History
Native Americans used tobacco before Europeans arrived in North & South America. At extremely high doses, tobacco becomes hallucinogenic; accordingly, Native Americans generally did not use the drug recreationally. Rather, it was often consumed in extraordinarily high quantities and used as an entheogen (a psychoactive substance (most often some plant matter with hallucinogenic effects) which occasions a spiritual or mystical experience); generally, this was done only by experienced shamans or medicine men. In addition to being smoked, uncured tobacco was often eaten, drunk as tobacco juice, or used in enemas.
Source: Wikipedia
Person
In 1609, John Rolfe arrived at the Jamestown Settlement in Virginia. He is credited as the first man to successfully raise tobacco for commercial use at Jamestown. The tobacco raised in Virginia at that time, Nicotiana rustica, was not to the liking of the Europeans, but Rolfe had brought some seed for Nicotiana tabacum with him from Bermuda. Shortly after arriving, his first wife died, and he married Pocahontas, a daughter of Chief Powhatan. Although most of the settlers wouldn’t touch the tobacco crop, Rolfe was able to make his fortune farming it for export at Varina Farms Plantation. When he left for England with Pocahontas, he was wealthy. When Rolfe returned to Jamestown following Pocahontas’s death in England, he continued to improve the quality of tobacco. By 1620, 40,000 pounds of tobacco were shipped to England. By the time John Rolfe died in 1622, Jamestown was thriving as a producer of tobacco and Jamestown’s population would top 4,000.
Source: Wikipedia
Film
Tobacco Blues (1998): directed by Christine Fugate and narrated by Harry Dean Stanton. Plot outline: This documentary looks at four tobacco-farming families in Kentucky, to see how they are dealing with the current situation. Tobacco is a cash crop not easily replaced in the poor Appalachian region where most tobacco is grown. The farmers want the public to realize that they are not evil–the farmers are just trying to make a living the best way they know how. But while the tobacco companies continue to increase their overseas production, over 125,000 tobacco farmers are projected to lose a significant portion of their income during the next 5 years. This documentary looks at how the four families are coping with the possible loss of their farms, their livelihoods, and their lifestyle.
Source: IMDb
Numbers
The WHO in the 2002 World Health Report estimates that in developed countries, 26% of male deaths and 9% of female deaths can be attributed to smoking.
Incidence of impotence is approximately 85 percent higher in male smokers compared to non-smokers.
Tobacco related illnesses kill 440,000 USA citizens per year,[9] about 1,205 per day, making it the leading cause of preventable death in the U.S.
There are over 19 known carcinogens in cigarettes.
According to a study by an international team of researchers, people under 40 are five times more likely to have a heart attack if they smoke.
A team of British scientists headed by Richard Doll carried out a longitudinal study of 34,439 medical specialists from 1951 to 2001, generally called the “British doctors study.” The study demonstrated that smoking decreased life expectancy by 10 years and that almost half of the smokers died from diseases possibly caused by smoking (cancer, heart disease, and stroke). About 5,900 of the study participants are still alive and only 134 of them still smoke.
Source: Wikipedia
Thing
Smoker’s Hat: In a nut shell, the battery powered Smokers Hat sucks up the cigarette’s smoke and filters it, deodorizes it, ionizes it and spritzes a fresh scent near the exhaust fan before it spits it back out. There are even a couple of built-in cig pack holders and a nifty visor that’s appropriately tinted smoky.
Source: totallyabsurd.com
Song
Smoke on the Water by Deep Purple
See lyrics
Fictional character
Smoke is a character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. A former member of the Lin Kuei clan and a longtime friend of younger Sub-Zero, Smoke debuted in Mortal Kombat II as a hidden character to fight against. He was often spotted in the Living Forest stage in which he (along with Jade) peeked out of the trees. Like Reptile when he made his appearance, he was simply a grey clad version of Scorpion who moved extremely fast, and puffs of smoke surrounded his body. He would appear randomly before matches, offering clues that would enable the player to fight him, as Reptile had in the original Mortal Kombat.
Source: Wikipedia
Recipe
Tobacco onions
See recipe
Wordplay
The following are all smoking-related anagrams (a word or phrase made by using the letters of another word or phrase in a different order):
The cigarette and tobacco industry = Death by cancer, to distinct outrage
Imperial Tobacco = Boo! Capital crime!
A packet of Rothmans cigarettes = Smoke it…fate – throat cancer. Gasp!
The Tobacco Industry = Cancer to body, shut it!
British American Tobacco = Oi! Combat cancer habit, sir!
Source: Anagram Genius
Literature
Tobacco Road is a 1932 novel by Erskine Caldwell about Georgia sharecroppers. It was dramatized for Broadway by Jack Kirkland in 1933, and ran for a then-astounding eight years (3182 performances). A 1941 film version, deliberately played mainly for laughs, was directed by John Ford, and the storyline was considerably altered. Tobacco Road takes place in Georgia during the worst years of the Great Depression. It depicts a family of poor white tenant farmers, the Lesters, as one of the many small Southern cotton farmers estranged by the industrialization of production and the migration into cities. The main character of the novel is Jeeter Lester, an ignorant and sinful man who is redeemed by his love of the land and his faith in the fertility and the promise of soil.
Source: Wikipedia
Quotes
I kissed my first girl and smoked my first cigarette on the same day. I haven’t had time for tobacco since. (Arturo Toscanini)
One thousand Americans stop smoking every day – by dying. (Author Unknown)
It has always been my rule never to smoke when asleep, and never to refrain when awake. (Mark Twain)
If you must smoke, take your butt outside. (Author Unknown)
The believing we do something when we do nothing is the first illusion of tobacco. (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
A cigarette is the perfect type of a perfect pleasure. It is exquisite, and it leaves one unsatisfied. What more can one want? (Oscar Wilde)
The best way to stop smoking is to just stop – no ifs, ands or butts. (Edith Zittler)
Source: www.quotegarden.com
Proverbs
The old pipe gives the sweetest smoke. (Irish)
Only men with thick lips should smoke a cigar. (Mexican)
Enough food and a pipe full of tobacco makes you equal to the immortals. (Chinese)
It is better to be without a wife for a minute than without tobacco for an hour. (Estonian)
Tobacco hic,/ Will make a man well if he be sick. (Traditional)
Source: Creative Proverbs
Courtesy- http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-central-trivia-smoking.htm
Linguistica Indica 