Tobacco, a plant of the Nicotiana genus, has been around 6000 - 3000 BC and was originally only found in the Americas.
It was used in a variety of ways by indigenous peoples, including smoking, chewing, snuffing and religious rituals.
Christopher Columbus found tobacco on his New World journey in 1492, and his crew was impressed by it, bringing it back to Europe and popularising it.
In the 19th century, it revolutionised the tobacco industry by allowing mass production, making cigarettes cheaper and more accessible.
In the mid-twentieth century, studies demonstrated that smoking was damaging to human health, raising public awareness and reducing cigarette usage.
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