Overview

John Stith Pemberton (January 8, 1831 - August 16, 1888) was a Confederate veteran and an American druggist, and perhaps was best known for being the inventor of Coca-Cola, which in his lifetime was used only for medical purposes. Coca-Cola did once contain an estimated nine milligrams of cocaine per glass, but in 1903 it was removed. Kola nuts act as a flavoring and the source of caffeine in Coca-Cola but most of the caffeine is added. Coca-Cola contains 46 mg of caffeine per 12 fluid ounces, about 4 mg per ounce. Today, products of the Coca Cola Company are consumed at the rate of more than one billion drinks per day. The soft drink was first sold to the public at the soda fountain in Jacob's Pharmacy in Atlanta on May 8, 1886. It was initially sold as a patent medicine for five cents a glass at soda fountains.

Pemberton claimed Coca-Cola cured many diseases, including morphine addiction, dyspepsia, neurasthenia, headache, and impotence. On May 29, 1886 Chemist John Pemberton placed his first advertisement for Coca-Cola; the ad appeared in the Atlanta Journal.

References

• John Stith Pemberton - wikipedia
• Coca cola - wikipedia