Dorothy Parker was a Brilliant Slut and Four Other Sundries to Entertain Your Friends at the Bar Tonight

The godfather of modern libertarianism, Albert Nock, was in his prime during Prohibition. Needless to say, he railed against it, noting once that it’s absurd to regulate something that, in nature, flows as freely as water.

He’s right, of course. And the fact that it flows as freely as water has made it a form of recreation and escape for nearly 10,000 years. We don’t know for sure why the Chinese in the Yellow River Valley (where 9,000-year-old pottery with alcohol residue was found) were drinking alcohol, but they weren’t Neanderthals, so presumably, there was a large measure of recreation involved.

It’s no surprise that there’s a ton of interesting and fun alcohol trivia.

I’m working on a definitive list of such, but for now, I offer this batch:

1. Government Created the Great London Gin Craze

The Great London Gin Craze was a pretty scary thing: kids getting soused, women selling themselves for a gin and tonic with lemon spritzer (okay, I embellish).

It resulted from government interference. William of Orange and his allies in Parliament wanted to punish the French for, among other things, their ongoing…