A common misconception about cigars is that they were brought over by the Europeans to the North America. But did you know that the tobacco plant, from which cigars are processed, are originally from the Americas? Native Americans were the first to grow it for many years.

In fact studies suggest that the Mayans from the Mexican peninsula propagated tobacco plants, and they smoked in the same way we do these days. Tobacco then spread to the other parts of the continent. In the United States, first tobacco was used along the Mississippi River. When Christopher Columbus discovered America, it was the start of the Europeans falling in love with the tobacco.

In fact when he returned to his country the people in his nation loved it. Soon the cigar would spread like wildfire in Europe that even the French found themselves smoking tobacco.

Going back to the US, the first tobacco cultivated for business purposes was planted in Virginia. Then plantations sprouted in Maryland and other nearby states. During this time the tobacco was smoked using pipes. In the 18th century people learned how to smoke cigars. Revolutionary War general Israel Putnam is believed to be the first to bring cigar smoking in the United States, after stumbling on it in Cuba.

The outbreak of the Peninsula War ignited the frenzy on cigars as British and French soldiers took on the habit after smoking tobacco and pipes during their assignments. Today cigar smoking is considered a very popular habit.