Short answers, pulled from the story.
Scholars debate the origins of vodka, with both Poland and Russia claiming credit. The world's first written mention of the word wódka appears in 1405 in Polish court documents from the Palatinate of Sandomierz, while a type of distilled liquor designated by the Russian word vodka came to Russia in the late 14th century, introduced by Genoese ambassadors who brought aqua vitae to Moscow and presented it to Grand Prince Dmitry Donskoy in 1386.
Vodka is a diminutive of the Russian word voda, meaning 'water', so vodka translates literally as 'little water'. The word entered English from Russian. The first appearance of vodka in English literature dates to around the late 18th century.
Since the 1890s, standard vodkas have been 40% alcohol by volume, equivalent to 80 U.S. proof. The European Union requires a minimum of 37.5% ABV for vodka, while the United States requires a minimum of 40% ABV.
Vodka was originally used as medicine. Stefan Falimierz, writing in 1534, asserted that vodka could 'increase fertility and awaken lust'. The spirit was also used as a cosmetics cleanser, and the word wódka in its earliest 1405 Polish usage referred to chemical compounds rather than a consumable drink.
Ivan III established the first Russian state monopoly on vodka in 1474. Taxes on vodka provided at times up to 40% of state revenue in Tsarist Russia. By 1911, vodka comprised 89% of all alcohol consumed in Russia, and recent estimates put that share at 70% as of 2001.
Absolut Vodka was launched in 1979, drawing its name from an older Swedish product called Absolut Rent Brännvin, meaning 'absolutely pure brännvin', which had been created in 1879. Sweden had been producing unflavored brännvin under various names since at least the 1960s, before such products began to be called vodka.