April 14, 1994Reputable sourceWell documented
Big Tobacco Under Oath: The 1994 Hearings
On the timeline · around April 14, 1994 ·
What happened
Summoned before Congress by Representative Henry Waxman, the CEOs of the seven largest U.S. tobacco companies each testified under oath that they did not believe nicotine was addictive — even as leaked internal documents showed the industry had long known otherwise.
Why it matters
The hearings became an iconic image of corporate denial. They fueled lawsuits and investigations that would finally crack the industry's decades of defense.