Am 17.07.15 um 09:43 schrieb David Mitchell:
Playing Devil's advocate I wonder whether this assumption can be evidenced?
Both unfolded sheets and paper balls might also be candidates here?
Sure, as well as folded. The mentioned publication of 1721 speak about
rules for "Papier und andern dergleichen Sachen" (paper sheet and
similar things).
I'm interested because I recall a conversation with David Lister about this
subject in which he told me he could find no evidence that paper planes
pre-dated similar constructions of wood and cloth ... though it would, of
course, be nice to think they did!
Is not a though, but a documented evidence that 1721 children threw
paper trough the high windows in the school Paedagogium Regium in
Halle/Saale (Germany), where the foldig art was teached as recreation. A
nice though, but until today not documented, is for example that
Leonardo da Vinci created the first paper airplane, as many origami
books explain.
