TIL that in 2013, after more than 20 years of soda being America's number one beverage, water has taken over as Americans' favorite drink
NEW YORK (AP) — It wasn't too long ago that America had a love affair with soda. Now, an old flame has the country's heart. As New York City's ban on the sale of large cups of soda and other sugary drinks at some businesses starts on Tuesday, one thing is clear: soda's run as the nation's beverage of choice has fizzled. In its place? A favorite for much of history: Plain old H2O water. For more than two decades, soda was the No. 1 drink in the U.S. with consumption peaking in 1998 at 54 gallons a year, according industry tracker Beverage Digest. Americans drank just 42 gallons a year of water at the time. But over the years, as soda increasingly came under fire for fueling the nation's rising obesity rates, water quietly rose to knock it off the top spot. Americans now drink an average of 44 gallons of soda a year, a 17 percent drop from the peak in 1998. Over the same time, the average amount of water people drink has increased 38 percent to about 58 gallons...