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Many people may not notice that the third Thursday of November, which this year falls on November 20th, is designated as the Great American Smokeout, an annual event that encourages smokers to quit for at least one day.

The Great American Smokeout originates from a small town event in Massachusetts in 1971 in which high school guidance counselor Arthur Mullaney asked people to give up smoking cigarettes for one day and donate the money they would spend on cigarettes to a college scholarship fund.

In 1974, Lynn Smith, editor of Minnesota's Monticello Times organized the state's first observance of the "don't smoke day". Then 1976, The California division of the American Cancer Society picked the idea and ultimately re-christened the event the Great American Smokeout.

The campaign is aimed to raise awareness of the many effective ways to quit forever and hopefully increase the likelihood of permanent cessation. It has been said that probably millions of adults are convinced to observe this D-day each year.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, currently about 44 million of Adults or one in every five are smokers.   Smoking and exposure to tobacco smoke result in about 443,000 premature deaths in the United States each year.

The interventions that prove effective in helping people quit smoking tobacco include assistance from a healthcare provider, FDA-approved medications and behavioral counseling.