Discovered in the New World, tobacco was first introduced in Europe at the beginning of the 16th century, but only in the mid-1500s smoking quickly gained popularity. In the 17th century, a pulverized tobacco for inhaling (snuff) became a fashionable custom among the nobility and upper classes at the expense of pipe-smoking. The snuff fame spread from the French Royal Court to England, Scotland, Ireland, and throughout Europe, and even as far as Japan, China and later the Russian Empire.