The History of Ball Point Pens

Did you know that this office staple dates all the way back to the 1930s, when a Hungarian editor named László Bíró created a way to utilize fast-drying newspaper ink for handwriting? László’s brother was a chemist and helped to design a special ink that would work perfectly in the new writing instrument. The Bíró brothers’ pen was patented in 1938 and quickly gained usage amongst British pilots during WWII. In 1945, Marcel Bich purchased the patent, redesigned the product to be more affordable, and changed the name to BIC – creating the famous ball point pen company we know and love today.