Every invention has a story which sizzles right behind the scenes. Ball Pen is also one invention, which though is of huge importance, yet not many know where it originated from. The history can be traced back to 1880s, when the first patent on a ball pen was issued to John Loud. This leather tanner attempted to make a writing object with which he could write on the leather he tanned. The pen, he had invented, constituted of a rotating steel ball as the tip held in a socket. It could write on the leather as intended by Loud. However, the invention proved futile for others as it proved way too coarse and messy for letter writing; so was disapproved commercially. The original patent lapsed with the failure of this invention on the grounds of practicality and usability.
The second innings for the ball pen was in the making and it all began again with the first and very famous stylized fountain pen. Invented by Cross, the fountain pen is identified as daddy to the ball pens. This invention triggered more of brainstorming that lasted till ball pen was born. Laszlo Jozsef Biro, a native of Budapest owns the patent of the ball pen to his name. What he had invented was a ball pen that contained ink cartridge in the pressurized form. A journalist named Biro took no time in noticing the quick drying capability of the ink used in the newspapers, and thought that if the same ink was utilized in a pen that smudged letters problem could be resolved. Being a proof reader, Biro had to refill his fountain pen from an ink bottle incessantly and this drove him crazy at times.
