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The world's most famous soft drink was first created by an Atlanta pharmacist named John S. Pemberton in 1886. He developed it as a "temperance drink," a non-alcoholic alternative to his popular nerve tonic, "Pemberton's French Wine Coca," in response to new prohibition laws in his county. The syrup was intended to be a patent medicine, promising to cure everything from headaches to indigestion.
The new concoction was first sold for five cents a glass at the soda fountain in Jacobs' Pharmacy in downtown Atlanta. Pemberton's bookkeeper, Frank M. Robinson, came up with the name and the iconic script logo that is still used today. The name "Coca-Cola" was derived from its two key original ingredients: coca leaves, which contained trace amounts of cocaine, and kola nuts, a source of caffeine. This combination was key to its initial marketing as a stimulating "brain tonic."
While Pemberton created the formula, it was businessman Asa Candler who purchased the rights shortly before Pemberton's death. Through aggressive marketing and the introduction of bottling, Candler was the one who transformed the five-cent fountain drink into the global commercial empire we know today, all stemming from that initial pharmacy creation.
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