While paper is losing steam in the news business as more and more people are getting their information online, other more practical applications of paper are at the height of demand, according to a report for CBS News.

“Paper is at the center of so many of the elements of the development of civilization,” said Mark Kurlansky, author of Paper: Paging Through History.

In a feature that examines the history of paper, CBS went back in time from the invention of paper in China nearly two millennia ago to a more recent paper innovation that originated in Delaware County.

It was the Scott brothers who came up with the revelation in 1890 in Chester – toilet paper on a roll. Today, the Chester Mill, now owned by Kimberly-Clark, produces nearly two million rolls of bathroom tissue a day and an impressive 700 million a year.

“We can basically wrap the entire Earth 1,000 times with all the paper that we make with Scott 1000 in a year,” said operations manager Jeff Hutter.

Read more about the history of paper from CBS News by clicking here.