Back in 1886, an Atlanta, Georgia, pharmacist by the name of John Pemberton, tinkered around with a little of this and a little of that, coming out in the end, with a syrup that when added to carbonated water, produced a refreshing drink. Jacob’s pharmacy down the street started selling the new beverage for a modest five cents a glass.

His partner and bookkeeper, Frank M. Robinson, suggested the alliteration of the name Coca-Cola, and penned the famous brand name in his own unique script. The Cola part of the name came from a derivative of the kola nut. And as almost everyone knows, the Coca part came from just what it sounds like… the coca leaf, which also gives the world cocaine. That little bit of trivia, was long thought to be an urban legend, but it was in fact, true.

One of the "truths" that is actually an urban legend, is that the Coca-Cola company has only ever allowed two executives to possess the formula, and even then, each of them knows only half of it, so they would be unable to reproduce the drink on their own. In reality, two executives do have the formula, but it is complete.

So was the formula that Mark Pendergrast published in his 1993 book, For God, Country and Coca-Cola. Among the papers of John Pemberton, the inventor of Coke, Pendergrast had come across a formula that appeared to be the original recipe. It included fluid from the coca leaf, and citrate caffeine, or extract of the kola nut.

The Coke company immediately denied Pedergrast’s find was "the real thing". And in a sense, it wasn’t. Because Pemberton had sold portions of his holdings in Coca-Cola, in the two years between his invention of it, and his death in 1888. By the 1920s, the company that then manufactured Coca-Cola set their formula down in stone, chipping out and changing some of the original ingredients. Coca was no longer used, glycerin was added as a preservative, caffeine was reduced, and citric acid replaced phosphorus acid.

In 1985, executives of the Coca-Cola company would commit one of the biggest commercial blunders every, by introducing the "new Coke", and ceasing production of the "old" formula. Even though it had been pronounced the best in blind taste tests (and very close to the taste of Pepsi, which was nipping at their heels), consumers rose up in legions and demanded their real Coke back. And they got it, a bare 2 ½ months later. So important was the news, that Peter Jennings of ABC, interrupted the popular soap "General Hospital" to announce Coke’s return.