| Rudimentary pens, made from hollow straws or | | | | after the fall of the Roman Empire due to the |
| reeds which sustained a short column of liquid, were | | | | sudden scarceness of reeds. One thing for sure, the |
| employed by ancient civilizations as far back as 4000 | | | | quill pen was exercised to inscribe and mark the |
| B.C. Pens made from wing feathers and birds like | | | | Constitution of The United States in 1787. |
| geese and swans, made their debut circa 500 B.C. | | | | The earliest version of the copper nib pen was |
| This process consisted of hardening the feathers' | | | | unearthed in the ruins of Pompei in the year 79. |
| shafts, with the tip for writing wrought and cut to | | | | Although pens made of metal points were |
| facilitate writing. Known as quill pens, these writing | | | | copyrighted in 1803, the patent was not viably |
| instruments were the primary choice until the | | | | developed, but John Mitchell did begin to manufacture |
| discovery of steel-nib pens in the 1800s. It was also | | | | massive quantities of metal nib pens in 1822 and |
| in the late 1800s that the early edition of the fountain | | | | these pens steadily molded into mainstream use. |
| pen was invented. This invention revolutionized the | | | | The most primitive chronological evidence of the |
| pen, as its characteristics contained a capillary feed | | | | fountain pen was found in the 10th century when |
| and ink reservoir. The early version of the fountain | | | | Fatimid Caliph of Egypt insisted a writing apparatus be |
| pen could only detain a minuscule quantity of ink and | | | | devised which would not ruin his clothing. This was |
| needed to be refilled often. | | | | the first known record of a fountain pen with an in |
| Many historians believe that it was the ancient Indians | | | | built ink tank which was then distributed to the tip |
| who first used the pen, the earliest ones fashioned | | | | through a vessel. The modern history of pens was |
| from bamboo sticks and bird feathers. Aged prose of | | | | marked by the invention of the felt-tip pens, which |
| Mahabharta, Ramayana and Puranas used this class | | | | was devised by Yukio Horie who worked with the |
| of pens circa 5000 B.C. In ancient Egypt, reed pens | | | | Stationery Company in Japan. In the same era of the |
| made out of thin reed bushes were used to write on | | | | sixties, the first felt-tip pens were the Papermate |
| papyrus scrolls. In certain regions of Pakistan, reed | | | | Flair, which stormed the United States market, and is |
| pens designed from bamboo are still used by | | | | still readily available to this day. |
| students, mainly to write on timber boards. | | | | The creation of personal computers with keyboard |
| The quill pen found its early beginnings in Judea to | | | | inputs has radically altered the way we write, but the |
| record parts of the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the ones | | | | pen is still mighty and it is highly unlikely that it would |
| discovered at the Northwest Bank of the Dead Sea | | | | make its exit anytime soon. Pens are a symbol of |
| in 1947 dated back to circa 100 B.C. The quill pen was | | | | communication and will remain so for a long time to |
| later launched in Europe somewhere around 700 A.D. | | | | come. |