Coca-Cola history began in 1886 when the curiosity of an Atlanta pharmacist, Dr. John S. Pemberton, led him to create a distinctive tasting soft drink that could be sold at soda fountains. He created a flavored syrup, took it to his neighborhood pharmacy, where it was mixed with carbonated water and deemed “excellent” by those who sampled it. Dr. Pemberton’s partner and bookkeeper,
Frank M. Robinson is credited with naming the beverage “Coca‑Cola” as well as designing the trademarked, distinct script, still used today. The first servings of Coca-Cola were sold for 5 cents per glass. During the first years, sales averaged a modest nine servings per day in Atlanta. Today, daily servings of Coca-Cola beverages are estimated at 1.9 billion globally.
“Coca-Cola is the only business
in the world where no matter which country or town or
village you are in, if someone asks what do you do, and you say you work for Coca-Cola, you never have to answer the question, ‘What is that?’”
–Mutar Kent