Inventor, Pharmacist. He was the creator of the "Dr. Pepper" carbonated soft drink. Born in Brooklyn, New York to British immigrants, he went to Framlingham College in Framlingham, Suffolk, England near Stowmarket after his early education. He returned to Brooklyn during the Westward Expansion and attended medical school at the University of Texas in Galveston, Texas. Graduating with an M.D., he decided to work as a pharmacist, moving to Waco, Texas to join W. B. Morrison in his Old Corner Drug Store. In 1885, he soon noticed that patrons of the soda fountain soon were tired of the standard fountain flavors. He confirmed this by his own taste experiments which led him to concoct a series of mixtures to find a more original drink. After exhaustive testing of combinations of fruit extracts from the fountain, he finally discovered one that was particularly pleasing. Carefully measuring the different syrups and fine tuning the product as he went, he invited Morrison to try his new drink, which Morrison loved. When the product as offered to their fountain patrons as a test, the reaction was overwhelming. Charles Alderton's drink caught on fast and soon customers were asking for "Doc Alderton's drink." Morrison came up with the name for it, naming it "Dr. Pepper," after the father of a girl he had once courted. It was first sold on December 1, 1885 and preceded the creation of Coca-Cola by a year. 20 million people were introduced to Dr. Pepper at the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis, Missouri, giving the drink wider exposure. Over 100 plus years later, the Dr Pepper soda is still much the same product Charles Alderton created, is one of the most popular sodas today with a variety of flavors and Keurig Dr Pepper is one of the largest beverage companies in the world alongside The Coca-Coca Company & PepsiCo.
Inventor, Pharmacist. He was the creator of the "Dr. Pepper" carbonated soft drink. Born in Brooklyn, New York to British immigrants, he went to Framlingham College in Framlingham, Suffolk, England near Stowmarket after his early education. He returned to Brooklyn during the Westward Expansion and attended medical school at the University of Texas in Galveston, Texas. Graduating with an M.D., he decided to work as a pharmacist, moving to Waco, Texas to join W. B. Morrison in his Old Corner Drug Store. In 1885, he soon noticed that patrons of the soda fountain soon were tired of the standard fountain flavors. He confirmed this by his own taste experiments which led him to concoct a series of mixtures to find a more original drink. After exhaustive testing of combinations of fruit extracts from the fountain, he finally discovered one that was particularly pleasing. Carefully measuring the different syrups and fine tuning the product as he went, he invited Morrison to try his new drink, which Morrison loved. When the product as offered to their fountain patrons as a test, the reaction was overwhelming. Charles Alderton's drink caught on fast and soon customers were asking for "Doc Alderton's drink." Morrison came up with the name for it, naming it "Dr. Pepper," after the father of a girl he had once courted. It was first sold on December 1, 1885 and preceded the creation of Coca-Cola by a year. 20 million people were introduced to Dr. Pepper at the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis, Missouri, giving the drink wider exposure. Over 100 plus years later, the Dr Pepper soda is still much the same product Charles Alderton created, is one of the most popular sodas today with a variety of flavors and Keurig Dr Pepper is one of the largest beverage companies in the world alongside The Coca-Coca Company & PepsiCo.
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