, he often used the drink to entice his cabinet to play tennis with him.

Image: Thomas Hetzler

As one would expect for the President who put an end to the Prohibition era, FDR was an experienced drinker who enjoyed many classic cocktails. However, among these, a well-made Martini - served extra dry with a twist of lemon - was perhaps his favorite beverage. Martini hour became a regular occurrence during Roosevelt's presidency, a tradition that endures to this day in American politics.

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Kennedy didn’t have just one favorite drink, but he was certainly partial both to bloody marys and daiquiris. With his youthful charm and glamorous lifestyle, these fancy mixed drinks suited him well, and he would often share them with guests and friends during his time in the White House.

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As a former Hollywood actor and California governor, Reagan proudly promoted wines from his home state. He played a significant role in elevating California wines to international acclaim, often serving them at official functions and state dinners.

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Clinton's beverage of choice was the Snakebite, a cocktail popular in the UK that consists of equal parts hard cider and lager beer. Funnily enough, he once tried to order one in Harrogate, England, only to find out that some UK establishments refuse to serve it, under the false impression that it is somehow a dangerous mixture.

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During his term in the White House, Ford was often seen enjoying a Martini, a classic cocktail with a touch of sophistication. He appreciated the refreshing taste of the gin and vermouth blend and used to have two or more at lunch. In fact, he drank them so often that his staff asked him to cut it back a little, out of fear that the media would start targeting his habit.

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Though his doctor reportedly didn’t allow him to drink to excess, Eisenhower had a fondness for Scotch whisky, particularly enjoying it on the rocks. He had become a lover of the strong drink while serving in Europe, during World War II. His taste for the robust spirit mirrored his no-nonsense personality and leadership style, and - as many did at the time - he often diluted the drink with a dash of sparkling water.

BELIEVE IT OR NOT

Stranger Than Fiction: 10 Unbelievable Events That Actually Happened

Image: Diana van Ormondt

They say truth is stranger than fiction, and some of these historical events are living proof of this old adage.

Brace yourself for a rollercoaster ride through history, where the strange and unexpected take center stage in the theater of reality. From absurd battles to mysterious weather phenomena, these 10 astonishing tales will leave you thinking long and hard about the complexities of human history.

Image: Sharon Co Images

Wars are typically waged between nations, but in 1932, Australia faced an unusual adversary: emus. After large numbers of these flightless birds invaded crucial farmland within Western Australia’s Wheatbelt, the government decided to intervene by sending soldiers armed with machine guns to reduce the emu population in the area. However, most attempts were ineffective at most, killing very few birds and costing thousands of dollars in supplies and ammunition.

As soon as the first shot was fired, the seemingly tame emu dispersed way beyond the range of the machine guns, and apparently switched to guerrilla tactics of sorts, avoiding all further military ambushes and frontal attacks while still feasting on the farmer’s crops. The government’s futile attempts were ridiculed and physical barrier methods to manage wildlife were preferred from then on. Sadly, they give no medals for having endured the Great Emu War.

Image: Hannah Skelly

In 1518, the town of Strasbourg, France, was gripped by a strange and inexplicable phenomenon - people suddenly began dancing uncontrollably in the streets. The dancing madness persisted for weeks, with some of the affected succumbing to exhaustion or even death. The authorities at the time did not know how to react, and some people even joined the dancers voluntarily, as they feared it was a punishment from Saint Vitus (and presumably wanted to stay on the safe side).

After many efforts to fight the strange epidemic, the dancing eventually subsided and people in the town could resume their normal lives. While theories range from mass hysteria to hallucinogenic substances and neurological disorders like Sydenham's chorea, the event remains a historical enigma that challenges our understanding of the human mind and collective behavior.

Image: Nima Sarram

In 1908, a massive explosion flattened over 80 million trees in the remote Tunguska region of Siberia. The cause? A mysterious airburst, likely caused by the explosion of a meteoroid or comet in Earth's atmosphere. It is now estimated that the event had an explosive energy of 3 to 5 megatons, equivalent to over a thousand Hiroshima bombs. The resulting shockwave broke windows, and knocked people down hundreds of miles away, reaching an equivalent of an earthquake of 5.0 on the Richter scale in some areas.

A bright glow was observed in night skies in Asia and Europe for days after the event due to high-altitude ice particles that formed as a result of the explosion. For all its magnitude, the explosion left no visible crater and minimal debris beside the devastated forest. The Tunguska Event serves as a stark reminder of the potential cosmic threats that lurk in the darkness of space.

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Miscommunication can often lead to chaos, but rarely on the scale witnessed in the Battle of Karánsebes in 1788. The Austrian army, at the time facing the Ottoman Empire, descended into total anarchy when two different scouting parties mistook one another for the enemy, fired on each other, and raised the alarm.

Making matters worse, the Austrian army was made of men of different nationalities who more often than not could not understand each other. All attempts to end confusion and the ensuing friendly fire on the part of the Austrian emperor himself were in vain, and after a while - deeply demoralized - he was forced to give the order of retreat. When the Ottoman army arrived two days later, they found an empty battlefield and were able to take the city of Karánsebes without any resistance.

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In 1807, eight years before Waterloo, Napoleon Bonaparte had a humiliating defeat at the hands of a strange opponent - a horde of rabbits. During the celebrations that followed the Treaties of Tilsit - which effectively ended the war between the French and Imperial Russia - Napoleon’s chief of staff Alexandre Berthier had the idea of organizing a rabbit hunt to entertain its guests.

So far, nothing out of the ordinary for the time, but when the rabbits were simultaneously freed along the edges of a grassy field, instead of scattering as expected, all these fluffy beasts began running toward their amused hunters. But the fits of laughter didn’t last long, as the now-hunted hunters realized that there was nothing they could do to stop the relentless animals as they swarmed their positions and had no other choice than to flee. Some accounts state that Berthier had gathered around 3000 rabbits, so not even mighty Napoleon was a match for this unexpected army.

Apparently, the chief of staff's mistake was buying tame rabbits from local farmers, accustomed to being fed by humans, instead of trapping wild hares for the hunt. If we learned anything from the Great Emu War, the lesson is clear: never underestimate animals!

Image: Mitsuo Komoriya

In the aftermath of the eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia - the largest in at least 1,300 years - 1816 became known as the "Year Without a Summer." The volcanic ash floating in the atmosphere led to climate abnormalities worldwide, resulting in crop failures and widespread famine in the most affected areas.

In Europe and North America temperatures plummeted, and most crops suffered irreparable damage due to the persistent frost. In the United States, a "dry fog" was observed in the eastern regions, dimming sunlight so much that sunspots were visible to the naked eye. Also, the high level of volcanic particles present in the atmosphere caused strange optical effects in the following years, such as strong red hues during sunsets, which can be observed in many paintings produced at the time.

Image: Tiana Attride

It seems that wars against unusual adversaries are a fashionable trend in human history because the Roman Emperor Caligula declared war in the year 40 AD on no one other than the god Neptune himself, king of the raging seas.

Known for his eccentricity, Caligula allegedly ordered his legionnaires to "attack" the sea with swords and spears, after which he declared victory against the powerful god and told the men to gather seashells as trophies of war. One can only imagine that the soldiers had a fun -albeit puzzling- day.

Image: Tim Mossholder

In the late 1980s, Pepsi briefly possessed the sixth-largest navy in the world. In exchange for commercializing Pepsi products in the Soviet Union, the company received 17 submarines, a cruiser, a frigate, and a destroyer.

However, the fleet was composed of obsolete and unseaworthy vessels that were destined to be turned into scrap almost immediately. The payment was made in the only resources the USSR could gather easily at the time, and it provided a way to establish profitable international relations - and open up to the world.

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The American Civil War started and concluded with a curious connection to Wilmer McLean, an American wholesale grocer from Virginia. The conflict's first major battle, the First Battle of Bull Run, took place in McLean's farm in 1861. A cannonball fell directly through the kitchen fireplace of the McLean’s house, which was being used as headquarters for the Confederate Army, destroying the dinner that was being prepared by the stationed officers - something that was noted not without humor by the Brigadier General P. G. T. Beauregard.

The McLean family moved to Appomattox, Virginia trying to escape the war, but just four years later, General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant in McLean's parlor, marking the conclusion of the Civil War. Unintentionally, McLean was a prime witness of one of America’s most defining conflicts. Later, he said of this: "The war began in my front yard and ended in my front parlor."

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Genghis Khan's vast empire and brutal military campaigns had an unexpected impact on the Earth's climate. A recent study suggests that the Mongol invasions in the 13th century led to a significant reduction in global carbon dioxide levels, as large areas of cultivated land returned to forests.

This had the unintentional effect of scrubbing as much as 700 million tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere, roughly equivalent to the global annual consumption of gasoline today. This drastic ecological shift highlights the effect that land use, and particularly deforestation can have on our planet at a large scale.