96 years ago today, March 12, 1929 (February 2, 1929), Coca-Cola inventor Asa Candler died. Coca Cola outlived its inventor March 12, 1929 Asa G. Candler, 77, died today. Asa G. Candler was born in rural Georgia and grew up poor. In 1888, he began experimenting with Coca-Cola in a small hut. In 1919, he sold the business to the Delaware Coca-Cola Company for $25 million. He often helped the just cause of the South.