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![Black Tot Day (31 July 1970) was the last day on which the Royal Navy issued sailors with a daily rum ration (the daily tot). In the 17th century, the daily drink ration for English sailors was a gallon of beer (about four litres), although frequently small beer was used with an alcohol content below 1%.[1] Due to the difficulty in storing the large quantities of liquid that this required, in 1655 a half pint of rum was made equivalent and became preferred to beer. Over time, drunkenness on board naval vessels increasingly became a problem and the ration was formalised in naval regulations by Admiral Edward Vernon in 1740 and ordered to be mixed with water in a 4:1 water to rum ratio and split into two servings per day.[2]In the 19th century, there was a change in the attitude towards alcohol due to continued discipline problems in the navy. In 1824 the size of the tot was halved to one-quarter of an imperial pint (142 ml) in an effort to improve the situation. In 1850, the Admiralty's Grog Committee, convened to look into the issues surrounding the rum ration, recommended that it be eliminated completely. However, rather than ending it the navy further halved it to one-eighth of an imperial pint (71 ml) per day, eliminating the evening serving of the ration.[3] This led to the ending of the ration for officers in 1881 and warrant officers in 1918.[citation needed]On 17 December 1969 the Admiralty Board issued a written answer to a question from the MP for Woolwich East, Christopher Mayhew, saying "The Admiralty Board concludes that the rum issue is no longer compatible with the high standards of efficiency required now that the individual's tasks in ships are concerned with complex, and often delicate, machinery and systems on the correct functioning of which people's lives may depend". This led to a debate in the House of Commons on the evening of 28 January 1970, now referred to as the 'Great Rum Debate', started by James Wellbeloved, MP for Erith and Crayford, who believed that the ration should not be removed. The debate lasted an hour and 15 minutes and closed at 10:29pm with a decision that the rum ration was no longer appropriate.[4]31 July 1970 w](https://scontent-cdt1-1.cdninstagram.com/vp/4d15a98c8d2c32e66bca805a7d848b01/5DCCDB74/t51.2885-15/e35/c0.77.617.617a/67402673_2228582400785498_3380899132010596090_n.jpg?_nc_ht=scontent-cdt1-1.cdninstagram.com)
