John
Pemberton earned a medical degree when he was only 19 years old -and
then worked as a pharmacist, trying to invent new drugs. He particularly
needed a new kind of pain relief, as he was badly wounded in the War Between the States and had become addicted to morphine for relief.
After the war, Pemberton settled in Atlanta, where he
began work on a beverage combining coca leaves and cola nuts. His
objective was to create a pain reliever but when his lab assistant
accidentally mixed the concoction with carbonated water on May 8, 1886,
the two men tasted it, liked it, and decided it might make a profitable
alternative to ginger ale and root beer.
Pemberton sold the rights to Coca-Cola (twice, actually, but that’s
another story) as his behavior became more erratic. He died only two
years after his accidental invention and only a few months after the
Coca Cola Corporation was incorporated.
The Coca-Cola that you may be drinking right now has been
reformulated a bit over the years, but the basic beverage is 126 years
old today.
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