Home Today's Reason to Drink February 23: The First Gutenberg Bible is Printed

February 23: The First Gutenberg Bible is Printed

On this day in 1455, the first copy of the Gutenberg Bible was printed in the town of Mainz, in what is now present-day Germany. It was the opening shout of the printing revolution that would change society forever. Now, the Bible seems to have a mixed opinion when it comes to drinking. Sometimes it speaks against it, sometimes it praises it to high Heaven. Sometimes it’s just observational. Noah, the Ark’s builder and captain, was the Bible’s first drunk. Then he drank of the wine and was drunk, and lay uncovered in his tent, observes Genesis 9:21. And who can blame him? Being cooped up with all those screeching animals for 40 days would make the founder of the Anti-Saloon League turn to strong drink. He got loaded, and God made no effort to stop him. Noah was also, quite  apparently, the first recorded victim of a hangover. When he found out his youngest son, Ham, had made sport of him for passing out naked, he promptly condemned Ham’s son, Canaan, to a lifetime of servitude. The moral being, never snicker at a red-wine hangover. They’re cruel in at least two senses of the word.