14 Things You Didn't Know About Coca-Cola
There's more to "the real thing" than you realized.
You think you know, but you have no idea.
Don't forget to pin it for later!
It's Named After A Nut
Though most people know where the "Coke" part comes from, "cola" was actually named after the kola nut. Found in Africa, the nut is said to have lots of medicinal effects, as well as the alkaloid better known as caffeine.
Celeb Endorsements Go Way back
The first celebrity endorsements for Coca-Cola were singer Hilda Clark and opera star Lillian Nordica in the 1890s.
It Wasn't Always Just For Drinking
When Coca-Cola came out, coca was being made into tablets, wine, liqueurs, hypodermic injections, and coca-leaf cigarettes. Ironically, smoking it was believed to cure everything from asthma to bad breath.
It Was First Made As A Wine
Coca-Cola was first created as cola wine, but the alcohol and cocaine were eventually replaced with syrup and coca leaves.
It Can Heat Things Up In The Bedroom
Forget oysters and chocolate—drink up a bottle of Coca-Cola to get in the mood. Sigmund Freud believed the popular drink cured him of periodic depression and improved his sex drive. But we'll let you test this theory out for yourself.
It Was Created To Ease Aches And Pains
Coke's inventor, John Pemberton, used the combination of coca leaves and kola nuts as a substitute for morphine to relieve his illnesses and pain.
It Was A Solider's Necessity
Soldiers were said to have depended on Coca-Cola heavily during World War 2 as a pick-me-up; one base surgeon even said, "I cannot conceive of a greater calamity worse than a loss of the base supply of Coca-Cola." That's a pretty profound statement.
It (Kinda) Created Santa Claus
You can thank Coca-Cola for allowing Santa to shake his belly like a bowl full of jelly. Before Coke ads, Santa Claus was depicted as a tall and gaunt man usually dressed in blue, green, or yellow. Then, in the 1930s, Swedish-American artist Haddon Sundblom drew a fat, jolly man wearing Coca-Cola red (and drinking a bottle, of course) and changed what Santa looked like forever. We cannot even imagine a world without fat Santa.
It'll Keep The Bugs Away
Just fill a bowl with Coke and the sugar will draw the bugs to it and away from you and the most important part—away from your food.
It Will Erode Your Teeth
The phosphoric acid might give Coke it's familiar, tangy flavor—but it'll also erode your tooth enamel. Sip carefully.
It Can Fix Your Dye Job
Hair too dark? Wash your hair with a can of Coke to fade some of that dark color.
You Can Bake With It
Baking hack: mix brownie mix + a bottle of Coke for moist brownies without any of the other ingredients.
The Bottle Wasn't Designed Like A Woman's Body
The Coke bottle actually got it's shape and name from the same place—the cocoa plant. The glassmakers were intrigued by the shape of the cocoa pod, and the original design stuck.
It'll Do A Lot To Your Body In Just 60 Minutes
After the initial blood sugar spike, you'll experience increased blood pressure, dilated eyes, a bathroom run, loss of minerals, and a sugar crash. Coke seriously takes your body on one roller-coaster ride of an hour.
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