Random Historical Figure Would Win In An All-Night Drinking Competition (14 items)

• 

  (#1) André the Giant

  • Dec. at 47 (1946-1993)

  Years Active: André the Giant was known to drink heavily when he was at the peak of his celebrity as a wrestler in the 1970s and 1980s. 

  How Much He Drank: André's legendary size was the result of gigantism - and one of the side effects was that he could drink a lot of alcohol without it significantly affecting him. Wrestling referee Tim White claimed that André drank wine "like most people drink ice water." He once downed "156 beers in one sitting." 

  His Legacy: Princess Bride co-star Cary Elwes believes André the Giant used alcohol to deal with the physical pain he was in following years of wear and tear on the wrestling circuit.

  Signature Drink: He liked to drink "The American," a 40-ounce pitcher filled with a bunch of different liquors. And he wouldn't down just one "American," but several in one sitting.
• 

  (#2) Babe Ruth

  • Dec. at 53 (1895-1948)

  Years Active: Famed ballplayer George Herman Ruth - AKA "The Babe" - started drinking young. One story claims that Ruth, all of 7 years old in 1902, had been involved in a bar fight. The incident got him sent to reform school. Though he slowed his drinking for the sake of his health in the 1940s, he continued imbibing until his passing from cancer in 1948. 

  How Much He Drank: Everything about Babe Ruth was larger than life - including his drinking habits. He apparently drank so much that he developed a very high tolerance for alcohol. When a bartender tried to get him drunk before a game against the Chicago White Sox, the plan fizzled - the copious alcohol had no noticeable impact on Ruth, and his New York Yankees ended up winning the game.

  His Legacy: He was known as much for his alcohol-fueled partying as his dominance on the diamond. During Prohibition, bootleggers personally delivered alcohol to the Babe's home.

  Signature Drink: He never turned down a scotch.
• 

  (#3) Peter the Great

  • Dec. at 53 (1672-1725)

  Years Active: Peter the Great of Russia knew how to hold his liquor. But after he developed a friendship with the Swiss officer Franz Lefort in the late 1680s and early 1690s, Peter's drinking increased. According to biographer Lindsey Hughes, Lefort was an enabler: He was responsible for "encouraging Peter to indulge in debauchery and excessive drinking." Peter remained a heavy drinker until his passing in 1725.

  How Much He Drank: As estimated by vodka scholar Mark Lawrence Schrad, Peter started his day with "a pint of vodka" at breakfast and could consume up to 40 glasses of wine before bedtime.

  His Legacy: Peter loved the social aspect of alcohol so much that he started a drinking club. Revelries lasted all day and night, and the club even created the "penalty shot" of vodka. Peter also understood the political power of vodka and gave the state a monopoly on the liquor.

  Signature Drink: Though he frequently enjoyed vodka and wine, Peter actually discovered his favorite drink in England: brandy laced with peppers, a drink as steely and strong as the tsar himself.
• 

  (#4) Hunter S. Thompson

  • Dec. at 68 (1937-2005)

  Years Active: American writer and pioneering gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson began drinking at a young age. By the time he was 14 in 1951, he was already addicted.

  How Much He Drank: Substances were by his side as soon as he started the day at 3 pm until he ended it the following morning, including frequent rounds of booze and coke.

  His Legacy: Thompson believed substances like alcohol had an impact on his ability to work and function, and he secured his reputation as a counter-culture figure with quips like, "I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they've worked for me." He also wrote frequently about alcohol in general and bourbon in particular. Ultimately, decades of hard drinking and drug use wore down his body.

  Signature Drink: Thompson was from Louisville, KY, and appropriately favored bourbon.
• 

  (#5) Ernest Hemingway

  • Dec. at 62 (1899-1961)

  Years Active: American writer Ernest Hemingway claims he began drinking at the age of 15 in 1914, but his intake increased after his father took his life in 1937. 

  How Much He Drank: It's hard to separate fact from fiction about Hemingway's larger-than-life imbibing habits, but he was seldom without a drink. He once supposedly tossed back no fewer than 17 daiquiries at a Cuban bar.

  His Legacy: Hemingway's love of alcohol is arguably as famous as his writing career. Alcohol made numerous cameos in his writings. But his love of alcohol weakened his body, and Hemingway had problems with his stomach and liver.

  Signature Drink: Though he is reputed to have favored daiquiris from Havana's El Floridita bar, one of his favorite drinks was a rum-based cocktail conjured up by the skipper of his boat.
• 

  (#6) Winston Churchill

  • Dec. at 91 (1874-1965)

  Years Active: Winston Churchill seems to have first cultivated his taste for alcohol while he was a young officer in India and South Africa. This means he took drinking seriously from the age of 22 in 1895.

  How Much He Drank: Churchill's love of alcohol may have been overstated, but it's true that he enjoyed a stiff drink pretty regularly. He consumed alcohol throughout the day, from wine at breakfast to champagne with guests late into the night. Though Churchill imbibed frequently, he abhorred drunkenness and once said, "I have taken more out of alcohol than alcohol has taken out of me."

  His Legacy: Alcohol was a significant feature of Churchill's diplomacy. He liked to entertain fellow world leaders - including FDR and Stalin - and bonded with them over drinks, sometimes into the early morning hours. His drinking became a political liability only when Hitler's Germany began issuing propaganda that painted Churchill as a drunk.

  Signature Drink: Churchill drank everything from champagne to gin but whisky was his staple. His reputed signature drink was a Johnnie Walker-based cocktail.
• 

  (#7) James Buchanan

  • Dec. at 77 (1791-1868)

  Years Active: James Buchanan's drinking habits probably first developed after the future 15th president entered Dickinson College as a 16-year-old in 1807. Buchanan emphasized that Dickinson had a robust drinking culture: "To be a sober, plodding industrious youth was to incur the ridicule of the mass of the students."

  How Much He Drank: Buchanan had a reputation in Washington as a hard drinker. He once hosted a soirée at a saloon. He and his guests tore through 450 bottles of wine and champagne. Buchanan's personal drinking habits were just as hardcore. He consumed 10 gallons of whiskey a week. When one journalist tried and failed to keep up with Buchanan's drinking, he marveled, "The Madeira and sherry that he has consumed would fill more than one old cellar."

  His Legacy: His heavy drinking may have impacted his ability to do his job as president. Since Buchanan is widely considered one of the worst presidents, largely for his failure to prevent the Civil War, his love of alcohol may have had serious consequences for the United States.

  Signature Drink: Buchanan enjoyed Madeira.
• 

  (#8) Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother

  • Dec. at 102 (1900-2002)

  Years Active: Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, AKA Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, grew up in the booze-soaked British aristocracy of the early 20th century. By the time she was in her early 20s, alcohol had become part of her daily ritual. A diary entry from 1923, for example, records that she usually enjoyed sherry at 4:30 am after returning home from all-night parties. She kept drinking until her passing in 2002 at the age of 101.

  How Much She Drank: The Queen Mother maintained a rigid drinking schedule. She began with some gin and Dubonnet in the morning, had red wine and port with lunch, and drank two glasses of champagne with dinner. 

  Her Legacy: As an old-school royal, the Queen Mother seems to have held her alcohol remarkably well - though it's possible booze may have helped loosen her famously sharp tongue - so public incidents of drunkenness didn't really happen. But alcohol nonetheless kept her running, and she was known to bring Dubonnet with her on outings.

  Signature Drink: Her beverage of choice was a blend of gin and Dubonnet - which is now known as the Queen Mother Cocktail.
• 

  (#9) Boris Yeltsin

  • Dec. at 76 (1931-2007)

  Years Active: In his youth, Boris Yeltsin was aggressively anti-alcohol - but that changed in adulthood as his political star ascended in the 1960s and 1970s. Health concerns prompted him to reduce his alcohol intake in 1996, 11 years before his passing.

  How Much He Drank: Political culture in the Soviet Union and Russia involved alcohol, so Yeltsin drank throughout the day. Bill Clinton's administration even made a point of discussing issues with Yeltsin early in the day, when he was less likely to be drunk.

  His Legacy: Yeltsin's drinking habits caused minor global stirs. He once drunkenly decided to conduct a band in Germany. During a state visit to America, Yeltsin got drunk and emerged on the streets of Washington, DC, in nothing but his underwear. He had a hankering for pizza and went on the hunt for a slice. Ironically, despite or in spite of his love of alcohol, Yeltsin raised taxes on vodka, Russia's national drink.

  Signature Drink: Unsurprisingly, vodka appears to have been his booze of choice.
• 

  (#10) Alexander the Great

  • Dec. at 33 (355 BC-322 BC)

  Years Active: Alexander the Great - one of the ancient world's most prolific conquerors - probably started drinking at a young age in the 340s BCE. Alcohol was a part of his family's culture, and his father Philip II was reputed to have been a heavy drinker.

  How Much He Drank: Drinking undiluted wine to excess was part of the social, civic, and ritual life of the Macedonian court of Alexander and his father. Alexander probably drank wine every day - especially since it was safer than drinking water. 

  His Legacy: Alexander's excessive drinking actually got people slain. He drunkenly javelined his friend Cleitus in 328 BCE - Cleitus had criticized Alexander's embrace of Persian culture. Alexander also routinely sponsored drinking contests - including some in which people perished - and destroyed the Persian city Persepolis after binge drinking. 

  Signature Drink: Alexander guzzled wine, the favorite alcohol of the ancient Mediterranean world.
• 

  (#11) Ulysses S. Grant

  • Dec. at 63 (1822-1885)

  Years Active: Ulysses S. Grant - hero of the American Civil War and 18th President of the United States - started drinking young. He secretly drank through his father's supply of medicinal blackberry cordial, probably in the late 1830s or early 1840s. Grant's heavy drinking began when he was serving in the Mexican-American War in 1848. He drank on and off the remainder of his life, which ended in 1885.

  How Much He Drank: During his life and after his passing, debates have raged about the extent to which Grant drank. But it is likely he struggled with heavy drinking. Every time he tried to quit, he started drinking again. He seems to have imbibed more heavily when he was away from his wife Julia who, according to Susan Cheever, was able to "moderate his drinking."

  His Legacy: Grant's drinking affected his career - at least temporarily. He was asked to resign his position in the Army after appearing drunk at a function in 1854. Though it's difficult to say how alcohol impacted his command of Union forces, many in Washington worried about his drinking habits. 

  Signature Drink: Grant loved Old Crow whiskey.
• 

  (#12) Tiberius

  • Dec. at 78 (41 BC-37)

  Years Active: Ancient Romans drank watered-down wine throughout the day, and children even had a little bit of it. Tiberius was probably no exception and perhaps started drinking during his childhood in the 30s BCE. 

  How Much He Drank: He apparently drank so heavily that his soldiers called him "Biberious."

  His Legacy: Though ancient Romans became increasingly moralistic and condemned public drunkenness, Tiberius never let the mores of his people stop him from having fun. After 12 years of rule, Tiberius abandoned his capital for his villa on the island of Capri in the Bay of Naples. Under the cloak of Capri, he indulged his appetites. Roman biographer Suetonius recounts - perhaps falsely - that Tiberius hosted alcohol-fueled, secret adult parties there.

  Signature Drink: Like many Romans, Tiberius drank wine.
• 

  (#13) Mark Twain

  • Dec. at 75 (1835-1910)

  Years Active: American writer Mark Twain - pen name of Samuel Clemens - joked in his autobiography, "For many years I believed that I remembered helping my grandfather drink his whisky toddy when I was six weeks old." Though he always preferred tobacco to alcohol, he went through what one biographer has described as "a period of hard drinking" in the 1860s when he was in his late 20s and early 30s.

  How Much He Drank: Twain was a self-described "man of convivial ways" who liked "social drinking." What exactly he meant by that remains unclear. Regardless, for several years Twain drank whisky before bed every night. 

  His Legacy: Alcohol often appeared in his writings and witticisms. 

  Signature Drink: He loved whisky in general and favored a simple cocktail of scotch, sugar, and lemon.
• 

  (#14) Karl Marx

  • Dec. at 65 (1818-1883)

  Years Active: Karl Marx's drinking first flourished as a university student in Bonn and Berlin in the late 1830s. He went on wild, rowdy drinking binges with friends. He stopped binging in the 1850s.

  How Much He Drank: The co-author of The Communist Manifesto was a hard drinker and even went on multi-day "benders."

  His Legacy: Alcohol culture played an important role in stirring Marx's political consciousness and shaping his writing career. He was sensitive to the struggles of German wine producers in the 1840s, bonded with intellectual partner Friedrich Engels over beer, and discussed political and economic ideology in London pubs. 

  Signature Drink: Though he loved wine, Marx - ever the champion of the working classes - also enjoyed a humble pint of beer.

New Random Displays    Display All By Ranking