Who invented soda and the name soda?
According to wikipedia, soft drinks date back thousands of years when people began drinking naturally carbonated beverages. The word “soda” actually comes from “soda water” which is used to carbonate soft drinks. The word “soda” refers to the sodium salts that soda water contains. Joseph Priestley is credited as the first person to make man-made carbonated water. From wikipedia: “In 1767, Englishman Joseph Priestley first discovered a method of infusing water with carbon dioxide to make carbonated water when he suspended a bowl of distilled water above a beer vat at a local brewery in Leeds, England. His invention of carbonated water, (also known as soda water), is the major and defining component of most soft drinks. Priestley found water thus treated had a pleasant taste, and he offered it to friends as a refreshing drink. In 1772, Priestley published a paper entitled Impregnating Water with Fixed Air in which he describes dripping oil of vitriol (or sulfuric acid as it is now called
