Most travelers know that the Caribbean islands are well-versed in rum, but Barbados goes one better because this is where rum was discovered. A tavern owner in Bridgetown one day early-17th century was searching for an empty shipping barrel when he inadvertently stumbled across one filled with a concoction worth selling -- a barrel of sugar cane fermented over time. Well, Mr. Rumball -- the tavern owner -- knew a good thing when he tasted it and soon the Caribbean's signature beverage was being served and sold all over the island -- and very quickly well-beyond. Presumably asking for a "tot" of Rumball's elixir was too cumbersome and the name was shortened to rum. The drink's popularity was so pervasive that the King of England decreed that the Royal Navy should partake on a daily basis and George Washington insisted that a barrel be available at his 1789 inauguration.