Get Refreshed With This History of Soda Quiz

No-Cal was a diet beverage developed in 1952, becoming the first diet soda. It was created by a man named Hyman Kirsch, who sought to make a soda for diabetics. The drink proved more popular with dieters, however, and actress Kim Novak became the company’s spokesperson. Other brands followed suit, and sugar-free diet soda remains popular today.

Robert Woodruff became chairman of Coca-Cola in 1939, and in 1950, “TIME” magazine decided to showcase Woodruff on its cover. Woodruff refused, stating that the only important element of the company was the drink itself. “TIME” relented, and a drawing of a bottle of Coca-Cola being fed to the Earth marked the first time a product appeared on the magazine cover.

Coca-Cola had a role in popularizing the modern likeness of Santa Claus. In 1931, the company hired illustrator Haddon Sundblom to paint Santa for a series of holiday advertisements. Sundblom used his friend Lou Prentiss as his model, and came up with the jolly, bearded man with rosy cheeks that we recognize today. Sundblom continued to paint Santa for Coke until 1964.

Upon its launch in 1929, 7UP’s formula contained prescription mood stabilizers. The specific drug in question was lithium citrate, used today to treat conditions such as bipolar disorder. At its inception, 7UP was actually called “Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda,” which was thankfully shortened to 7UP in 1936. In 1948, the lithium citrate was removed.

In 1970, PepsiCo marketing executive John Sculley came up with an innovation that took over the soda world: the 2-liter bottle. Sculley conceived of the idea to compete with Coca-Cola’s famed “contour” bottle. Rather than a small single-serve bottle, however, Sculley designed a larger container to get more of Pepsi’s product into the hands of customers.

In 1954, RC Cola became the first soda brand to replace glass bottles with a lighter and cheaper option: aluminum cans. By 1967, major brands such as Pepsi and Coke followed suit. RC Cola launched in 1905 and was originally named Royal Crown Cola, but shortened its name in 1934. The brand was also the first to offer low-calorie diet cola and caffeine-free soda.

Now owned by Coca-Cola, Sprite was originally part of a different major drink brand: Fanta. It was called “Clear Lemon Fanta” and was developed in Germany in 1959. Two years later, it was introduced in the U.S. as “Sprite.” Heavily marketed to children and teens, the drink became wildly popular after its 1961 introduction. By 1967, Sprite was available in 39 countries, and today, the lemon-lime soda is sold in more than 190 countries.

English scientist Joseph Priestley is often regarded as the “father of the soft drink industry” due to his 18th-century experiments attempting to infuse gas into water. But it was John Jacob Schweppe who actually managed to manufacture carbonated mineral water. In 1783, Schweppe successfully constructed a device that replicated Priestley’s results, changing the soft drink industry forever. From Geneva, Switzerland, the business expanded to England, where it grew in popularity and was eventually purchased by Coca-Cola.

A young pharmacist named Charles Alderton made beverage history in 1885 when he began selling his new soda concoction at a drugstore in Waco, Texas, to rave reviews. Dubbed the “Waco,” it became a staple at the store, and soon other soda fountains were purchasing the syrup for the mixture. This led to the creation of a bottling company that eventually became the Dr Pepper Company.

Like so many other sodas, Pepsi began as a medicinal drink at a pharmacy. Creator Caleb Bradham believed that his new drink was a healthy treatment to aid indigestion. After it began to grow in popularity, Bradham changed the drink’s name from “Brad’s Drink” to “Pepsi-Cola,” trademarked in 1903.

Unlike other sodas at the time, Mountain Dew wasn’t meant to cure headaches or soothe an upset stomach; it was made to chase whiskey. Two brothers, Barney and Ally Hartman, came up with the lemon-lime concoction in Knoxville, Tennessee, in 1932. At the time, the phrase “mountain dew” was slang for mountain-brewed moonshine. The brothers used the name, along with Mountain Dew’s first mascot, Willy the Hillbilly, to market their new soda brand.

In the 1960s, Dr Pepper promoted drinking its product hot during the colder months of the year. The brand saw sales plummet during the winter holiday season, and tried to recoup the loss by telling customers that the beverage could be enjoyed warmed up. Though the advertisements are long gone, the company website still suggests heating the drink to 180 degrees Fahrenheit in a saucepan before pouring it over a thin slice of lemon, if the urge strikes you.

This nickname, coined due to the jerking motion used to pump soda water, was popular from the 1920s through the 1950s. But before soda dispensers came along, the soda jerk’s job was more complex. The attendant mixed carbonated water and phosphate with flavored syrups at the counter, creating a variety of different sodas from scratch.

The “soda fountain” originated in the 1850s, when patrons would visit pharmacies to purchase fountain drinks said to cure various ailments. At the time, “soda” was a carbonated drink with flavoring and medicines mixed in. By the 1920s, almost every drugstore had a soda fountain, where drinks, milkshakes, and ice cream sodas were sold. The rise in popularity of the soda fountain coincided with the beginning of Prohibition, when people were thirsty for socialization outside of the home.

The term “soft drink” was originally used in the 18th-century to differentiate flavored, carbonated nonalcoholic drinks from hard liquor. Soft drinks were heavily marketed and recommended as a substitute for alcohol. While soda is by far the most popular type of soft drink, there are other forms throughout the world. Mineral waters are popular in Europe and Latin America, and kava (made from the roots of a shrub) is a favorite in the Pacific islands.