The death of the pen and pencil has been imminent since the invention of the typewriter, desktop and laptop computers, tablets, smartphones, and any personal device tat allows one to type of use a stylus. Yet these stalwart inventions stubbornly live on, seemingly unmatched in their ingenuity and practicality.
These modern tools allow their user to leave behind a trail of symbol, helping readers, mathematicians, and artists create the most important ideas and records in history. A pencil leaves behind a solid residue, a mixture of graphite and clay. Because it is soft and brittle, the mixture is nestled in protective wooden exterior. Pencil marking are easily rubbed out, and so erasers made of rubber or vinyl have long appeared on the pencil marking are easily rubbed out, and so erasers made of rubber or vinyl have long appeared on the pencil's end giving grateful writers the ability to correct any errors or omissions.
Pencils have been used in one form or another for hundreds of years. In 1567, resident of Borrow dale, England, discovered a large graphite deposit underground. Shepherd used the graphite to mark and identify their sheep; later, it was used for writing. On its own, the material was delicate, and so the wooden holder was introduced to keep it from writing. On its own, the material was delicate, and so the wooden holder was introduced to keep it from crumbling.
A more permanent partner to the pencil is the ballpoint pen, which leaves liquid trail behind the tip of the tool rather a graphite mark. Ballpoint pens have a tiny ball made of brass, steel, or tungsten carbide the rotates in a socket at the tip of the pen. Until the early 20th century, writers who used ink instead of graphite were stuck with quill feathers of fountain pens. In 1938, Hungarian journalist Laszlo Biro grew frustrated by the mess from his leaky fountain pen.
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