There would be one certain comfort you could rely on if you were to turn your time machine to "random," just to see what era or area you popped up in: someone, somewhere in the world, would be getting destroyed. Let's go, mankind! However, which culture actually started the whole alcohol thing, looking back? In order to avoid being clichéd and blaming the Irish, you need be aware that the earliest records of alcohol usage date from China, per NBC News. Although an early wine made of honey, rice, and fruit might have given those people a terrible hangover 9,000 years ago, the science of alcohol production was still in its infancy.
Whoever understood first that consuming fermented fruits causes a crazy and dizzy reaction—or that it wouldn't kill you—is unknown, but after everyone caught on, the world has never been the same. For instance, there is proof of wine made from grapes in Iran dating back to 5,400 BCE. History claims that the origins of beer may be traced to the Middle East, where some 5,000 years ago, the Sumerians celebrated with alcohol and even worshiped Ninkasi, a goddess of beer.
And since alcohol and people go together like peanut butter and jelly, this situation is likely to persist for some time to come. It makes sense why "Prohibition" as a whole didn't work out.
The courageous (and quite old) man who created the vending machine