On this date in 1831, a baby was born in Knoxville, Georgia who would grow up to invent a product that rather symbolizes America all around the world. John Stith Pemberton was a pharmacist addicted to morphine after using it to treat a wound he received as a Confederate officer in the Civil War. His search for a cure for the addiction, which he never found, led him to create a beverage with a powerful, global attraction. 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 456 soft drink manufacturers, employing over 49,000 workers in a more than $37 billion a year business. You can find more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau online at <www.census.gov>.