| 1492 |
Christopher
Columbus discovered dried tobacco leaves, given him by Arawaks as
gifts. |
| 1492 |
Rodrigo
de Jerez and Luis de Torres, in Cuba searching for the Khan of
Cathay (China), were credited with the first observing smoking. |
| 1499 |
Amerigo
Vespucci documented the use of chewing tobacco in an Island in
Venezuela. |
| 1545 |
Smoking
habits of Iroquoi-Indians around Montreal were documented. |
| 1556 |
Tobacco
came to Europe; Andre Thevet brought Nicotiana tabacum from
Brazil to France. |
| 1560 |
Jean
Nicot de Villemain, France's ambassador to Portugal, wrote about
tobacco's medicinal properties. |
| 1564 |
Tobacco
was introduced in England by Sir John Hawkins and his crew. |
| 1580 |
Tobacco
was introduced in Turkey; smoking began there in 1601. |
| 1586 |
Tobacco
was introduced in Germany. |
| 1600 |
European
cultivation of tobacco began. |
| 1603 |
British
physicians were upset about tobacco use without prescription. |
| 1642 |
Pope
Urban VIII banned smoking in holy places. |
| 1693 |
Smoking
was banned in Commons chamber in England. |
| 1719 |
Smoking
was prohibited in France. |
| 1730 |
First
American tobacco factories began in Virginia. |
| 1795 |
Sammuel
Thomas von Soemmering of
Maine reported on cancers of the lip in pipe smokers. |
| 1798 |
Benjamin
Rush wrote on the medical dangers of tobacco chewing and smoking. |
| 1885 |
Vincent
van Gogh finished the most distinguishing of his paintings "Skull
with Burning Cigarette" (oil on canvas) in Antwerp, The Netherlands. |
| 1889 |
Langley
and Dickinson wrote on the effects of nicotine on nerve cells. |
| 1900 |
Authored
by Anton Brosh, the first publication following an animal
experiment on tobacco tar and its fractions appeared in the literature. |
| 1904 |
The first
laboratory synthesis of nicotine was reported. |
| 1911 |
Wacker
and Schmincke from the University of Munich published about an
experimental study on the tumor-inducing effect of tobacco-tar following
injection to rabbits. |
| 1923 |
Erich
Hoffmann and his colleagues from the University of Bonn published
about their experimental study on the carcinogenicity of tobacco tar
extracts on mice. |
| 1936 |
Fritz
Lickint from Germany used the term "Passivrauchen"
(passive smoking), published in "Tabakgenuss und Gesundheit", as
a serious threat to nonsmokers. |
| 1948 |
Lung
cancer was growing 5 times faster than other cancers over the previous
decade. |
| 1950 |
Richard
Doll & Bradford Hill from the U.K., and Ernest Wynder
& Evarts Graham from the U.S. independently published the
results of their studies linking an enhanced incidence of lung cancer with
smoking habits. |
| 1953 |
Ernst
Wynder reported on his experimental finding about the carcinogenic
effect of cigarette tar on mice. |
| 1957 |
Winea
Simpson writing in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology
raised the important issue of prematurity of children born to smoking
mothers. |
| 1970 |
Tobacco
cropper's sickness was described by R. Weizenecker & W.B.
Deal. |
| 1971 |
Dietrich
Hoffmann and Ernst Wynder published on the tumor initiating,
accelerating and promoting activities of different fractions of cigarette
smoke condensate. |
| 1981 |
A
Japanese report by Hirayama based on 14 years of follow-up study on
91 540 women, indicating that "nonsmoking wives of heavy smokers have
a higher risk of lung cancer" was an impulse for numerous further studies on passive smoking
and cancer. |
| 1982 |
Annual
Report of the US Surgeon General indicated the possibility that passive
smoking may cause lung cancer. |
| 1987 |
The US
Congress banned smoking on domestic flights of less than two hours. |
| 1990 |
Smoking
was banned on all domestic flights of less than 6 hours in the US. |
| 1991 |
Australian
Federal Court found studies on the hazards of environmental tobacco smoke
(passive smoking) valid. |
| 1994 |
OSHA (Occupational
Safety & Health Administration of the US) and the US Department of
Defense imposed smoking restrictions at workplaces and all military bases. |
| 1994 |
Heads of
seven leading tobacco companies appeared before the US Congressional
Committee and denied that nicotine is addictive. |
| 1997 |
The European
Union Health Ministers (except from Germany) voted to phase out tobacco advertising. |
| 1999 |
The US
Justice Department sued the tobacco industry to recover billions of
government dollars spent on smoking-related health care. |
| 2000 |
A jury in
Miami-Dade County ordered the tobacco industry to pay $144.8 billion in
punitive damages to some 500,000 Florida smokers. |
| 2000 |
The
European Union's highest court overturned an EU ban on tobacco advertising;
a blow to the EU efforts to get Europeans to stop smoking. |
| 2001 |
The
European Parliment in Brussels approved the toughest anti-smoking law on
May 15, which will take effect in the 15 EU nations in October 2002. The
new law orders clear health warnings on cigarette packs, bans using the
terms such as 'mild' and 'low tar', and builds on a movement for creation
of smoke-free zones in countries where it has not been considered in
public places.. |
| 2001 |
A jury in
California ordered the giant tobacco industry, Philip Morris, to pay $3 billion in
punitive damages and $5.5 million in general damages to a cancer-stricken
smoker. |
