| If you are in the market for a writing pen today, | | | | - 4000 years B.C. ancient man scratched pictures into |
| then you have no shortage of options. You can | | | | soft clay with a wooden stick. |
| choose from fountain pens, rollerball pens, ballpoint | | | | - 3000 years B.C. Egyptians started using reeds and |
| pens, quill pens, gel ink pens, antler ballpoint pens and | | | | feathers to make inscriptions. |
| many other styles of pens. Not only do you have a | | | | - 1300 B.C. the romans used a metal rod to imprint on |
| wide selection of styles of pens but you also have a | | | | sheets of wax. |
| tremendous variety of manufacturers making them. | | | | - Middle Ages. Anglo-Saxons used a wax pen to write |
| Some of the most widely known pen brands out | | | | on bars of wood. |
| there are Parker Pens, Waterman pens, Cross Pens, | | | | - 600-1800 A.D. Europeans began improving on earlier |
| Mont Blanc pens, Bic Pens and a number of others | | | | designs. The Quill pen appeared for the first time in |
| including handcarved antler ballpoint pens. Nobody | | | | Spain and was the writing instrument of choice for |
| gives the lowly pen the credit that this writing | | | | the next 1200 years. |
| instrument is due, if you think about it the lowly pen | | | | - 1790 the pencil was invented by the French. |
| is writing history every day. Leaving a trail of human | | | | - 1800-1850ies. An early version of a metal fountain |
| culture for all that follow. Think how much easier of a | | | | pen was invented in 1803. |
| time the cave man would have had if he only had a | | | | - Lewis Edson Waterman, an insurance agent, |
| pen. | | | | invented the first fountain pen in 1844. |
| Speaking of cavemen, the history of the writing pen | | | | - 1943 - The invention of what we now call the ball |
| dates back as far as 3000 B.C. when they were | | | | point pen is credited to Laszlo and George Biro. |
| made from bamboo and stalks of reed. The origin of | | | | - 1953 the first mass produced and economical ball |
| the English word "pen" is derived from the latin word | | | | point pens arrived on the scene manufactured by the |
| "penna" meaning bird feather. Early civilizations used | | | | Bic company. Bic pens are still one of the most |
| bird feathers widely in their civilizations including being | | | | economical pens available on the market today and |
| used as early writing instruments. The best feathers | | | | are extremely popular. |
| to use for pens were those of larger birds like a | | | | - 1960 - Felt tip pens became all the rage. |
| swan or goose. The pen began developing into the | | | | - 1980s - Not content with ballpoint technology, |
| instrument we know today when L.E. Waterman | | | | rollerball pens arrived that used new technology and |
| invented the venerable fountain pen. It then | | | | produced a clean and fluid feel to their action. |
| developed one step further when Laszlo Biro | | | | - 1990s - Gel Ink pens arrived on the scene and again |
| incorporated ball bearings into the design and | | | | produced an improved fluidity and feel to the pen. |
| invented the ball point pen in 1944. The next step in | | | | They took America by storm. |
| the evolutionary process of the pen was the felt tip | | | | Every time we think the pen is as good as it gets, |
| pen invented by a Tokyo stationary firm in 1960. | | | | technology shows us otherwise. It's hard to predict |
| The timeline of the history of writing pens is several | | | | what the next 50 years will bring us in writing |
| thousand years long. Let's take a look at a few of | | | | technology. |
| the milestones: | | | | |