John S. Pemberton

John S. Pemberton was an American pharmacist best known as the inventor of Coca-Cola. He created the original formula in 1886 at his Pemberton Chemical Company in Atlanta, Georgia. Pemberton initially marketed his concoction as a tonic for various ailments, deriving it from coca leaf extracts and caffeine-rich kola nut extracts.1

It is important to note that the John S. Pemberton who invented Coca-Cola is distinct from John Clifford Pemberton, a Confederate general during the American Civil War. The Coca-Cola formula was later purchased by Asa Griggs Candler, who significantly developed the business into a major soft drink enterprise.213