Caleb Bradham founded Pepsi-Cola in 1898 after developing the drink in New Bern, North Carolina.
Bradham was a pharmacist who mixed beverages at his drugstore fountain. He originally called the drink “Brad’s Drink,” but renamed it Pepsi-Cola in 1898. The name was associated with the idea of aiding digestion, although Pepsi was sold as a refreshing soft drink rather than as a modern medical treatment.
Bradham built a mail-order syrup business and incorporated the Pepsi-Cola Company in 1902. The company later faced financial problems during the sugar price crisis after World War I, and Bradham lost control of the business.
Bradham is sometimes confused with later Pepsi executives such as Donald Kendall. Kendall helped shape PepsiCo decades later, but Bradham was the pharmacist who created and founded the original Pepsi-Cola business.