The modern cigarette as it is known today was invented by James Albert Bonsack in 1880. He developed and patented the first cigarette rolling machine, which automated the process of rolling cigarettes, making production faster, more efficient, and less labor-intensive. This invention allowed cigarettes to be mass-produced and become affordable, contributing greatly to their widespread popularity. Although people have been smoking tobacco for thousands of years, Bonsack's machine marked the beginning of the modern cigarette industry.
Before Bonsack's invention, cigarettes were primarily hand-rolled, and various cultures had different tobacco smoking practices long before the modern cigarette existed. The earliest forms of cigarette-like smoking appeared in the mid-19th century, for example during the Crimean War, when soldiers rolled tobacco in paper as a practical means of smoking.