105 CE
A year notable for a landmark innovation in China, as the court official Cai Lun presented his improved method of papermaking to the Han emperor, a technological advance that would eventually transform communication and record-keeping across the world.
Technology & Innovation
- Cai Lun, a eunuch official at the court of Emperor He of the Han Dynasty, presented an improved process for making paper from bark, hemp, rags, and fishnets, producing a writing surface far more practical and affordable than silk or bamboo strips.
- While paper may have existed in cruder forms in China before Cai Lun, his refinement of the process and its formal presentation to the emperor in 105 CE is traditionally credited as the key moment in the development of papermaking.
- The new papermaking technique would spread along trade routes over subsequent centuries, reaching the Islamic world by the eighth century and Europe by the twelfth century.
Climate & Environment
- Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration was approximately 278 parts per million, as later confirmed by ice core analysis.
Society & Population
- The global population is estimated to have been approximately 255 million.