19. Coca-Cola Started Out Life As A Medicine... That Could Supposedly Cure Morphine Addiction And Increase Sexual Libido
When Confederate Colonel John Pemberton was wounded during the US Civil and became addicted to morphine, he became determined to find a substitute for the opiate - and so his Eagle Drug and Chemical House in Columbus, Georgia, created a prototype Coca-Cola recipe, originally as a form of coca wine. Initially the drink was marketed as a cure to many diseases, including typhus, bronchitis, malaria - and also as a safe alternative for those addicted to morphine. As well as its other supposedly-wondrous properties, Pemberton also advertised the drinks as "a most wonderful invigorator of sexual organs" - suggesting it could be used to improve libido...
NUFC editor for WhatCulture.com/NUFC. History graduate (University of Edinburgh) and NCTJ-trained journalist. I love sports, hopelessly following Newcastle United and Newcastle Falcons. My pastimes include watching and attending sports matches religiously, reading spy books and sampling ales.
