John Pemberton
1831 – 1888 · aged 57
American pharmacist, inventor of Coca-Cola (1831-1888)
- Born
- 8 Jul 1831 · Knoxville
- Died
- 16 Aug 1888 · Atlanta
Life timeline
Their life from birth to death. On the timeline, world events of the time are shown faintly.
- 8 Jul 1831BornBorn in Knoxville
- 16 Aug 1888DiedDied in Atlanta
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Meanwhile in the world
Major world events during their lifetime (1831 – 1888).
- 1853 – 1856Crimean War
- 1857 – 1858Indian Rebellion of 1857
- 1870 – 1871Franco-Prussian War
Biography
John Stith Pemberton (July 8, 1831 – August 16, 1888) was an American pharmacist, chemist, and Confederate States Army officer who is best known as the inventor of Coca-Cola. On May 8, 1886, he developed an early version of a beverage that would later become Coca-Cola, but sold the rights to Asa Griggs Candler for roughly $2300 (equivalent to $82,417 in 2025) shortly before his death in 1888.
Pemberton suffered from a sabre wound sustained in April 1865, during the Battle of Columbus. His efforts to control his chronic pain led to morphine addiction. In an attempt to curb his addiction he began to experiment with various painkillers and toxins. The development of an earlier beverage blending alcohol and cocaine led to the recipe that later was adapted to make Coca-Cola.
Text from the Wikipedia article John Stith Pemberton, CC BY-SA 4.0
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