Cai Lun (b. c. 50 – c. 62 CE; d. 121) was a Chinese eunuch court official traditionally regarded as the inventor of paper and the modern papermaking process, as he created paper in its modern form. Born in modern-day Leiyang, Cai served as chamberlain for Emperor Ming, and as imperial messenger for Emperor Zhang. To assist Lady Dou in securing her adopted son as designated heir, he interrogated Consort Song, who then killed herself. After Emperor He's ascension in 88 CE, Dou rewarded Cai with high office, where he remained despite He's purge of the Dou family in 92 CE. In 105 CE, Cai greatly improved the papermaking process with tree bark, hemp waste, old rags, and fishnets. After Lady Deng, the empress dowager, died in 121 CE, Cai was ordered to the Ministry of Justice because of his involvement in Song's death. Expecting execution, he killed himself instead. Cai's papermaking efforts are considered enormously impactful on human history. He is deified as the god of papermaking, and appears in Chinese folklore.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cai_Lun

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1830:

American surveyor James Thompson produced the first plat of Chicago on the order of the Illinois and Michigan Canal Commissioners. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Thompson_%28surveyor%29

1991:

An explosion on the Greek cruise ship MTS Oceanos ruptured its hull, causing it to sink off the east coast of South Africa, with all 571 people on board rescued. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MTS_Oceanos

2006:

Sri Lankan Civil War: Seventeen employees of the French nongovernmental organization ACF International were massacred in Muttur. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Trincomalee_massacre_of_NGO_workers

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

Spidey-sense: (humorous) An intuitive feeling, usually of something being dangerous or risky; (more generally) instinct, intuition. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Spidey-sense

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted — for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things — some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.   --Barack Obama https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Barack_Obama