Jerri Giessing, age 10, of Decatur, I11., for her question:

WHO INVENTED THE FAN?

Historians tell us that the folding fan was invented in Japan about A.D. 700. The inventor may have made his fan after noticing the way in which a bat folds its wings. Japanese artists often painted fans with bright colors. The fans were used in ceremonial dances.

Actually, long before the folding fan was invented, man used large leaves to make them feel cooler on hot days. Waving of a leaf created an artificial breeze.

The early Assyrians and Egyptians used hand fans made of palm leaves. Wealthy persons had servants fan them with these huge leaves. The ancient Greeks also used palm fans.

Fans were used to brush flies from sacred vessels in the Christian church from about A.D. 300 until about 1300.

The Chinese began using the folding fan about a thousand years ago. In 1500, the Portuguese brought it to Europe from China and European women of fashion quickly accepted it.

As a device for keeping cool, the electric fan today has largely replaced the hand fan.