Sixth Grade
Worksheets
The Inventors of Coca-Cola
Invention of Coca-Cola
Reading Comprehension for May 8
Coca-Cola is one of the most famous brand name products in the world. It was invented in the late 1800s, around the time that the Statue of Liberty was built.
The drink called Coca-Cola was invented in 1886 by John Pemberton. The Coca-Cola Company began its rise to fame under the leadership of Asa Candler in 1892.
John Pemberton was a pharmacist in Atlanta, Georgia, who had fought for the Confederacy in the Civil War. He owned his own apothecary shop, or pharmacy, and he had already invented a number of useful medicines. At the age of 50, he was working hard to find a cure for headaches. He cooked up mixtures in a big pot at his home, trying to find one that would cure headaches. He experimented with wine-based drinks from other countries. Some of the ingredients that he experimented with were leaves of the coca plant and kola nuts. One of his concoctions turned out to be a good-tasting drink. He took some of this drink to another pharmacy down the street, where the pharmacist there added carbonated water and served it to his customers to see how they liked it.
