John Pemberton

John Stith Pemberton (July 8, 1831 – August 16, 1888) was an American pharmacist and Confederate States Army veteran who is best known as the inventor of Coca-Cola. In May 1886, he developed an early version of a beverage that would later become Coca-Cola, but sold his rights to the drink shortly before his death.

He 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. He began to experiment with various painkillers and toxins. In the end, after development of an earlier beverage blending alcohol and cocaine, this led to the recipe that later was adapted to make Coca-Cola.