Ball Point Pens
Ballpoint pen was patented in 1888 by John J. Loud of Weymouth, Massachusetts. He received patent number 392,046. A lawyer, inventor, and tanner, he developed the instrument so that he could write on his leather products. Fountain pens, then the most used type of pen, could not write on leather. Loud’s ballpoint pen, however, was not successful when used on paper. Laszlo Biro created a commercially successful ballpoint pen in 1943. Children can view Loud’s patent at: Ballpoint Pen Patent.