Mistakes that Worked

• Coca-Cola

  The day was May 8, 1886, in Atlanta, Georgia a pharmacist named John Pemberton cooked up a mixture in want to invent a remedy for soothing headaches. When he finished, he took his new medicine to the Jacobs Pharmacy. He instructed his assistant Venable to mix the syrup with water and chill it with ice. In one of the mixing Venable accidentally added carbonated water instead of plain water.

  The consequence of that case was the men became excited: They decided that instead of offering the beverage as a headache remedy, they would sell it as a fountain drink - an alternative to ginger ale and root beer. They name it Coca-Cola after the coca leaves and cola nuts it contained.

  Pemberton sold 25 gallons of syrup that first year. He took in $50 but spent $73.96 on advertising. Nowaday people in 155 countries drink 393M bottles or cans every day.