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Article: Coca-Cola
- Article from:
- Dictionary of American History
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CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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COCA-COLA
COCA-COLA.
The soft drink Coca-Cola was invented by the Atlanta pharmacist and patent medicine maker John S. Pemberton in 1886. Its name, suggested by an employee, Frank Robinson, derived from its two principal drug ingredients, the Peruvian coca leaf (cocaine) and the West African kola nut (caffeine). Coca-Cola was originally sold as a "nerve tonic" to cure the then-popular supposed disease of neurasthenia, and its promoters claimed it treated headaches and hangovers as well. The sugary syrup, mixed with carbonated water, was also sold as a "delicious and refreshing" soda fountain drink.
Pemberton died penniless in 1888, but a fellow Atlanta pharmacist, As a G. Candler, with ...