When Were Ballpoint Pens Invented?

The Ballpoint Pen, or Biro, is the most popular everyday writing instrument in the world. Chances are there is one sitting on your desk, in your pocket, or in your car as you read this. They are easy to use, easy to transport, and more likely the reason one may have so many: they are cheap and disposable. However it is quite often asked when were ballpoint pens invented, and to answer that, one has to learn a bit about the history of pens themselves.

Prior to the ballpoint pen, the most common pen was the fountain pen. This device uses a reservoir of liquid ink located in the based of the pen, which through gravity is fed to the tip, or nib. While examples have been found as early as the 10th century, it wasn't until the mid-nineteenth century that fountain pens came into true prominence as a superior to the traditional quill pen. Unfortunately, in many cases it was still very difficult to refill the pen with ink. Various techniques and types were invented and patented, but people still craved a more simplistic pen.

The first official patent on a ballpoint pen came from John J. Loud in 1888, which was only suitable to mark course surfaces; paper was not suitable for writing on, and its usage faded away. A number of patents came out in the following decades, but it was not until Hungarian editor László Bíró decided to strive for a pen that did not waste his time refilling, tearing paper, or smearing ink. Realizing that newspaper ink was fast drying, he turned to his chemist brother George to help invent a way that would allow the ink to run down the pen as it did with fountain pens using capillary action. On June 15, 1938, Bíró filled a patent in England for a pen with a tiny rotating ball in the tip that would allow small amounts of ink to leave, and quickly dry on contact with paper.

With the German invasion of Hungary, the Bíró brothers fled to Argentina where they continued to manufacture the pen, becoming national heroes. Word of the pen, and the pen itself, began to spread, as businessmen returning from Argentina would sometimes bring one back to the states. Eventually a number of companies began marketing and selling the ballpoint by 1945. Today companies including Eberhand-Faber and Bic are well known for their cheap, disposable ballpoint pens.