19 October

Founded in 2010 (according to Wikipedia) and celebrated annually worldwide on the 19th of October, International Gin & Tonic Day is just as it sounds – an excuse to drink G&Ts. If you need an excuse?

Why the 19th of October? Apparently, International Gin and Tonic Day started in memory of Mary Edith Keyburn, a G&T fan who passed away this day in 2010, aged 95. She died with a gin and tonic by her side, smuggled into the hospital by the very people who after her passing continued to celebrate her life, and in 2012 social media propelled this from a small family and friends celebration to a global event.

Amongst mixed beverages, the G&T must be considered royalty - it's British, after all! Cocktail legend traces its origins back to the 1600s when quinine, which gives tonic its distinctive bitterness, was used to help ward off malaria, with the first quinine tonics marketed in the 1850s. Schweppes launched his London-made Indian Tonic Water in the 1870s, the name referencing the popularity of tonic water with British ex-pats in the Raj.

So we'd, of course, urge you to mark the day with a G&T, but we also suggest you try a Gin-ger & Tonic, a Pink Gin & Tonic, a G & Tea, and finish with a Tonic Boom. Perhaps also take a look at our 20 best alternatives to a G&T

Today was Black Monday

On Black Monday, 19 October 1987, when the world's stock markets crashed, the Dow Jones dropped by what is still the greatest percentage loss of all time - more than 22%.

Weirdly, even today, nobody still understands what happened. In any case, by the end of the month, the Hong Kong stock market had almost halved in value, Australia was down over 40%, and British stocks were worth less than three-quarters what they had been just two weeks earlier.

In case this memory is too much, we suggest a Black Rose, a soft, Sazerac-style cocktail that should take the edge off most financial anxieties.