Where Did Electronic Cigarettes Came From?

Electronic Cigarettes, e-cigars, e-cigs or vapor cigars, no matter how you call it, has been quickly gaining popularity among smokers. But, have you ever wondered where it came from or where the idea was originally made? According to Wikipedia, "The modern electronic cigarette's design was devised by Chinese pharmacist Hon Lik in 2003, though the earliest known description of its concept was authored by Herbert A. Gilbert in 1963."

Below is the design:

Now we have this design(A clearer picture of the electric cigs):

It was in the year 2004 that e-cigarettes officially came out in the market of China, and quickly spread to other countries such as US and UK. It had basically an objective of providing a safe and harmless means for and method of smoking by replacing burning tobacco and paper with heated, moist, flavored air; or by inhaling warm medication into the lungs in case of a respiratory ailment under direction of a physician. (Now, I wonder how much of that is true!) Bottomline is that, it took more that 40 years to make this brilliant idea come to life.

Now that the question, "Where Did Electronic Cigarettes Came From?" has been answered, I wonder how long will it take to research whether e-cigs are safer than the traditional cigars or perhaps vice versa?