when were vapes invented

Vapes, or electronic cigarettes, were invented with early prototypes dating back to 1927 when Joseph Robinson filed a patent for an electric vaporizer intended for medicinal compounds. However, the modern concept of the electronic cigarette as a tobacco alternative began in the 1960s with Herbert A. Gilbert's patent for a "smokeless non-tobacco cigarette" in 1963. The device did not contain nicotine and was not commercially successful. The first commercially successful modern e-cigarette or vape device was developed by Chinese pharmacist Hon Lik in 2003, who created it as a safer alternative to smoking after his father died of lung cancer. His device used a battery- powered heating element to vaporize nicotine and gained popularity starting in China and later globally in the mid-2000s.