While amusing, most of those "facts" are made up and that email has been going around, in one form or another, for quite a few years. Here's a snopes on most of it:
http://www.snopes.com/language/phrases/1500.asp
And, while I don't have a good source for it right now, I believe that "on the wagon" arose around the turn of the 20th century in the US along with the temperance movement.
Still a funny read, though
