the.com/tobacco
A weed that conquered the planet by convincing humans to set it on fire.
means A plant of the nightshade family whose dried leaves are smoked, chewed, or sniffed for their nicotine, and which gives us cigarettes, cigars, and pipe tobacco.
from Comes through Spanish 'tabaco,' borrowed in the early 1500s from the Caribbean peoples Spaniards first encountered. The exact original sense is debated: some say the Taíno word named a pipe or rolled-leaf bundle for smoking rather than the plant itself, and the name then slid onto the plant. There may also be an echo of the place-name Tobago. Either way, it sailed from the Americas to Spain and then spread, leaf and word together, across the world.
- native genius
- Evolved nicotine as a natural insecticide
- colonial cash
- Once literally used as currency in Virginia
- space traveler
- First plant grown experimentally aboard spacecraft
- royal warning
- King James I attacked it in print in 1604
- deadly toll
- Kills over eight million people yearly
marlboro — best-selling cigarette brand worldwide, 42% global market share as of 2023
virginia tobacco belt — historic region spanning north carolina and virginia producing 40% of us tobacco since 1612
cuban cigars — iconic product from cuba's vuelta abajo region, banned in us since 1962 embargo
copenhagen snuff — moist snuff brand owned by usst, leading product in us smokeless tobacco market