7 October: Carbon Paper

On this date in 1806, Carbon paper was patented in London by inventor Ralph Wedgewood. 10 things you might not know about carbon paper:

1. Ralph Wedgewood wasn’t the first to come up with the idea, though. Italian inventor Pellegrino Turri first came up with the idea in 1801, to provide ink for the early Typewriter he’d invented. He invented it because he’d fallen in love with a blind countess, Carolina Fantoni, and wanted to provide her with a way of writing letters without having to dictate them to a third party.
2. It was initially known as carbonic paper, or carbonated paper.
3. Carbon paper is basically Paper coated on one side with loosely bound ink or pigment on one side, for the purpose of making copies of a document as it is created.
4. Originally, the pigment would be bound using Montan wax, a type of wax made from coal. In fact, the main use of this type of wax was once making carbon paper. Today, polymers and plastics are used.
5. In the Soviet Union, they used carbon paper to make books without having to use the printing houses controlled by the state, which would mean at best that the books would be censored, and at worst, those producing them could end up in prison.
6. Nowadays we have photocopiers and scanners so the use of carbon paper has dwindled to almost nothing; but it does still have its uses. Form-filling is one, if multiple copies of a hand written form are needed, and the issuing of receipts, fine notices and money orders, although largely only as backups if the electronic systems should fail. A disadvantage of carbon paper is that only a limited number of copies can be produced while hundreds of photocopies can be made.
7. Another use is in art. It can be used to transfer patterns to Glass, or to make a fake tattoo.
8. It is used in science, too. A specialist type of carbon paper is used for making fuel cells and electrodes, and it is used in school physics labs for experiments on projectile motion or position, velocity, and acceleration.
9. In the UK and in Canada, there is just one small company left that makes carbon paper. In the USA, there are two.
10. Carbon copies were often made if a letter needed to be sent to more than one recipient. The abbreviation “cc” on an e-mail stands for “carbon copies.”

Killing Me Softly

Sebastian Garrett is an assassin. It wasn’t his first choice of vocation, but nonetheless, he’s good at it, and can be relied upon to get the job done. He’s on top of his game.

Until he is contracted to kill Princess Helena of Galorvia. She is not just any princess. Sebastian doesn’t bargain on his intended victim being a super-heroine who gives as good as she gets. Only his own genetic variant power saves him from becoming the victim, instead of Helena. 

Fate has another surprise in store. Sebastian was not expecting to fall in love with her.

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