John pemberton biography coca-cola scholarship

It’s difficult to imagine a world without Coca-Cola, the most popular soft drink on earth. Pharmacist John Stith Pemberton created the original formula on May 8, 1886.

Born January 8, 1831 in Knoxville, Georgia, Pemberton earned his medical degree at age 19 from the Reform Medical College of Georgia in Macon.

John pemberton biography coca-cola scholarship application

He practiced some medicine and surgery early in his career, later opening his own drug store in Columbus, Georgia. 

During the Civil War, Pemberton fought for the South, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel. He moved to Atlanta after the war where he began selling patent medicines and operated his own laboratory, the Pemberton Chemical Co.

One of the products he sold was called “Pemberton’s French Wine Coca,” a drink made of wine and coca extract that was prescribed as a cure for nervous disorders, headache and other ailments. The beverage was very similar to Vin Mariani, an extremely popular coca-based drink developed in