Coca-Cola is one of the world%u2019s most popular drinks and there have always been rumours about its origins. One of the popular of those are that the drink was originally made as a medicine and that it was later rebranded as the refreshment it is today.

But is that true? Read all about the company and its roots here. 

History of Coca-Cola:

Coca-Cola was invented on May 8, 1886 by John S Pemberton in Atlanta, Georgia. He created a caramel-coloured liquid and carried it to the nearby Jacob%u2019s Pharmacy, where he mixed it with carbonated water and served it to customers there for tasting. Everyone liked the drink, which went on sale soon for five cents per glass. An average of nine glasses were sold that year. 

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Company accountant Frank Robinson named the drink Coca-Cola and also designed the iconic logo. It soon appeared on a newspaper advertisement as a %u201CDelicious and Refreshing Beverage%u201D. Pemberton registered the %u201CCoca-Cola Syrup and Extract%u201D label as a copyright in the US Patent Office in 1887. 

Over the next decade, the company grows leaps and bounds as it begins bottling operations in Canada, Cuba and Panama, the first countries outside the United States to bottle the drink. In 1911, the annual advertising budget of the company crossed the $1 million-mark for the first time and a year later, bottling operations begin in the Philippines, the first Asian country in the company%u2019s expansion. 

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The first bottling operation plants in Europe start in the French cities of Paris and Bordeaux, in the year 1919. Later that year, the company is acquired by a group of investors led by businessman Ernest Woodruff for $25 million. 

In 1925, the company%u2019s Board of Directors decided to place the %u2018secret formula%u2019 in a bank vault at the Trust Company Bank in Atalanta. Over the 1940s the company starts advertising the drink as %u201CCoke%u201D, which eventually became the company%u2019s registered trademark. 

In 1955, %u2018Fanta Orange%u2019 is introduced in Naples, Italy as the company%u2019s first new product. It came to the US in 1960. Over the next few decades, the company introduced even more beverages, including Sprite, which was introduced in 1963.  

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One small step at a time, The Coca-Cola company made giants leapsover the years since, becoming the first soft drink to be consumed in space in 1985, sponsoring the Olympics, and other milestone moments, which helped the company become the F&B giant that it is today. 

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