Plywood has been made for thousands of
years; the earliest known occurrence of plywood was in Ancient Egypt around 3500
BC when wooden articles were made from sawn veneers glued together crosswise.
This was originally done due to a shortage of fine wood. Thin sheets of high quality wood
were glued over a substrate of lower quality wood for cosmetic effect, with
incidental structural benefits. This manner of inventing plywood has occurred
repeatedly throughout history.