In 1954, a landmark study by British scientist Richard Doll provided the first incontrovertible evidence that smoking causes lung cancer.
In the ensuing decades, governments began health campaigns against tobacco, requiring ever-tougher package warnings and enforcing restrictions on where and to whom it could be sold.
Half a century on from Doll's research comes another watershed year, this time with the right to smoke being called into question.
Laws against passive smoking have dramatically proliferated this year, shrinking the space where smokers can legally light up and casting them in the role of a huddled minority with an antisocial habit.
Since the start of this year, a dozen countries have introduced, or announced plans to introduce, laws that will toughen the ban on smoking in public places so that it includes restaurants, clubs and bars.
More countries, states and cities are likely to follow suit next year, say experts.
"We're very encouraged," said Carmen Auderalotez, technical officer with the World Health Organization's anti-smoking campaign, the Tobacco Free Initiative.
"These laws follow on from the gradual introduction of restrictions on smoking in the workplace, which is the key first step.
"These bans protect non-smokers and also help to create an environment where smoking is no longer considered acceptable or fashionable," she said.
California, in 1998, led the legal charge to eradicate tobacco smoke in the hospitality sector, but the vanguard has now been seized by Europe.
Ireland, on March 29, became the first country in the world to ban smoking not just in the eateries and pubs, but even company cars. It has been swiftly followed by Norway, while Sweden, Britain and Portugal have all unveiled plans for similar restrictions.
Sweden already has the lowest smoking rates of any country in the world -- less than a fifth of the adult population have the habit.
Auderalotez predicts that more US states and some African countries will be in line next year to roll back the right to smoke.
In Asia, though, it's a different picture, for in many countries, smokers can puff with few hindrances. The legal picture remains rather as it was in Europe some 15 to 20 years ago and possibly longer in the US.
According to World Bank figures, of the 1.1 billion smokers in the world, 43 percent are in the Asia-Pacific region.
The figure is headed by China, with 320 million smokers, the most of any nation. More than half of adult males smoke, and the prospect of any restriction of smoking in public places is extremely remote.
"Tobacco may eventually kill about 50 million of all the children and youth alive today in China," the US Centers for Disease Control says.
India, which has 240 million tobacco users, outlawed smoking in public places in May, but this is rarely enforced, campaigners say.
The big exception is the tiny Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, which has become the first country in the world to not only outlaw smoking in public places but also bar all tobacco sales, a move set to take effect from Dec. 17.
Evidence about the dangers of passive smoking came to notoriety in 1992. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) then estimated that each year tobacco smoke inhaled by non-smokers killed 3,000 Americans from lung cancer alone.
Further studies have pointed the finger at smoke in pubs, workplaces and homes as a major source of heart disease, asthma, chronic bronchitis and prematurely aged skin, among other problems.
Faced with this barrage of scientific proof, Big Tobacco has played the card of democracy and social tranquility, portraying smokers as members of the public who have rights too and pub-owners as the unfortunate victims of legal clamps.
"The majority of people, including non-smokers, do not want a ban, particularly in pubs, clubs and bars," the London-based Tobacco Manufacturers' Association complained last week in response to the proposed British ban.
Nerida White, spokesperson for Philip Morris International, said that governments should allow bars and restaurants to choose whether they want to be smoke-free or to allow smoking, perhaps with smoke-free areas.
"Where smoking is permitted, governments should require businesses to post warning notices that communicate the public health view, which is that second-hand smoke causes disease in non-smokers. The public can then choose whether to frequent places where smoking is permitted," White said.
Anti-smoking activists are enraged by such talk.
They say only a regulatory approach -- restrictions on smoking areas, attacks on advertising, high taxes -- can erode smoking's most powerful allure as a sociable, affordable and fashionable habit.
Here is a list of countries that have introduced or unveiled plans to outlaw smoking in bars, restaurants and clubs.
EUROPE
BRITAIN: Announced (Nov. 16) plans to ban smoking in all workplaces and restaurants as well as most pubs and bars. Ban will take effect within four years. Slight differences between Scotland and England.
IRELAND: Became (on March 29) the first country in the world to ban smoking in public places. Applies to bars, restaurants, even company cars.
NORWAY: Second country in the world (June 1) to ban smoking in bars and restaurants.
PORTUGAL: Announced (Nov. 18) it would pass laws in the first half of next year to ban smoking in the hospitality industry.
SWEDEN: Law approved (May 13) for ban from June 1, 2005.
EUROPEAN UNION: New EU Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou called (Oct. 8) for EU-wide ban on smoking in public places.
ASIA-PACIFIC
AUSTRALIA: The two most populous states, Victoria and New South Wales said (Oct. 12) they will ban smoking in pubs and clubs by mid-2007.
BHUTAN: Will become first country in the world to ban tobacco sales nationwide (from Dec. 17)
HONG KONG: Legislature voted (Oct. 20) to outlaw smoking in bars and restaurants.
INDIA: Outlawed (in May) smoking in public places, but this is widely flouted.
NEW ZEALAND: Smoking to be barred in restaurants and pubs beginning next month.
NORTH AMERICA
CANADA: The territories of Nunavut and Northwest Territories banned smoking in restaurants and bars from last May 1, New Brunswick and Manitoba followed suit on Oct. 1. Ontario announced (Nov. 20) that it will follow suit. Saskatchewan to introduce ban from Jan. 1, 2005. Several Canadian cities, including Ottowa and Toronto, have already done so.
UNITED STATES: Five states have state-wide laws prohibiting smoking in restaurants and bars: California, New York, Maine, Connecticut and Delaware. Massachusetts close to adopting similar laws.
AFRICA
UGANDA: Banned (from last March 13) smoking in public places.
MIDDLE EAST
IRAN: Parliament passed a law (on Nov. 1) to ban smoking in public places.
LATIN AMERICA
No country has outlawed smoking in restaurants and bars.
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