#OnThisDay in 1886, pharmacist John Pemberton first sells a carbonated beverage named "Coca-Cola" as a patent medicine.
In April 1865, Dr. Pemberton sustained a saber wound to the chest during the Battle of Columbus. He soon became addicted to the morphine used to ease his pain. In 1866, seeking a cure for his addiction, he began to experiment with painkillers...
... that would serve as morphine-free alternatives to morphine.
After a few attempts, he began experimenting with coca and coca wines, eventually creating a recipe that contained extracts of kola nut and damiana, which he called Pemberton's French Wine Coca.
With public concern about drug addiction, depression, and alcoholism among war veterans, and "neurasthenia" among "highly-strung" Southern women, Pemberton's "medicine" was advertised as...
... particularly beneficial for "ladies, and all those whose sedentary employment causes nervous prostration".
t.ly/OpK3
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