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Absinthe
Timeline
by Erowid
Middle Ages Wormwood drink used as a cure for flatulence. 1  
1731 G. Smith publishes a recipe for proof-spirits infused with wormwood and sweetened with sugar in his Complete Body of Distilling. 2  
1792 Dr. Pierre Ordinaire writes a recipe for absinthe, and becomes one of the first to promote the virtues of the wormwood drink.   
1797 Henri-Louis Pernod opens his first absinthe distillery in Switzerland.   
1805 Henri-Louis Pernod opens larger absinthe distillery in Pontarlier, France.   
1840s French soldiers fighting in Algeria in the 1840s drank absinthe as a preventative against malaria and other diseases. This sparked the first big surge in absinthe's popularity in France. 3  
1844 Paul Marie Verlaine is born.    [More Info]
1850 Henri-Louis Pernod dies.   
1859 Manet paints The Absinthe Drinker.   
1859 Baudelaire meets Manet.   
Nov 1871 Verlaine and Rimbaud form relationship. Become inseperable for many years.   
1876 Degas paints L'Absinthe    [More Info]
1878 8 million liters of Absinthe imported in the United States.   
1887 Van Gogh paints "Still Life with Absinthe".    [More Info]
1891 Rimbaud dies in France.   
1895 Maignan paints "The Green Muse".    [More Info]
1901 Picasso paints The Absinthe Drinker, oil on canvas, and Woman Drinking Absinthe, oil on canvas.   
Aug 11, 1901 Pernod plant in Pontarlier catches fire when struck by lightning. The fire burns for four days.   
1905 Absinthe banned in Belgium.   
Aug 28, 1905 Jean Lanfray murders his wife while supposedly drunk on many liquors, including and especially absinthe.   
May 15, 1906 Vaud legislature in Switzerland votes to ban absinthe   
Feb 2, 1907 Grand Conseil of Switzerland votes to ban the retail sale of absinthe and its imitations.   
Jul 5, 1908 Absinthe oficially banned in Switzerland (Article 32 of federal constitution).   
1910 French production of Absinthe reaches 36 million liters anually. 4  
1911 Picasso paints Glass of Absinthe, an "analytic cubist" oil on canvas.   
1912 Picasso paints Bottle of Pernod and Glass, a "synthetic cubist" oil on canvas.   
Jul 25, 1912 US Department of Agriculture issues Food Inspection Decision 147, banning absinthe in the United States.   
1913 Charles Foley's one-act play Absinthe performed for the first time at the Grand Guignol in Paris.   
1914 Picasso creates Glass of Absinthe, a painted bronze sculpture.   
1915 Absinthe banned in France by Chamber of Deputies.   
Mar 16, 1915 Absinthe officially banned in France.   
1990 Wormwood extracts found to be as effective in supressing malaria as chloroquine   
Dec 6, 2008 Entheogenesis Australis Symposium    [Details] [More Info]


References
  1.   Pendell D. Pharmako / Poeia. Mercury House, 1995.
  2.   Padosch SA, Lachenmeier DW, Kroener LU. "Absinthism: a fictitious 19th century syndrome with present impact". Subst Abuse Treat Prev Policy. 2006;1(1):14.
  3.   Pendell D. Pharmako / Poeia. Mercury House, 1995.
  4.   Ott J. Pharmacotheon, The Natural Products Co. 1993.