In 1767, the English chemist Joseph Priestley conducted an experiment in a brewery that involved hanging a bowl of distilled water above a beer vat. This unlikely set-up resulted in carbon dioxide infusing the water, resulting in carbonated water.
Priestley tasted the water and found it to his liking. He continued his experiments and published the scientific paper “Impregnating Water with Fixed Air” in 1772. But Priestley would become distracted with other projects, such as discovering oxygen and introducing the Unitarian religion to England, and he allowed his experimental work with carbonated water to be expanded by others, resulting over the years with advances in commercial production that would eventually turn into the multi-billion-dollar soft drink industry.
