A ballpoint pen is a writing instrument that dispenses ink, usually in paste form, over a small rotating ball at its tip, and it has become the most widely used writing instrument in the world. The American inventor John J. Loud patented the first ballpoint design in 1888 as a tool for marking rough surfaces such as leather, but it proved too coarse for ordinary writing and was never commercially successful. A pen usable for everyday writing was developed decades later by the Hungarian journalist Laszlo Biro, who filed a British patent in 1938 after seeking an ink that would dry quickly and resist smudging on paper.
Facts
Patent or First-Use Date YearAn earlier, commercially unviable ballpoint patent was issued to American inventor John J. Loud on 30 October 1888; 1938 is Laszlo Biro's British patent filing for the design that became commercially practical. SignificanceLaszlo Biro adapted the fast-drying ink used in newspaper printing to solve the smudging and clogging problems of earlier ballpoint designs, making the pen commercially practical. 1 Connections
Sources
1. Ballpoint Pen (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHistory > Origins, Biro patent-filing sentence
Biró filed for a British patent on 15 June 1938.
History > Origins, Biro motivation paragraph
frustrated by the amount of time that he wasted filling up fountain pens and cleaning up smudged pages, noticed that inks used in newspaper printing dried quickly, leaving the paper dry and smudge-free
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