Brief History of Vaping (e-cigarettes)

1965  -- The first electronic cigarette was patented in the US by the inventor, Herbert A. Gilbert. As smoking tobacco cigarettes was still fashionable and promoted as a healthy choice this fad received little attention.

2001 – Hon Lik, a Chinese research pharmacist devised a large console which used an ultrasound element to vaporise a liquid containing nicotine. Hon Lik was a heavy smoker and found this device provided him with a similar experience to smoking cigarettes without the harmful chemicals from tobacco.

2003 – After modifying the original design many times Hon Lik patented a smaller hand held device which was the forerunner of the modern day e-cig.

2004 – 2007 Electronic cigarettes were introduced to the Chinese domestic market before making their way to the US and European markets where their popularity grew exponentially. This period saw many new companies enter the market of manufacturing e-cigarettes together with many more modifications and improvements in designs.

2009 – The Joyetech company introduced the popular eGo series with an innovated design including replaceable atomiser coils and variable voltage batteries. Within three years the Joyetech eGo series became the world’s bestselling e-cigarette components. Joyetech products continue to be world leaders in the development and improvement of e-cigarettes.

2015 – Worldwide the number of users of e-cigs continues to rise. About 2.6 million people in the UK now Vape and more than 7 million people in France have tried vaping with 1.9 million continuing to vape on a daily basis. From a survey in France, 84% of people who recently stopped smoking credited e-cigarettes as essential in their quitting smoking tobacco.