ENDS History

FAQ: Who invented the ecig?

Excellent History by CASAA

• HISTORICAL TIMELINE OF VAPING & ELECTRONIC CIGARETTES

CASAA has maintained this historical timeline detailing the history of vaping for several years. This page is periodically updated with new events.

By James Dunworth via the Ashtray Blog

• The History of the Electronic Cigarette: It goes back further than you think

Ask most vapers about the history of e-cigarettes, and they’ll tell you it began in China, but the history goes back further than that.

Capillary Aerosol Generator by PMI

• Explaining the discontinuation of a non-tobacco nicotine project at Philip Morris: obstacles to innovation

"This paper investigates the fate of the Capillary Aerosol Generator(CAG), a nicotine aerosol device resembling modern e-cigarettes, developed by Philip Morris (PM) in 1994. A debate has emerged as to why this product never made it to market. In Donovan et al. v. Philip Morris USA, Inc., the sides presented opposing views in their arguments. To explore the reasons for CAG abandonment,we searched the Truth Tobacco Industry Documents database for key terms including ‘Capillary Aerosol,’ ‘Project LEAP’ (the project under which the CAG was housed), and ‘Tony Howell’ (CAG inventor). The results show that regulatory,legal, and political concerns deterred CAG development. A lack of progress even after these concerns had abated seems to reveal a larger reluctance to innovate non-tobacco products—perhaps due to concerns about competing against tobacco cigarettes. We also explored additional explanations such as technological barriers and lack of consumer interest."

(Photo: Kevin Crowley)

More like a HnB, than an Ecig

• On the Origins of the Electronic Cigarette: British American Tobacco's Project Ariel (1962-1967)

"Electronic cigarettes are advertised as the latest technological gadget-the smoking equivalent of smart phones. I challenge this sense of novelty by tracing their history to the 1960s, when researchers at British American Tobacco first recognized that smokers' brains were dependent on nicotine. This discovery enabled British American Tobacco to develop a novel kind of smoking device under the codename "Ariel" between 1962 and 1967."