The first known early mechanical paper shredder actuallycreated was in Germany in 1935 by a man called Adolf Ehinger. After being questioned about anti-Nazi papers in the trash. He was inspired by a hand-cranked pasta maker to create a machine that can shred sentive material that could get him into trouble. He invented a hand-cranked shredder that sat in a wooden frame and was big enough to handle a sheet of paper. He ladded a motor to power the device later, and sold shredders throughout the 1940s to a variety of government entities and embassies.
The Cold War increased the popularity of Ehinger's device through the 1950's, and in 1959 his company created the first cross cut shredder that cut paper not only into strips, but cut it into tiny bits for an increased level of security.
Since their invention, shredders have played an important role in many great historical moments. Before the 1980s, shredders were used almost only by government and military organizations. As privacy concerns, the threat of identity theft and laws prohibiting burning garbage in many areas have increased, paper shredders have been adopted across the private sector - first by businesses, and now, gradually, by private citizens. And as document transmission has shifted from papers to digital files, shredders have improved their capacities to shred not only paper, but also paper clips, staples, DVDs, CDs and plastic identity and credit cards.