Ballpoint pen
Bolígrafo
- Date
- 1938–1943 · confidence high
- Place
- Budapest, Hungary
- Credited to
- László Bíró and György Bíró (patent 1938; production in Buenos Aires, 1943); John Loud (1888); Marcel Bich (BIC, 1950)
- People
- 👤 John J. Loud1844–1916
- Field
- Knowledge & symbols
What it is
Pen with a rolling ball and fast-drying viscous ink that neither stains nor drips. The RAF adopted it for flying; BIC turned it into a universal disposable object.
In Argentina it is still called 'birome'.
What it led to
- Cheap, universal writing, ending the fountain pen and inkwell
- Mass-consumption disposable object
- School learning of handwriting
Built on
- Oil-based printing inkc. 1450
- Mass-produced steel pen nib1822-1830
- Fountain pen (Waterman, 1884)
- Printing ink
Made possible
- Disposable BIC ballpoint pen
- Felt-tip pen