John Stith Pemberton

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

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. In an attempt to curb his addiction he began to experiment with various painkillers and toxins. The development of an earlier beverage blending alcohol and cocaine led to the recipe that later was adapted to make Coca-Cola. Provided by Wikipedia