The history of paper
The history of paper, a history of almost 2000 years, started in 105 A.D. in China, when the eunuch Ts'ai presents his invention to the Emperor.
Before that, documents were written on bamboo (very heavy) or silk (very expensive). So, when we discovered the technology for making paper out of bark, we immediately understood the importance and value that it had and China kept the secret for a long time or, to put it in more modern terms, the patent.
It is necessary to wait until 750 for the paper to leave China and reach Samarkand when the governor of the Caliphate of Baghdad captures two Chinese paper makers to steal the secrets of the production of this still unknown material. Since then, the history of the Charter has other fundamental dates that mark its stages of development. In Italy, Sicily was the first region to host a paper production plant, under Islamic rule.
In 1200 the paper industry spread throughout the Middle Eastern world and also Italy sees the birth of the paper mills of Amalfi and Fabriano and, century after century, many European countries had their plants for the production of paper: France, England and then the Netherlands were the countries that more than the others gave their contribution to the techniques of production and, in particular, of paper bleaching which, thanks to the invention of mobile printing, became an increasingly popular commodity for book printing.
In 1600, the industry suffered a severe setback because of the plague: paper was in fact produced from rags but, to stop the contagion, they were made to burn, thus eliminating, in fact, the raw material for the production of this material. It will be the Netherlands, in 1800, to start the production of cellulose from wood.
And in 1880, a process was invented that allowed us to obtain a very sturdy paper: Kraft paper, a real revolution for the packaging world.
You can’t talk about paper without immediately connecting to the history of one of its main products: packaging! Its origins can be traced back to the late 18th century when the Industrial Revolution introduced massive changes in manufacturing industry.
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