Bar

The oldest bar in the world, the Cave Bar, occupies a 2,000-year-old Nabatean rock tomb in Petra, Jordan, where drinkers can sup into the small hours on summer nights.

The oldest bar in the western world is in Ireland. Archeological records have found that the walls of Sean’s Bar have been around, and serving, since 900 AD. Further, there are records of every owner of the pub back to its 10th century founding. It opened over 1100 years ago.

The façade of Sean's Bar. Wikipedia

Abraham Lincoln’s bodyguard, a drunk previously reprimanded for drinking on the job, was not at his post to protect the American president the night Lincoln died. Instead, he was at the Star Saloon next door boozing; the same bar where John Wilkes Booth was building up the courage to shoot the President.

In 1896, New York passed a pre-prohibition drinking law, the Raines law, to reduce Sunday drinking. The law had a loophole allowing bars to serve alcohol only with a meal. Staff added a sandwich to every drink order, then took it away, serving it to the next customer - the sandwich often lasted all day.

In 1977 a group of Chicago Sun-Times journalists bought a dive bar. They used it as a front to uncover and expose widespread political corruption and payoffs.

A 1700 year old baobab tree in Modjadjiskloof, South Africa had a 15-person full bar inside its 155 foot (47 meters) wide trunk called the Big Baobab Tree Bar. The bar closed and the tree eventually fell over in 2017.

Bars in the Veltins-Arena, a major football ground in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, are interconnected by a 5-kilometre (3.1 mi) long beer pipeline. With 15 small restaurants, 50 grilling stations and 35 cafés, the stadium can serve up to 2,500 kg (5,512 lbs) of sausages, 7,000 pretzels, and 1,000 square meters (10764 sq ft) of pizza in one day. These catering areas are connected to a 5 kilometer (3.1 mile) long beer-line, supplying them with roughly 52,000 liters (11,438 gallons) of beer per match day.

Wisconsin has the same number of bars as California despite a population that’s 85% smaller. 1 bar for every 1,862 residents compared to California’s 1 for every 11,962 residents.

When an Indian law required bars to be at least 500 meters (1,640 ft) from certain roads, one bar built a maze in front of its entrance to triple the walking distance from the door to the street. Regulators accepted this solution.

The Front Porch bar in Denver, Colorado, features Flip Night every Wednesday where you flip a coin after you order your drink. If you guess correctly, you get your drink for free. If you get it wrong you pay double.