John Pemberton

John Stith Pemberton (July 8, 1831 – August 16, 1888) was an American pharmacist, and is best known for being the inventor of Coca-Cola.

Background
Pemberton was born January 8, 1831, in Knoxville, in Crawford County, Georgia. His father was James Clifford Pemberton, brother of Confederate General John Clifford Pemberton. Pemberton was raised in Rome, Georgia. He entered the Reform Medical College of Georgia in Macon, and in 1850, at the age of nineteen, he was licensed to practice pharmacy. Shortly thereafter, he met Ann Eliza Clifford Lewis of Columbus, Georgia, known as "Cliff," who had been a student at the Wesleyan College in Macon. In 1853, he married Ms. Lewis in Columbus. Their only child, Charles Ney Pemberton, was born in 1854. At that time, Pemberton became the owner of two slaves. The 1860 Slave Schedule lists him as the owner of one 22 year old female slave.

Invention of Coca-Cola
In April 1865, as a Colonel in the Confederate Army, Pemberton was wounded in the Battle of Columbus, Georgia. He was slashed across his chest and like many wounded veterans became addicted to the morphine which he used to ease the pain. He was a pharmacist and as such searched for a cure to counteract his own addiction. In 1866 in Columbus, Georgia he started working on formulas that would serve as opium-free alternatives to morphine. His first was "Dr. Tuggle's Compound Syrup of Globe Flower (cephalanthus oxidentalis)." Next he began experimenting with coca and coca wines, eventually creating his own version of Vin Mariani, containing kola nut and damiana, which he called Pemberton's French Wine Coca. According to Coca-Cola historian, Phil Mooney, Pemberton's world-famous soda was "created in Columbus, Georgia and carried to Atlanta."

With public concern about drug addiction, depression and alcoholism among veterans, and "neurasthenia" among "highly-strung" Southern women, his medicinal concoction was advertised as being particularly beneficial for "ladies, and all those whose sedentary employment causes nervous prostration".

In 1886, when Atlanta and Fulton County enacted temperance legislation, Pemberton found himself forced to produce a non-alcoholic alternative to his French Wine Coca. Pemberton relied on Atlanta druggist Willis Venable to test and help him perfect the recipe for the beverage, which he formulated by trial and error. With Venable's assistance, Pemberton worked out a set of directions for its preparation that eventually included blending the base syrup with carbonated water by accident when trying to make another glass. Pemberton decided then to sell it as a fountain drink rather than a medicine. Frank Mason Robinson came up with the name "Coca-Cola" for the alliterative sound, which was popular among other wine medicines of the time. Although the name quite clearly refers to the two main ingredients, the controversy over its cocaine content would later prompt The Coca-Cola Company to state that the name was "meaningless but fanciful." Robinson also hand wrote the Spencerian script on the bottles and ads. Pemberton made many health claims for his product, touting it as a "valuable brain tonic" that would cure headaches, relieve exhaustion and calm nerves, and marketed it as "delicious, refreshing, pure joy, exhilarating," and "invigorating."

Pemberton sells the business
Soon after Coca-Cola hit the market, Pemberton fell ill and nearly bankrupt. Sick and desperate, he began selling rights to his formula to his business partners in Atlanta. Part of his motivation to sell actually derived from his expensive continuing morphine addiction. Pemberton had a hunch that his formula "some day will be a national drink," so he attempted to retain a share of the ownership to leave to his son. But Pemberton's son wanted the money. So in 1888 Pemberton and his son sold the remaining portion of the patent to Asa Candler.

Death
Pemberton died in August of 1888, poor, sick, addicted to morphine and a victim of stomach cancer. His body was returned to Columbus, Georgia where he was laid to rest at Linwood Cemetery. His gravemarker was engraved with symbols honoring his Confederate service and his membership as a Freemason. His son, Charley, continued to attempt to sell an alternative to his father's formula, but only six years later Charley died, an opium user himself.

John Pemberton in popular culture
The Fallout series of video games feature a beverage called Nuka-Cola, which is based on Coca-Cola. The inventor's name, John Caleb-Bradberton, is based on both Pemberton and Pepsi-Cola inventor Caleb Bradham.

In 2010, the Coca-Cola Company paid tribute to Pemberton as a key character within an advertising campaign called "Secret Formula". Centered on the secret ingredients of Coca-Cola, imagery related to Pemberton was used to make people more aware of Coke’s history and mythology.

The book Heck: Where the Bad Kids Go features a Dr. Pemberton as chemistry teacher; his death said to be due to overcarbonation resulting in an exploded stomach, and addicting children to soda as the reason for punishment in the afterlife.

John Pemberton was also referenced as, "the guy who invented Coca-Cola," in an installment of Futurama titled "The Deep South".

In 2013, Pemberton was portrayed by Bill Hader in the "Atlanta" episode of Comedy Central's Drunk History, created by Derek Waters.

Spotify is partnered with Coca-Cola, and they produced an ad together using John Pemberton's voice.

Pemberton currently has descendants living in Detroit, Los Angeles, New York, Columbus, Georgia and some in South Carolina. He also had descendants in Canada, living in Victoria, Calgary and Toronto.