Epopeya

The prototype Coca-Cola recipe was formulated at the Eagle Drug and Chemical Company, a drugstore in Columbus, Georgia by John Pemberton, originally as a coca wine called Pemberton's French WineCoca.[4][5][6] He may have been inspired by the formidable success of Vin Mariani, a European coca wine.[7]
In 1886, when Atlanta and Fulton County passed prohibition legislation, Pemberton responded bydeveloping Coca-Cola, essentially a non-alcoholic version of French Wine Coca.[8] The first sales were at Jacob's Pharmacy in Atlanta, Georgia, on May 8, 1886.[9] It was initially sold as a patentmedicine for five cents[10] a glass at soda fountains, which were popular in the United States at the time due to the belief that carbonated water was good for the health.[11] Pemberton claimed Coca-Colacured many diseases, including morphine addiction, dyspepsia, neurasthenia, headache, and impotence. Pemberton ran the first advertisement for the beverage on May 29 of the same year in the AtlantaJournal.[12]
By 1888, three versions of Coca-Cola — sold by three separate businesses — were on the market. Asa Griggs Candler acquired a stake in Pemberton's company in 1887 and incorporated it asthe Coca Cola Company in 1888.[13] The same year, Pemberton sold the rights a second time to four more businessmen: J.C. Mayfield, A.O. Murphey, C.O. Mullahy and E.H. Bloodworth. Meanwhile, Pemberton'sson Charley Pemberton began selling his own version of the product.[14]
John Pemberton declared that the name "Coca-Cola" belonged to Charley, but the other two manufacturers could continue to usethe formula. So, in the summer of 1888, Candler sold his beverage under the names Yum Yum and Koke. After both failed to catch on, Candler set out to establish a legal claim to Coca-Cola in late 1888,in order to force his two competitors out of the business. Candler purchased exclusive rights to the formula from John Pemberton, Margaret Dozier and Woolfolk Walker. However, in 1914, Dozier came...