If somebody was to ask you who invented Champagne, then you may not know the name of the individual in question, but you would more than likely say that it was some individual in France. But then, if that was your answer, it is sadly going to be wrong.
Yes, a drink that is famously French is not even French in origin, and what makes it worse for France is that it is believed that the process itself was invented in England, their major enemy for so many things over the centuries.
The person in question was known by the name of Christopher Merret, who was a scientist in 1662. He was never actually intending to put bubbles into wine, as that was more of a by-product in general, but it seems that after stumbling across this creation that he found it was pretty good. Of course, the French then caught wind of the techniques that were being used by Merret and imported them across the English Channel and into the Champagne region. Ultimately, it was then given the French name, and Merret was largely forgotten.