Joseph Priestley
1733–1804 · British · Enlightenment
Known for: Co-discoverer of oxygen, inventor of carbonated water, and political radical
Joseph Priestley discovered oxygen (calling it 'dephlogisticated air'), invented soda water, and discovered several other gases—all while being a clergyman, political theorist, and educator. He was a polymath in the truest sense.
He was politically radical—supporting the French and American Revolutions—which led an angry mob to burn his house and laboratory in the Birmingham Riots of 1791. He emigrated to America and spent his last years in Pennsylvania.
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