Coca-Cola or ‘coke’ is an all-time favourite beverage. Almost everyone around the world enpys it. But did you know the beverage has its fair share of secrets? Hence we have compiled a list of crazy facts about Coca-Cola that you probably didn’t know.
Read 20 crazy facts about Coca-Cola!
1) Coca-Cola used to contain cocaine!
The first crazy fact about Coca-Cola is that it contained nine milligrams of cocaine per glass. Additionally, the beverage didn’t become completely cocaine-free until 1929.
2) Soviet Marshal Zhukov ordered the company to make a colourless Coca-Cola as drinking it in public embarrassed him.
3) Nazis in Germany invented Fanta because they couldn’t import Coca-Cola.
4) When Coca-Cola was first introduced, they launched it as a nerve tonic that “relieves exhaustion.”
5) Coca-Cola is sold all over the world except for these two countries; Cuba and North Korea.
6) Another crazy fact about Coca-Cola is that it was the first soft drink to go to space! In 1985, astronauts tested the Coca-Cola space can aboard the shuttle Challenger.
7) Another crazy fact about Coca-Cola is that the company owns a whopping 20 brands which generate more than $1 billion in sales annually.
8) According to Coca-Cola, the ‘perfect’ temperature to serve the beverage is between 34 to 38 degrees Fahrenheit.
9) A cure for morphine addiction!
Yes, you read that right! Originally coke started out as a cure for morphine addiction. The founder of the beverage, Dr John Pemberton was once addicted to morphine. In an attempt to cure himself, he invented ‘Pemberton’s French wine soda’; a drink made up of alcohol and coca leaf extract. Subsequently, to make the product more marketable, he invented Coca-Cola.
10) Coke is one of the most recognised brands in the world!
According to the company, its name is the second-most understood word in the world, besides ‘okay’. Additionally, its colours and logo are recognised by almost 94% of the world’s population.
11) Another crazy fact about Coca-Cola is that its logo is red because of tax laws.
Dr Pemberton created the drink way back in 1886. He billed it as an alternative to alcohol, as alcohol was heavily taxed in the 19th century. According to a Coca-Cola spokesperson, they began painting their barrels red as a way to distinguish between Coke and alcoholic beverages during transport.
12) The logo’s iconic lettering is called ‘Spencerian’ and the bottle is called a ‘Contour’.
13) In 1923, Coca-Cola introduced the ‘six-pack’ as a way to easily buy and carry multiple bottles of the beverage.
14) One of the best-kept business secrets of the past decade, Coca-Cola’s recipe is kept under lock and key.
Originally the formula was secured at SunTrustBanks Inc. However, at the company’s 125th anniversary they decided to relocate it. Today, the recipe of the popular drink is in a high tech vault at the Coca-Cola museum in Atlanta. And to date, only a handful of people have seen it!
15) New Coke was a disaster!
Another crazy fact about Coca-Cola is that in 1985 the company introduced a reformulation of the drink called ‘New Coke’. However, it caused outrage amongst loyal customers; with some even pouring it down the sewers! Subsequently, New Coke was on sale for only 79 days before the company brought back the original ‘Coca-Cola classic’ to appease its consumers.
(C: Wright’s Printing and Marketing)
16) Coke’s ex-employee was imprisoned for trying to sell trade secrets to Pepsi!
In 2007, the former Coca-Cola secretary Joya Williams tried to sell ‘highly-classified’ documents of the company to its rival PepsiCo. However, PepsiCo forwarded the documents back to Coca-Cola who then started an FBI investigation to apprehend the ‘leaker’. After a successful investigation, they found the culprit and consequently Williams received an 8-year prison sentence.
17) People use Coke as an ingredient in cooking!
Yes, you read that right! Another crazy fact about Coca-Cola is that people use it as an ingredient in cooking. Some popular dishes include Cola chicken, Coca-Cola pulled pork and even Coca-Cola cake!
18) Coca-Cola in church!
Coca-Cola has become such a big part of the Mexican culture that there’s a church in Chiapas, Mexico which uses coke in their religious services. At the ‘Coca-Cola church’ a.k.a the St. John the Baptist church, Coke is used for religious services, healing and decoration.
19) The foul-smelling ‘magican’ campaign.
In the 90s, Coke had a campaign ‘magican’ which gave consumers a chance to win gift coupons or money. They essentially loaded select few cans with the items. To make it harder to distinguish them from regular cans, they filled the magicans with a mixture of chlorinated water and a foul-smelling substance. Essentially, discouraging people from drinking it. Although initially, a success, they had to nix it due to complaints about faulty cans.
20) The last in our list of crazy facts about Coca-Cola is that more than 10,000 soft drinks of the brand are consumed every day!
25 Fascinating facts about the British Museum in London.
Did you know that the British Museum houses over 8 million objects!? but only 1% of them are on display at any given time. Additonally did you know that it houses exhibits like the Rosetta stone? A stone which was instrumental in deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphics. Read more such fascinating facts about the British Museum!
1) The most popular tourist attraction in the UK is the British Museum in London. The museum attracts over 7 million individuals annually.
The British Museum
2) According to the British Museum website, the collection of the museum spans over two million years of human history. Most of the collection is from the era of the British Empire.
3) The British museum recreated the recipe of a 2000-year-old loaf of bread. The Roman loaf of bread was discovered during excavations in Herculaneum.
4) The British Museum is an institution which is older than the United States of America.
Interior of the British Museum
5) A cat named Mike guarded the gates of the museum between the years 1909 to 1929. After its demise, the TIME magazine wrote two obituaries for it. Additionally, Mike is also the most famed British feline of the 20th century.
Mike the cat which guarded the British Museum
6) The British Museum is the first National Public Museum in history. The museum was founded in 1753 and opened its doors in 1759, it is the first National museum to cover the entire field of human knowledge. Additionally, it is open to visitors all over the world and it has no fee of admission.
7) During WWII, part of the Piccadilly line was closed and the British Museum artefacts were stored in the empty spaces.
8) The British Museum was once going to be located at the now Buckingham Palace. Before opening the museum to the public, it was required to be located at a good site. The Buckingham place was considered first. The same location for the now Buckingham Palace. The trustees then made the decision to move it into the Montagu House where it is situated now.
A photograph of the Montagu House
9) The collection of the British Museum got so large during one point that they had to build two separate institutions to house the collection; The National History Museum and The British Library.
An exhibit at the National History Museum
10) The British Museum is one of the first public building in London to use Electric Lighting. In 1879, the museum made use of electric lighting to light up the Reading Room, Front Hall and the Forecourt.
Electric Lighting at the British Museum
11) The British Museum is the set used in the Popular movie Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (2014). Additionally, It is the set used in 15 movies! Moreover, around 50 film crews come to the Museum annually for the filming of documentaries and music videos.
Night at the Museum
12) The British Museum holds the title for the largest indoor space on Google Street View.
13) Contrary to what you thought, the railings of the British Museum are not black but are painted invisible green.
The railings of the British Museum
14) The British Museum once had a room called the Secretum, which housed obscene and erotic items from history. Once upon a time, one required a special pass to view these exhibits. But not anymore! Now, these artefacts are on display throughout the museum. These artefacts include The Warren cup, The Statue of Tara and Pan copulating with a goat.
15) Back in 1912 one had to give a written exam in order to be a part of the staff at the British Museum. If one wanted to work in services such as printing and drawing then you had to answer additional questions.
Some of these questions were ” what was the relationship between a goldsmith and an engraver in 6th century Germany?” or “give a brief account of types of ancient coins?”
16) One of the first-ever customer complaints is on display at the British Museum. Basically, a man named Nanni wrote a complaint to his copper merchant around 4000 years ago!
Complaint tablet to Ea-nasir displayed at the British Museum
17) The British Museum believes in the policy of sharing is caring. It has loaned around 5000 of its exhibits worldwide.
18) One of the most popular exhibits at the British Museum is the Rosetta stone.
The British Museum houses the Rosetta Stone which dates back to 196 BC. French soldiers discovered it in 1799 and its discovery was game-changing for Egyptology. Essentially, the Rosetta Stone was the key to helping people decipher Egyptian hieroglyphics and unlocking its secrets.
The Rosetta Stone displayed at the British Museum
19) The most searched terms in the museum’s website are Egypt (with a whopping 53,000 searches annually) and the Japanese erotic art Shunga.
Bust of Ramesses II displayed at the British Museum
20) The roof of the British Museum takes two weeks to clean! The roof consists of 3,312 panes of glass of different sizes. Hence it is no easy feat to clean it.
The rood of the British Museum: made of glass and steel
21) The great composer Mozart visited the Museum with his family in the 1760s. The great musician was so enamoured by the art arounf that he gifted the museum a motet as a gift.
The great composer Wolfgang Mozart.
22) The museum’s most popular exhibition was way back in 1972. 1.6 million individuals flocked to the museum to view the collection of the Egyptian Pharoah Tutankhamun. The collection received a lot of public fascination. This is dubbed as the Tutankhamun mania.
A mummy from the collection of the Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun
23) The British Museum’s Department of Ancient Egypt and Sudan houses the biggest Egyptian collection in the world, second only to Cairo’s Egyptian Museum. Their extensive collection of mummies attracts visitors from all over the world.
The British Museum’s Department of Ancient Egypt and Sudan
24) Popular street artist Banksy actually pranked the museum back in 2005. He displayed his own art “Early man goes to Market” and deemed it as an ancient artefact. It was only a few days until the staff caught wind of what went underway and promptly removed the piece.
Early man goes to market. Banksy’s version
25) The last in our list of fascinating facts about the British Museum is that the original collection is based on the collections of Sir Hans Sloane, Robert Harley, the 1st earl of Oxford and Sir Robert Cotton.
Florence Nightingale is the well-known founder of modern nursing. Popularly called as the ‘lady with the lamp’ she was born in Florence, Italy on May 12, 1820. She belonged to a wealthy and affluent family; her mother was a socialite and her father was a wealthy landowner. Nightingale was a remarkable nurse, a social reformer and a statistician. Below we have compiled interesting facts about Florence Nightingale to celebrate her legacy.
Read 14 Interesting Facts about Florence Nightingale
1) Florence Nightingale was convinced that she heard the voice of God wanting her to help people and become a nurse.
The first interesting fact about Florence Nightingale is that at the age of 16, she was convinced that the divine wanted her to become a nurse. At the time, it was unorthodox for a wealthy Victorian girl to work in a hospital as they were filthy. However, she was crystal clear about her purpose. Subsequently, in 1851, she began studying nursing at a Christian school for women in Germany.
Florence Nightingale
2) Florence Nightingale’s tombstone bears only her initials and the years in which she was born and died.
3) She received the first order of Merit awarded to a woman in 1907 by King Edward VII.
4) Why was Florence Nightingale called as the ‘Lady with the Lamp’?
Another interesting fact about Florence Nightingale was that during her time working at Scutari, she used to check on the wounded at night. During the process, she used to carry a lamp in her hand. This image of her caught the attention of the public and she was immortalised as such.
5) Florence Nightingale’s father secretly paid her £500 annually for helping sick and injured. At the time this was a massive sum of money.
6) Another interesting fact about Florence Nightingale is that she was a polyglot.
Nightingale was fluent in English, Italian, German and French. Additionally, she also had a basic understanding of Greek and Latin.
7) Florence Nightingale is instrumental in popularising pie charts.
Pie charts were invented 19 years before Nightingale was born but historians recognise her influence in adopting and promoting the tool. Essentially, Nightingale wanted to bring data to life and the best way for that was to use visual representation. For this, she made use of pie charts thus popularising them.
8) Her birthday is celebrated around the world as International Nurses Day.
9) There is a museum dedicated to her.
The Florence Nightingale Museum in London is devoted to Nightingale and tells her real story. It exhibits her personal items such as her medicine chest and the writing slate she used as a child.
10) She rescued and owned an owl. Later she would carry it everywhere in her pocket.
During her time in Athens, she noticed some children playing with a ball of fluff. Subsequently, she discovered it was an owl and rescued it. She named it Athena and carried it everywhere in her pocket. However, as she left for Crimea, the poor creature died of neglect. It was then taxidermied and is displayed at the Florence Nightingale Museum.
11) Nightingale refused to marry and turned down several marriage proposals.
She received her first marriage proposal when she was only 17 years old. But by then she had figured out her purpose in life. As a result, she turned it down. She would similarly turn down more such proposals in the future.
12) Sickness and death
While working at Scutari, she contracted Crimea Fever. Although she recovered she was never really the same; once even bedridden at the age of 38. However, she never gave up her passion for helping people and even published her popular book ‘Notes on Hospital’.
Longfellow’s poem ‘Santa Filomena’ is written in Nightingale’s honour and describes her work at the Scutari Hospital. Additionally, he is popular for coining the term ‘lady with the lamp’. A verse of the poem goes as:
“A Lady with a lamp shall stand. In the great history of the land, A noble type of good, Heroic Womanhood.”
-Santa Filomena by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1857
14) She established the Nightingale Training School for Nurses in 1860.
The last fact in our list of interesting facts about Florence Nightingale is that in 1860 she established a nursing school. She opened the school inside St Thomas Hospital in London. Today the school is a part of King’s College London, where nurses take a pledge in her honour.
