Every time you open a bottle of fizzy water and hear that familiar hiss, there is an 18th-century scientific story bubbling away behind it.
One of the key figures was Joseph Priestley.
In 1767 Priestley was living in Leeds, close to a brewery. He became fascinated by the gas produced above fermenting beer - then known as 'fixed air' and now known as carbon dioxide.
He experimented with exposing water to the gas and discovered a way to make artificially carbonated water.
Priestley found the resulting drink pleasantly sharp and refreshing. In 1772 he published Directions for Impregnating Water with Fixed Air, explaining a method of producing and dissolving carbon dioxide into water.
He did not turn the discovery into a drinks empire. Others developed practical commercial processes, and Johann Jacob Schweppe later founded the business that made carbonated mineral water famous on a much larger scale.
Priestley is therefore better described as a pioneer of artificial carbonation than as the sole inventor of every fizzy drink that followed. Earlier experimenters had worked on artificially aerated waters too.
But his contribution was hugely influential. The Royal Society recognised his scientific work, and the basic idea - dissolving carbon dioxide in water - sits behind the fizz in countless modern drinks.
So next time the cap comes off and the bubbles rise, raise the bottle to an 18th-century experiment beside a Leeds brewery.
Discover more stories around Tenterden with our Tenterden Quiz Trail: https://www.quiztrail.co.uk/products/tenterden-quiz-trail
