Today we celebrate Irish Coffee Day. This day is observed annually on January 25th.
Irish coffee, a drink made of Irish Whiskey, yes you heard me, whiskey with heavy whipped cream, brown sugar, and of course black coffee. It is a delicious cocktail drink if you need something to warm you during the cold weather. The cream used in some bars to make what is sold as “Irish coffee” is sometimes sprayed from a can. Some bartenders gently shake fresh cream to achieve a smooth layer on top of the coffee.
In 1942, Joe Sheridan, a bartender at Foynes Airbase in Ireland, invented the delicious cocktail and offered it to the group of passengers. The popularity of the coffee or cocktail has been famous ever since. Different variations of coffee cocktails pre-date the now-classic Irish coffee by at least 100 years.
From the mid-19th century, the Pharisäer and the Fiaker were served in Viennese coffee houses; both were coffee cocktails served in a glass, topped with whipped cream. The former was also known in northern Germany and Denmark around that time.
So, today, if you are feeling adventurous and cold, whipped up some Irish Coffee and cheers. Share on social media some photos using #IrishCoffeeDay.
1980 Paul McCartney is released from a Tokyo jail and deported from Japan
Paul McCartney’s arrival at Tokyo’s Narita International Airport on January 16, 1980, marked his first visit to Japan since the Beatles tour of 1966. The occasion was a planned 11-city concert tour by his band Wings. Instead, Paul’s visit was limited to a nine-day stint in the Tokyo Narcotics Detention Center, which ended on January 25, 1980.
McCartney was found to be carrying nearly half a pound of marijuana in his baggage upon arrival at Narita—an amount that Paul would later assure Japanese authorities was intended solely for his personal use. The amount was large enough, however, to warrant a smuggling charge and a potential seven-year prison sentence. Given Japan’s reputation for rigorous enforcement of its strict anti-drug laws, it was by no means a foregone conclusion that McCartney would escape trial and possible imprisonment, yet he was released and quickly deported from Japan on January 25, 1980, prior to making any appearance in court.
That a celebrity of McCartney’s stature would avoid the consequences that a less-famous drug smuggler might have faced was hardly surprising. After all, who could blame Japanese authorities for applying a double-standard to a prisoner whose sing-alongs inside the jailhouse and screaming fans outside threatened to create a significant distraction from the normal workings of the justice system?
(excerpted from https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/paul-mccartney-is-released-from-a-tokyo-jail-and-deported-from-japan)
