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Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Smoking tobacco emerged from religious ceremonies in the Americas and was probably initially restricted to only shamans, priests, and medicine men.

Ramon Pane, a monk who accompanied Christopher Columbus to the Americas, is usually credited with introducing tobacco to Europe.

Renaissance author Ben Jonson argued that smoking was the "devil's fart."



Today's Random Fact:

Only recently, and mainly in Western countries, has smoking been seen as a serious health hazard. Smoking rates in the United States have dropped by half since 1965, from 42 percent to 26 percent of adults. Smoking in developing countries, however, is rising.

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Bonus Fact:

Within 20 minutes of quitting smoking, a person's blood pressure returns to normal. Within one year, the chance of suffering a heart attack decreases by half.

Tobacco smoking, particularly cigarette smoking, is the single-most preventable cause of the death in the United States.