Coventina's History Thread: All the News(paper) that's Fit to Print!

[Coventina]

Sorry it's been a few days. My feeble excuse is that classes started this week, and I've been a tiny bit busy with that!
Haha!

Anyway...In my last installment, I was talking about the early days of making paper in the Americas, so I'm picking up where I left off....

Much of the paper being produced in these early mills was made from old rags, clothing, and other textiles, making a thick paper. Around 1840, a Canadian named Charles Fenerty used a fine wood pulp to create a thin, inexpensive paper known as "newsprint." However, he didn't pursue a patent for his work and his claim of invention was lost to others. Still, Fenerty's invention enabled newspapers to be printed more frequently.