Wiki #1: Coca Cola

The first recipe for Coca Cola was invented by John Pemberton as an alcoholic drink, called Pemberton's French Wine Coca. However, after the Prohibition passed in1886, Pemberton re-invented the drink, making a non-alcoholic version that he called Coca Cola. The name came from the two main ingredients, the coca leaf and the kola nut. The "k" on kola was changed to a "c" for better marketing. On May 8, 1886 the first glass of Coca Cola was sold for five cents as a medicine. People in the U.S. at that time believed that carbonated water had health boosting qualities, and Pemberton claimed that Coca Cola would cure things such as morphine addiction and headaches. Pemberton than ran his first ad for Coca Cola on May 29, 1886, in the Atlanta Journal. Only two years later a coupon, believed to be the first coupon ever made, was distributed for a free glass of Coca Cola. These coupons were first distributed from 1888 and by 1913 more than 8.5 million had been redeemed. Coca Cola is now a world-wide company, and in 2011 it was distinguished as the world's most valuable brand.