Around 105 AD, a Chinese man named Cai Lun had a brilliant idea. He created the first real paper by mixing tree bark, old cloth, and fishing nets with water. This mixture was mashed up, spread flat, and left to dry. Voila! The first sheet of paper was born.
For many years, China kept this secret, but eventually, people in other parts of the world learned how to make paper too. By the 8th century, paper-making spread to the Middle East, and by the 12th century, it reached Europe. The Europeans improved the process, using water-powered machines to make more paper faster.
Fast forward to today, and we use paper for almost everything—books, newspapers, schoolwork, and even packaging! Modern paper is mostly made from wood pulp, which is ground-up trees mixed with water and chemicals.
But here’s the cool part: even though paper has been around for centuries, we’re always finding new ways to make it more eco-friendly, like recycling old paper into new sheets!
So, the next time you write or draw on paper, think about the amazing history behind it and how far we’ve come from writing on animal skins!