A Brief History of Oktoberfest

Drink Up
Originally organized in 1810 to celebrate the marriage of Prince Ludwig to Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen, Oktoberfest has been marked in Munich every fall since then but one (in 1813, the festivities were canceled because Bavaria was involved in the Napoleonic War). The idea of making the celebration an annual event came from the newlyweds, who deemed the party so great that they wanted to repeat it every year. But by 1819, the management of the carnival booths, contests, foods and beverages that had sprouted up around the festivities was taken over the city fathers. By 1928, when the above photo was taken, Oktoberfest had already achieved wide renown, with tens of thousands of guests descending upon Munich each year.

• The World's Wackiest Holidays