COCA COLA
Coca Cola was invented by Dr. John S. Pemberton in 1886. It was originally formulated with extracts of coca leaves and kola nuts. That's where the name comes from.
The first Coca-Cola was sold on May 8, 1886 at a soda fountain in Jacob's Pharmacy in Atlanta, either by Pemberton himself, or by clerk Willis Venable.
John Styth Pemberton, the Atlanta pharmacist who created Coca-Cola, sold a 2/3 interest in his company in 1887 for $283.29. Asa G. Candler another Atlanta pharmacist later bought the formula for $2,300, and when he in turn sold the company in 1919, it was worth $25 million.
Coca-Cola was first bottled in in Vicksburg, Mississippi in 1894 by August Biedenharn, but was this bottling was only local in scope. Several years later in 1899, Benjamin Thomas and Joseph Whitehead, two Chattanooga lawyers, obtained rights to bottle Coca Cola in most of the U.S., except for Mississippi, New England and certain areas in Texas.
The site where Coca Cola was first bottled in Mississippi is now the Biedenharn Candy Company Museum.
The first 12 oz aluminum can was introduced by Royal Crown Cola in 1964. It wasn't until 3 years later that Coke started using the aluminum can.
One 12 ounce can of Coca Cola contains approximately 45 mg. of caffeine.
A little about Coca-Cola and Coca leaves (cocaine)
Remember, Coca-Cola was originally marketed for its medicinal qualities.
This was a period of time when many patent medicines contained coca leaves or cocaine (an alkaloid extracted from the leaves), the most popular was 'Vin Mariani', invented by an Italian physician working in France, Angelo Mariani. Vin Mariani was widely imitated, and Pemberton at first produced an imitation of Vin Mariani before formulating his own concoction, Coca-Cola.
Coca-Cola never contained much cocaine - and the amount was quickly reduced to almost undetectable amounts after a few years, when cocaine's negative properties started to become evident. (Estimates are the syrup contained 1 part in 50 million - that would be about 1/2 ounce in 25 million gallons of Coca Cola).
Since 1929 there has been no cocaine in Coca Cola. The leaves were still used for flavor, but the alkaloids were completely removed.
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