Although cotton is the most common textile fiber now in use, it was the last natural fiber to attain commercial importance. In the 5th century BC the Greek historian Herodotus reported that among the valuable products in India was the wild plant that bears fleece as its fruit. In the following century cotton was introduced from India into Greece by Alexander the Great. Although the early Greeks and Romans used cotton for awnings and sails as well as for clothing, it was not adopted for widespread use in Europe until centuries later.
In the New World, the Mexicans used cotton for weaving in the pre-Columbian period. Cotton textiles were found in the West Indies and in South America by explorers in the 15th and 16th centuries. Cotton was cultivated by the early American colonists, and after the introduction of the cotton gin, invented in 1793 by the American inventor Eli Whitney, cotton became the most important staple fiber in the world for quantity, economy, and utility.