Born in 1886, the famous soda began as a syrup produced by Atlanta pharmacist Dr. John Stith Pemberton. The recipe contained unaltered coca leaves, and thus cocaine. He sold the cocaine-infused fountain drink at local pharmacies. Originally viewed as a medicine, cocaine was eventually recognized as the highly addictive, harmful substance that it's considered today. The makers of Coca-Cola, which got its name from the drug in the ingredients, reduced the cocaine to trace amounts by 1900 and began only using “spent” or de-cocainized coca leaves. It wasn’t until 1929 that all traces of the drug were removed from the drink.

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