Numbers in the News: The Boston Tea Party

This month marks the 250th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party, which helped spark the American Revolution.

The number of crates of tea American colonists tossed into Boston Harbor in protest against English taxation. This became known as the Boston Tea Party.

When people in China first began to brew tea as a medicinal drink.

The leaves of one plant, Camellia sinensis, are used to make most varieties of tea, including black, green, and oolong.

The amount of tea consumed worldwide in 2023—enough to make 2.5 trillion cups of the drink!

Milligrams of caffeine—a stimulating compound—in 8 ounces of black tea. That’s about half as much caffeine as in 8 oz. of coffee.

^{SOURCES: UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA, STATISTA}