Skip to main content

A Time In History

A Time In History; is a post on historical events. 

Sit back and relax with great historical moment.

Where are the coffee lovers? Come over here please, this article is on you.

THE COFFEE EXPERIMENT.

King Gustav III of Sweden ordered a coffee experiment, conducted in the second half of the 18th century. 

You want to know why? Read more. 

The study was to determine health effects of coffee.

Coffee first arrived in Sweden around 1674 and became mostly used by the 18th century when it became fashionable among the upper class, wealthy folks. 

In 1746, a royal edict was issued against coffee and tea due to "the misuse and excesses of tea and coffee drinking". 

Heavy taxes were levied on consumption, and failure to pay the tax on the substance resulted in fines and confiscation of cups and dishes. 

Later, coffee was banned completely; despite the ban, consumption continued.

King Gustav III, who viewed coffee consumption as a threat to the public health and was determined to prove its negative health effects, ordered a scientific experiment to be carried out.

The king ordered the experiment to be conducted using two identical twins. 

Both of the twins had been tried for the crimes they had committed and condemned to death. 

Their sentences were commuted to life imprisonment on the condition that one of the twins drink three pots of coffee, and the other twin, drink the same amount of tea, every day for the rest of their lives.

Two physicians were appointed to supervise the experiment and report its finding to the king.

Unfortunately, both doctors died, presumably of natural causes, before the experiment was completed.

Gustav III, who was assassinated in 1792, also died before seeing the final results.

Let's get back to the twins being used for the experiment. The twins lived to their 80s.

The tea drinker was the first to die, at age 83; it is unknown when the coffee drinker died.

In 1794, the government once again tried to impose a ban on coffee. The ban, which was renewed multiple times until the 1820s, was never successful in stamping out coffee-drinking.

Once the ban was lifted, coffee became a dominant beverage in Sweden, which since has been one of the countries with the highest coffee consumption per capita in the world.

The experiment failed to prove that coffee was a dangerous beverage.

"This story is 'indeed,' captured in history books. The authenticity of the event (as always) has been questioned by some. Nonetheless, we did enjoy reading, 'A Time In History.' Don't we?"

Reference: Wikepadia, Pictures credit: Foodlocate, Unsplash.



Comments

Post a Comment

Type your comments here

Popular posts from this blog

Jeff Bezos With GF Lauren Sanchez At The Miami Grand Prix

On Sunday, 06 May 2023, Jeff Bezos and his girlfriend of almost four years, Lauren Sánchez were at the F1 Miami Grand Prix. Jeff Bezos And Lauren Sanchez Top Left At The F1 Miami Grand Prix, Qualifying, Miami International Autodrome, Miami Gardens, Florida, USA – 06 May 2023 Lauren Sanchez, 53, a former Newscaster, was spotted in a crop top and jeans alongside her billionaire boyfriend Jeff Bezos, 59, in Miami, while attending the Miami Grand Prix. They held hands as they arrived at the Formula One Grand Prix event. Jeff Bezos with a net worth of US$125 billion as of April 2023, arrived in the team village at the Formula 1 Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix in Miami, Florida on May 6, 2023. Bezos is the third-wealthiest person in the world and was the wealthiest from 2017 to 2021, according to both the Bloomberg Billionaires Index and Forbes. Credit: Hollywood life.com, Wikipedia

The CBN Reverses Its Decision And Sets New Limit On New Naira Note Withdrawal

The Central Bank of Nigeria had initially stopped the withdrawal of the new Naira notes over the counter, directing commercial banks to instead dispense the cash through their Auto Teller Machines (ATM) to the public. Thursday, 2, February 2023, the apex bank has now backtracked on that decision, it is informing the commercial banks to resume over-the-counter withdrawal of the new N200, N500 and N1,000 notes. The Central Bank of Nigeria, has set a new directive of a maximum daily payout limit of N20,000, consisting of redesigned Naira notes, to each customer.  “In line with this resolve, the Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, has directed deposit money banks (DMBs) to commence the payment of the redesigned Naira notes over the counter, subject to a maximum daily payout limit of N20,000.  “We also admonish members of the public to embrace and adopt other payment channels for their transactions.  “The Naira is our legal tender and symbol of national pride. Therefore, let us resp...

GIST!

Music superstar, David Adedeji Adeleke with the stage name Davido, has paid the bride price of his fiancée Chioma Avril Rowland aka Chef. Davido and his family members, reiterated their intentions to marry Chioma by paying her bride price in full, in the presence of her entire family. Photos from Chioma's bride price payment have surfaced online. Chioma's dad can be seen in photos taking charge of things at the meeting. The yams, drinks, and other items were presented.