Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola ranks first in the list of surprising reasons behind 10 everyday inventions. It once included cocaine in its recipe, as is well known. Perhaps the people at the time were unaware or didn't care that it was made with it. After all, cocaine was a popular prescription drug for many years and was also found in a variety of other products. Coca-Cola, on the other hand, was more than just a drink that could get you high as a kite. It was created for a specific purpose, and that purpose was medical. Coca-Cola was designed to assist you in weaning yourself off of morphine.

John Pemberton, the doctor who invented Coca-Cola, was also a morphine addict. Pemberton was a Confederate soldier who had to have been injured. He began taking morphine to relieve his pain, but soon discovered that the morphine had become the problem in and of itself. As a result, he created French Wine Coca to help him wean himself off morphine. This sophisticated cocktail contained wine, cocaine, and kola nuts. He marketed it as a cure-all for almost everything. When Atlanta became a dry county in 1886, Pemberton left the wine business and promoted his new beverage as a "temperance drink." The same great cocaine flavor, but without the alcohol. And he's given it the brand name Coca-Cola.

Creator: John Stith Pemberton

Introduced: May 8, 1886