Thursday Things: Old Wine Edition
29 August 2024. Vol 6 No 35. By Dan McGirt. #264
Thursday Things is here! This week we sample an old vintage and ponder the passage of time. The passage of time.
Maybe the empire fell, but the wine is still good. Photo by Briana Tozour on Unsplash
If you enjoy this edition, please click the heart icon in the header or at the end of the post to let me know.
Oldest wine
When you dig up a tomb and find skeletal remains submerged in a reddish liquid, my first thought would be “Vampire! Don’t touch it!”
But archaeologists aren’t like me:
Oldest Wine in History Discovered in Ancient Roman Tomb
In 2019, a Roman tomb in Carmona was uncovered, revealing the remains of six individuals—Hispana, Senicio, two other men, and two women, whose names remain unknown. These inhabitants from 2,000 years ago likely never envisioned their funerary rituals gaining significance in the modern era. During one such ritual, the skeletal remains of one of the men were submerged in a liquid contained within a glass funerary urn.
This liquid, which over time has acquired a reddish hue, has been preserved since the first century AD, and a team with the Department of Organic Chemistry at the University of Cordoba, led by Professor José Rafael Ruiz Arrebola, in collaboration with the City of Carmona, has identified it as the oldest wine ever discovered, thus topping the Speyer wine bottle discovered in 1867 and dated to the fourth century AD, preserved in the Historical Museum of Pfalz (Germany).
Okay, fine. It was just some very old wine. This time.
The president’s grandson
John Tyler was the 10th president of the United States, in office from 1841 to 1845. He is notable for being the first vice president to assume the presidency upon the death of his predecessor, William Henry Harrison, who died about a month after taking office. Remember that on trivia night!
John Tyler was also the first president to marry while in office. Which is also fun trivia.
Genealogy of John Tyler and his Descendants
John Tyler was the most prolific of all American President: he had 15 children and two wives. In 1813, Tyler married Letitia Christian, the daughter of a Virginia planter. They had eight children. She was an invalid when Tyler became president and made only one public appearance, at her daughter Elizabeth's marriage in 1842. Letitia Christian Tyler, the President's first wife, died in the White House in September, 1842. A few months later, Tyler began courting 23-year-old Julia Gardiner, a beautiful and wealthy New Yorker. When they were married in New York City on June 26, 1844, Tyler became the first president to be wed while in office. He was 30 years older than his bride. As FIRST LADY, the new Mrs. Tyler captivated Washington with the size and brilliance of her White House receptions.
John Tyler is also notable for yet another interesting reason — He was a vampire!
No, just kidding.
But Tyler had a lot of kids. And a lot of grandkids. And one of them is still living!
You see, John Tyler had a son, Lyon, at age 63 in 1853.
Lyon had a son, Harrison, at age 75 in 1928.
Harrison Tyler is now 95. Still alive, at last report.
His grandfather was president in the 1840s.
The United States of America is not that old.
And to take it a step deeper, John Tyler was a close friend of his Virginia neighbor Thomas Jefferson. He even gave the eulogy at Jefferson’s funeral in 1826.
So there is a man alive today whose grandfather knew Thomas Jefferson.
Mind boggled.
John Tyler and his grandson. Image: via X.
Thank you for reading!
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Are there any special government accommodations to the grandson?