ISPTID: The Facts: Historical Events

Historical Events

Poisoning for over centuries: A quick review of some selected events
	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.
2003	Member states of the World Health Organization adopted an historic tobacco control treaty - the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). Once ratified by 40 individual countries, the FCTC treaty will become effective and will hold the potential to significantly reduce the global tobacco-induced disease burden.
2004	The number of countries signing up to the FCTC treaty reaches 100! India, whose 1 billion inhabitants make up 15% of the world's population, ratified the treaty in May 2004. For regular FCTC updates please visit http://www.fctc.org/.

Sources: Am J Obstet Gyn 73: 808 (1957) / Br Med J (Sept 30, 1950) / Br Med J (Clin Res Ed) 282: 183-185 (1981) / Cancer 27: 848 (1971) / Cancer Res 13: 855 (1953) / CBS News, July & October 2000 / Dtsch Med Wschr 49: 633 (1923) / J Fla Med Assoc 57: 13-14 (1970) / JAMA 143: 329-338 (1950) / Lock S, Ashes to ashes: the history of smoking and health, Rodopi Bv, Amsterdam (1998) / München Med Wschr 58: 1607 (1911) / Virchows Arch Pathol Anat Histol 162: 32-84 (1900) / Tobacco timeline, Tobacco BBS (212-982-4645), Tobacco.org (2000).

back to top