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!