On a warm May afternoon in Atlanta in 1886, pharmacist John Stith Pemberton invented a drink that was destined to mark our diet: Coca-Cola. In a small laboratory, Pemberton had an intuition: by mixing a brown, sweet, aromatic syrup with carbonated water, he obtained a refreshing remedy for tired nerves and digestive disorders. Pemberton, a veteran of the American Civil War and addicted to morphine due to his injuries, was looking for a safe alternative to the opiate-based tonics that were widely used at the time. His original formula was inspired by Vin Mariani - a wine flavoured with coca leaves invented by the Corsican chemist Angelo Mariani - but with one notable modification: namely, the use of cola nut, a plant whose stimulating properties were well known, instead of alcohol. The finished product was originally called "Pemberton's French Wine Coca", but soon became Coca-Cola thanks to the intuition of Frank Mason Robinson, Pemberton's partner and accountant. Coca-Cola, initially sold as a medicine, cost five cents a glass and was a growing success. Initially, however, Coca-Cola was only sold as a mixture of coke and cola-based syrup, and not as a finished product - this allowed the "customisation" of the product and its immediate success in the market. However, Pemberton, who was ill and burdened with debts, was forced to gradually sell the rights to the drink. After his death in 1888, Asa Griggs Candler, an astute entrepreneur who would later become the mayor of Atlanta, consolidated control over the formula and launched an extraordinary national marketing campaign, transforming Coca-Cola from a local drug into a global symbol of modernity and pleasure, associated with the idea of vitality, freedom and the American way of life. With the profits from Coca-Cola, Candler was able to found the Central Bank, which later merged into the Bank of America, and was also a major endorser of the Methodist Church. Meanwhile, a pharmacist from North Carolina, Caleb Bradham, was about to found another carbonated drink - Pepsi. But that is another story.