Each year on May 8, millions of people across the country celebrate National Have a Coke Day. Coca-Cola, often referred to as Coke, is a carbonated soft drink that is produced by The Coca-Cola Company. Coke is a registered trademark of the Coca-Cola Company in the United States since March 27, 1944. As of 2013, Coke products can be found in over 200 countries around the world as consumers down more than 1.8 million company beverage servings each day.
- 1886 – John Pemberton invented Coca-Cola, at Pemberton’s Eagle Drug and Chemical House in Columbus, Georgia, intending it as a patent medicine.
- 1886 – Though U.S. pharmacist John S. Pemberton invented Coca-Cola in 1886, his bookkeeper, Frank Robinson invented the name. Robinson had beautiful handwriting, and his flowering script is still used today.
- 1886 – May 8, 1886 – Coco-Cola goes on sale for the first time as a tonic during the temperance movement.
- 1891 – The first bottling of Coco-Cola occurred at the Biedenharn Candy Company in Vicksburg, Mississippi.
- 1894 – The first outdoor wall advertisement that promoted the Coca-Cola drink was painted in Cartersville, Georgia
- 1914 – The longest running commercial Coca-Cola soda fountain anywhere was Atlanta’s Fleeman’s Pharmacy. The pharmacy closed its doors in 1995 after 81 years.
- 1916 – The unique classic Coca-Cola glass bottle, with its contoured shape, hits the market.
- 1923 – Coca-Cola invented the six-pack. According to the company’s website
- 1928 – Coca-Cola was the first commercial sponsor of the Olympic Games in 1928.
- 1944 – The original filing date for Coke as a registered trademark of the Coca-Cola Company in the United States is March 27, 1944.
- 1944 – July 12, the one-billionth gallon of Coca-Cola syrup was manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company.
- 1950 – Coke becomes the first product featured on a Time magazine cover.
- 1955 – Cans of Coke first appeared.
- 1971 – Coca-Cola airs one of its most iconic ads in the history of advertising — the ‘I’d Like To Buy The World A Coke’ commercial.
- 2008 – Coca-Cola’s portfolio features more than 160 low-calorie and no-calorie drinks, including Coke Zero and Powerade Zero
- Coke was meant to be an alternative pain-killer to morphine.
- It was then bought out by businessman Asa Griggs Candler. Candler’s marketing tactics led Coke to its dominance of the world soft-drink market throughout the 20th century.
- Coca-Cola was first marketed as a nerve tonic that “relieves exhaustion.’
- Only two countries in the world do not sell Coca-Cola: North Korea and Cuba.
- Coke sold 25 bottles its first year. Today, it sells 1.8 billion bottles—per day
- A can of Coke will sink in water whereas a can of Diet Coke will float.
- In order for Coca-Cola to continue to operate in its current form, the company has a special arrangement with the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to allow them to import dried coca leaves from Peru (and to a lesser degree, from Bolivia) in huge quantities.
- Coca-Cola Freestyle (the touch screen drink machines with a bunch of options) are designed by Pininfarina. Pininfarina is the design house that designs Ferraris.
- Coca-Cola has so many types of drinks that it would take a person drinking one a day over nine years to try them all.
- A Soviet Union Marshal commissioned a colorless coca-cola resembling vodka because he liked the taste, so that he could drink coke without offending Joseph Stalin
- A glass of Coca-Cola stayed at 5 cents for over 70 years. From 1886 to 1959, a 6.5 glass or bottle of Coca-Cola was just 5 cents.
- The logo is red because of old tax laws.
- Mexico is the world’s top consumer of Coke products. The average person in Mexico drinks 745 servings of Coke a year, according to the company; In the United States, that number is 401.
- Coca-Cola invented coupons. Coke became popular in the late 19th century in part thanks to “tickets” that could be redeemed for free servings.
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