How Coffee Changed The World

Here is another in the How (fill in the blank) Changed The World series by Heather Whipps, of LiveScience.com, and today's installment is on coffee.

Did you hear the one about the goat, the monk and the Indian pilgrim?

There's no crass punchline to this story, just a punchy drink that is the world's second most important commodity, after oil.

Discovered more than 1,000 years ago by goats roaming the hills of Ethiopia, coffee today employs 500 million people, from the workers toiling in the fields of Kenya to the teenage baristas at your neighborhood Starbucks.

In a world of more than 6 billion people, enjoying a good cup of joe is one of the few fixtures of everyday life common to cultures on every continent.

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