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Here's a fun history fact about mosquitoes as we face a mosquito invasion

It's mosquito season, and Houston has the dubious honor of being one of the worst cities in the U.S. for the pesky insects, my co-reporter Chevall Pryce informs us.

The recent rains have caused an explosion in the mosquito population, and it's only going to get worse as the temperatures continue to rise, Chevall reports.

Since I am a huge history nerd, I thought I'd drop in a fun history fact about mosquitoes that you probably didn't know.

Mosquitoes are the reason we have one of the most popular happy hour drinks of all time.

When the British invaded India, they found themselves unprepared to face the deadliest animal on the planet. British troops were dropping left and right from malaria. The British Royal Navy started giving its soldiers quinine, which worked reasonably well at preventing malaria, especially if consumed after a bite.

Unfortunately, quinine in its pure form tastes so bad that even Brits complained about it, so scientist Johann Jacob Schweppe, who had just figured out how to carbonate water, suggested mixing the quinine into the fizzy water. The taste improved, and we can still purchase this concoction today as Schweppes tonic water, although the amount of quinine is insignificant.

With their taste buds satisfied, the soldiers started looking around to see what else could be improved with tonic water. Limes, issued by the British Royal Navy to prevent scurvy, were the next thing sailors chucked into their tonic water.

The next logical step, apparently, was just to throw gin into the mix because this was the 1800s and why not?

And thus, the gin and tonic was born. The Brits drank it in the afternoon when mosquitoes were most active in order to benefit from the anti-malaria qualities. Every afternoon, the British would stop what they were doing and slug gin and tonics.

So mosquitoes may be the deadliest and most annoying on the planet, but we have them to thank for the reason it's socially acceptable to drink booze on patios in the early afternoon.