129 years after founder attended UNC, Pepsi secures exclusive vending rights

Posted May 27, 2025
Caleb Bradham , Pepsi’s founder, studied medicine at UNC before heading back to his hometown of Chinquapin, NC, due to financial troubles. The Pepsi-Cola Collectors Club found documentation suggesting that Bradham began experimenting with ingredients to create differently flavored drinks in 1896, before Pepsi was officially born in 1898. (Daily Tar Heel)

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