logo
episode-header-image
Jul 7
35m 35s

The Humble Ballpoint Pen

iHeartPodcasts
About this episode

Before the ballpoint pen, people used their hands, reeds, bamboo, brushes, quills, and eventually nibs to write or draw. But how did things evolve from there to get to things like the fountain pen, and eventually, a ballpoint?

Research:

  • "pen." Britannica Library, Encyclopædia Britannica, 26 Jul. 2021. libraries.state.ma.us/login?eburl=https%3A%2F%2Flibrary.eb.com&ebtarget=%2Flevels%2Freferencecenter%2Farticle%2Fpen%2F59036&ebboatid=9265652. Accessed 13 Jun. 2025.
  • "Pen." UXL Science, UXL, 2008. Gale In Context: Science, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CV2646000736/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=52ede570. Accessed 27 May 2025
  • “Patent of Mr. Frederick Bartholomew Folsch, of Oxford street, for improvements on instruments, and pens, to facilitate writing.” https://archive.org/details/jstor-30072521/mode/2up
  • Bayley, Stephen. “Obituary: Baron Marcel Bich.” The Independent. 6/1/1994. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-baron-marcel-bich-1419867.html
  • Bourque, Joseph. “The Waterman Pen.” American Heritage. Jul/Aug92, Vol. 43 Issue 4, p30.
  • Brachmann, Steve. “The Evolution of Modern Ballpoint Pen: A Patent History.” IP Watchdog. 12/10/2014. https://ipwatchdog.com/2014/12/10/the-evolution-of-modern-ballpoint-pen-a-patent-history/id=52550/
  • Cross, Alonzo T. “Stylographic Pen.” U.S. Patent 232804. 10/5/1880.
  • Daniels, Maygene. “The Ingenious Pen: American Writing Implements from the Eighteenth Century to the Twentieth.” The American Archivist , Summer, 1980, Vol. 43, No. 3 (Summer, 1980). Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40292316
  • Di Nardo, Sam. “When was the Fountain Pen Invented: A Brief History.” Dayspring Pens. 1/2/2023. https://www.dayspringpens.com/blogs/the-jotted-line/when-was-the-fountain-pen-invented-a-brief-history-1
  • Di Nardo, Sam. “Who Invented the Ballpoint Pen?: A Brief History.” Sayspring Pens. s1/2/2023. https://www.dayspringpens.com/blogs/the-jotted-line/who-invented-the-ballpoint-pen-history?srsltid=AfmBOopQR061KHIKpgm_a0a0IHiTSiY_V-ahwIFQxU5MYzLLQ5vpHjXv
  • Dowling, Stephen. “The cheap pen that changed writing forever.” BBC. 10/29/2020. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20201028-history-of-the-ballpoint-pen
  • German Patent and Trademark Office. “László Biró´s 125th birthday.” https://www.dpma.de/english/our_office/publications/milestones/inventionsthatmadehistory/kugelschreiber/index.html
  • Laszlo, Josef Biro. “Writing Instrument.” U.S. patent 2390636. 12/11/1945.
  • Loud, J.J. “Pen.” U.S. Patent 392046. 10/30/1888.
  • National inventors Hall of Fame. “Laszlo Josef Biro.” https://www.invent.org/inductees/laszlo-josef-biro
  • Riesberg, Van Vechton. “Fountain Pen.” U.S. Patent 1171652. 2/15/1916.
  • Rothman, Lily. “Why the Invention of the Ballpoint Pen Was Such a Big Deal.” Time. 10/29/2015. https://time.com/4083274/ballpoint-pen/
  • The American Society of Mechanical Engineers. “#236 Birome Ballpoint Pen Collection.” https://www.asme.org/about-asme/engineering-history/landmarks/236-birome-ballpoint-pen-collection
  • Waterman, L.E. “Fountain Pen.” U.S. Patent 293545. 2/12/1884.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Up next
Today
Edwin Howard Armstrong
Edwin Howard Armstrong isn’t exactly a well-known inventor, but his work in radio literally changed communications around the globe. But his most famous invention – FM radio – became a source of constant frustration after he developed it. Research: Armstrong, Edwin H. “Frequency ... Show More
33m 22s
Jul 5
SYMHC Classics: Lettuce, Slavery, and the Bibb Legacy
This 2022 episode starts with the story of John Bibb, credited with cultivating Bibb lettuce. But his family’s legacy, good and bad, is all tied to having enslaved people build their familial wealth. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. 
33m 51s
Jul 4
Behind the Scenes Minis: Murder and War
Holly discusses the inscription on the Beachamps' headstone and the court of public opinion. Tracy shares information about Wilfred Owen's brother Harold.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. 
25m 59s
Recommended Episodes
Mar 2025
Virginia Woolf: life of the week
From To The Lighthouse to Mrs Dalloway, the writing of Virginia Woolf shook up literary norms and challenged societal ideas about what it meant to be a woman. In this 'life of the week' episode, Francesca Wade discusses the impact of Woolf's work, and the key moments of her life ... Show More
40m 5s
Nov 2024
39. Ann Mary Provis - Art Hoaxer
In this new series Lucy Worsley switches her attention from Lady Killers to Lady Swindlers - con women, thieves and hustlers. This time Lucy is investigating the case of Ann Mary Provis, an obscure young artist in Georgian London who has the leading painters of her day - includin ... Show More
28m 11s
Feb 2024
Black Canadian Abolitionist Hero, Mary Ann Shadd Cary
Mary Ann Shadd Cary is recognized as a national hero in both Canada and the United States. I'm joined by Nneka D. Dennie, author of Mary Ann Shadd Cary: Essential Writings of a Nineteenth-Century Black Radical Feminist to discuss Mary Ann's life and legacy.Download the intro to h ... Show More
1h 3m
Sep 2024
‘The Cleverest Woman in England’
Jane Ellen Harrison was Britain’s first female career academic, a maverick public intellectual burdened with the label ‘the cleverest woman in England’. Her quips and quirks became legendary, but many of those anecdotes were promulgated by Harrison herself. Mary Beard joins Tom t ... Show More
40m 26s
Apr 2023
Mary Coustas Was 49 When She Became A Mum
Listen to Clare's off mic chat with Mary Coustas here Mary Coustas has graced Australian screens as 'Effie Stephanides' for over 30 years; the big haired, stand out character from Acropolis Now. But behind the scenes, Mary is an open book. And when it comes to speaking about her ... Show More
45m 33s
Jan 2025
Typhoid Mary: Original Super-Spreader?
Mary Mallon aka "Typhoid Mary" is a macabre figure who spread disease and death everywhere she went. But there's a lot more depth and humanity to Mary's history than this. She's a someone who is hard to resist when you get to know her (despite all the Typhoid...). Anthony Delaney ... Show More
43m 37s
Jan 2025
Final Days of Mary Queen of Scots
The moment Mary Queen of Scots set foot in England, she became Elizabeth I's prisoner. Mary was fleeing from war and misogyny, hoping for help from her fellow queen. What lay ahead was twenty years of increasingly desperate imprisonment and, eventually, her death. Maddy Pelling a ... Show More
47m 30s
Mar 2025
A Conversation with Anne Sebba: The Women's Orchestra of Auschwitz
To leave you with a bit of lagniappe for Women's History Month, we broke our usual format to sit down for a talk with Anne Sebba, author of the new book The Women's Orchestra of Auschwitz: A Story of Survival. Anne tells us about some of the women in the only entirely female orch ... Show More
1h 7m