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U.S. Surgeon General Luther Terry shocked Americans by announcing that cigarette smoking is a major cause of lung cancer, throat cancer and chronic bronchitis. Sixty years ago, about 70 million<\/a> Americans smoked tobacco. An estimated 42 percent<\/a> of adults identified themselves as smokers in 1965, and advertisements for cigarettes were impossible to avoid. Tobacco products were stylish and healthy, manufacturers insisted, with Camel claiming its cigarettes \u201cdon\u2019t get your wind\u201d and Old Gold saying its were \u201cfresh as mountain air.\u201d<\/p>\n So it came as a shock to the American public when, on January 11, 1964, their surgeon general appeared on television saying that smoking tobacco leads to disease and death.<\/p>\n Luther Terry<\/a>, appointed surgeon general by President John F. Kennedy in 1961, had just reviewed the results of a 14-month study<\/a> by a committee of top-notch medical scientists. Their conclusions, presented in a 387-page report, were that cigarette smoking is a major cause of lung cancer, throat cancer and chronic bronchitis.<\/p>\n \u201cIn short, the committee says if you smoke cigarettes, you increase your chances of dying early,\u201d CBS News<\/a> reported at the time. \u201cThe sooner you start, the more you smoke, the more you inhale, the worse your chances are.\u201d<\/p>\n Smoking: “A health hazard of sufficient importance”<\/p>\n
\n Bettmann via Getty Images<\/span>
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