Atlanta pharmacist Dr. John “Doc” Pemberton, never had much entrepreneurial success – after the Civil War he created several drugs, none of which sold well. Then he decided on a different track — as the anti-temperance movement was pushing people out of bars, “soda” fountains was gathering popularity as social spots. Pemberton develop a flavored syrup and mixed with carbonated water from a local pharamacy. With early taste results encouraging, Dr. Pemberton decided to launch his new drink full scale.

On this day, May 8, in 1886 Pemberton’s drink, named Coca-Cola by his partner and bookkeeper, Frank M. Robinson, was first sold to the public at the soda fountain in Jacob’s Pharmacy in Atlanta.

Robinson is credited with not only naming the beverage “Coca-Cola”, for the coca leaf that was the early drink’s main ingredient, but also with designing the flowing script of it’s logo, still used today. The company ceased to include actual cocaine in its drinks by 1903, but Coca-Cola still uses coca leaf extracts. After the Jones amendment in 1922, and to this day,  it remains the only U.S. corporation granted the right to legally import coca leaves into the country.