Thursday, November 20, 2014

Have Some More, Mr. Edison...!

It's not surprising to me that a lot of famous folks relied on some kind of drugs from time to time. What really surprised me were who some of those folks were!

Seems to me that several well known people from our past flirted with drugs and/or alcohol off and on to help sharpen their minds. Guess we can be glad not many went overboard in their use.

Thomas Edison



A famous inventor and holder of over 1,000 patents, Edison’s productivity (and frequent insomnia) may be attributed to his fondness for a drink that prominently featured cocaine. The drink, known as Vin Mariani, was a Bordeaux wine treated with coca leaves, making cocaine the active ingredient.

Edison often derided the work ethics of his colleagues, boasting that he would work for up to 72 hours before taking a brief nap. That habit certainly seems more plausible when cocaine enters the equation.

Edison was not the only one fond of imbibing this particular drink, as President William McKinley was also a frequent user. The most surprising user, however, has to be His Holiness Pope Leo XIII, who was so enthralled with it that he gave its inventor, Angelo Mariani of Corsica, a medal of appreciation.

If you would like to see who else dabbled in the use of drugs, you can find a list over on Listverse. You might be surprised at some of the names!

Coffee out on the patio this morning. Shaping up to be a nice day!

7 comments:

Chickenmom said...

Can't get on Listverse - must be overwhelmed! I'll try later. Would love to sit ourside for coffee - cold here at 19 - I'll bring the Dunkins.

Mamahen said...

I'll have to look later...hubby has a very earlie Dr appointment so just a quick cup this morning!

deb harvey said...

shows that it may not be the big scary killer depicted by those who make the millions from it as long as it is illegal.
deb h.

linda m said...

Would love to sit on the patio . It is still cold here with a single digit wind chill. I'm checking out Listverse after my coffee.

JO said...

I bet there are plenty well known and important people out there who did lots of drugs and lots of alcohol.

Still at 35 degrees here this morning but not so bad now that I have heat. But coffee out on the patio sounds good.

Sixbears said...

Well that explains his not needing to sleep like normal people. Wonder what else it explains about him?

HermitJim said...

Hey Phyllis...
Sometimes I reckon that happens. Interesting place, though.

Thanks for coming by today!



Hey Mamahen...
Hope all goes well at the doctor's office.

Thanks for dropping by today!



Hey Debora...
At one time plenty of the approved medicines had opium and the like in them...approved by the government!

Thanks for the visit this morning!



Hey Linda M...
Looks like we are going up into the 70s for the next couple of days. That's not too bad!

Thanks for stopping in today!



Hey Jo...
Like you said yesterday, get the heater fixed and it starts warming up.

Thanks, sweetie, for dropping by today!



Hey Sixbears...
Plenty of secrets kept by some of the big guys! Guess we will never know them all.

Thanks for coming over today!