On this date in 1831, a baby was born in Knoxville, Georgia who would grow up, after serving as a Confederate officer, to invent a product that rather symbolizes America all around the world. John Stith Pemberton was a pharmacist himself addicted to morphine after its use in treating his war wound. His search for a cure for the addiction, which he never found, led him to create a beverage with a powerful, global attraction. Containing coca leaf extract and kola nut, his syrup debuted in Atlanta on May 8, 1886. Soon called Coca-Cola, it went on to make his partners and investors quite wealthy. But not Pemberton, as the inventor sold his interest in 1888. Across the country, there are 460 soft drink manufacturers, employing over 50,000 workers in a nearly $42 billion a year business. Profile America is in its17th year as a Public Service of the U.S. Census Bureau.
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My faith in humanity, never very high to begin with, has taken a big jump to the positive. Yesterday as I got back from grocery store, loading bags from car to my walker-really a roller-when one bag falls over and dumps produce on driveway. As I’m picking them up, no easy task, three young black kids tooling around on their bikes swoop up and ask me if I needed any help. “They told us we were supposed to help old people,” one said. They then proceeded to pick up my apples and bananas, grab my other bags, and went up to the house. I followed. In we all went. “Kitchen in the back,” I said, and off they went. By the time I got there they’d put the bags down. I half expected them to put the groceries on the shelves. “Thank’s y’all. Be good.” Out they trotted.
Never seen them before. I don’t think they are immediate neighbors. Anyway, pretty cool, huh.
Way cool, Publius. We can hope the good spreads.