Hemp is one of the oldest cultivated crops on Earth and carbon testing suggests that wild hemp dates back as far as 8,000 B.C., in modern-day China and Taiwan. As human agriculture began around 10,000 years ago, it’s likely that hemp was one of the first agricultural crops.
- 8,000 BC: archaeologists identify traces of hemp in Asia, used in pottery and cloth.
- 2,000 BC – 800 BC: dried cannabis leaves, seeds, and stems (‘bhang’) is mentioned as ‘Sacred Grass’ (one of the five sacred plants of India) in the Hindu sacred text Atharvaveda (Science of Charms).
- 600 BC: hemp rope is discovered in southern Russia.
- 500 BC: archaeologists find a jar of hemp seeds and leaves in Berlin, Germany. Hemp continues to be used across northern Europe.
- 200 BC: hemp rope is discovered in Greece.
- 100 BC: hemp is used to make paper in China. Hemp rope is found in Britain.
- 570 AD: the French queen Arnegunde is buried in hemp clothing.
- 700 AD: hemp mills appear in China and the Middle East, initially powered by people, then using animals or water.
- 850 AD: hemp is used by Vikings and therefore spread it to Iceland.
- 900 AD: Arabs utilise the technology to make hemp paper.
- 1215: The Magna Carta was written on hemp paper.
- 1492: Christopher Columbus’ journey to America would have been impossible without hemp; the sails and ropes were made from hemp fibers.
- 1533: Henry VIII charges farmers if they do not cultivate hemp.
- 1549: cannabis is first introduced in Brazil, South America through African slaves. Marijuana crops were grown to smoke.
- 1616: hemp is grown to make ropes, sails and clothing in Jamestown (the first permanent English settlement in America).
- 1700s: laws are introduced, requiring farmers in various colonies to grow hemp.
- 1776: The Declaration of Independence is drafted on paper made of hemp.
- 1840s: hemp seed oil is used to fuel the household lamps inside Abraham Lincoln’s home.
- 1880s: until the 1880s, schoolbooks are made from hemp or flax paper.
- 1914: the $10 bill was printed on hemp paper and features farmers ploughing hemp.
- 1916: The Department of Agriculture in the US discovers that hemp produces 4x more paper per acre than trees.
- 1928: the UK outlaws hemp during WWII after discovering the links with THC.
- 1937: in the US, the Marijuana Tax Act heavily reduces the production of hemp by incurring a tax on all cannabis sales (including hemp).
- 1940: CBD is discovered by Dr Roger Adams.
- 1942: Henry Ford uses hemp fibre in an experimental car body; it is believed to be 10x stronger than steel.
- 1957: the last commercial hemp fields are planted in the US in Wisconsin.
- 1970: hemp is lawed as an illegal drug under The Controlled Substances Act, bringing in strict legislation surrounding the cultivation of hemp, including marijuana.
- 1993: the cultivation of hemp is legalised in the UK, providing it contains less than 0.2% THC and is grown away from public footpaths, roads and buildings.
- 1998: hemp seed and oil are imported in the US as the restrictions are lifted.
- 2004: hemp foods and body care products are protected in the US.
- 2007: in over 50 years, the first hemp licenses are granted.
- 2014: President Obama signs the Farm Bill, granting research facilities to begin hemp farming.
- 2015: The Industrial Hemp Farming Act is introduced in the US in an attempt to fully legalise hemp.
- 2016: a farm in Colorado has its hemp certified as Organic.
- 2018: The Farm Bill is amended and hemp, hemp seeds and hemp derivatives are removed from The Controlled Substances Act. The Hemp Farming Act is also passed; hemp (with less than 0.3% THC) can be cultivated for agricultural purposes.