Regarding Timothy Leary, Pete says "The guy who gave us LSD?". LSD 25 was developed by Albert Hofmann in 1938 in Germany. Timothy Leary was a psychologist who, in the 60s, strongly advocated the use of various hallucinogens, including LSD.
Artie explains that the ear piercing glass was a Goblet of Severan made for "the Emperor Elagabalus, who was a ridiculously incompetent young man". Elagabalus was not so much incompetent as totally debauched, bug-nuts crazy, and homicidally cruel. Many historians regard him as worse than Nero and Caligula combined. Regarding the goblet itself, clear glass was not invented by the Romans. All their glass was opaque/ cloudy and redish or green hue. Clear glass was perfected in the 1400s in Florence.