Who invented the Pen?

The art of writing is one of the most important contributions to the development of civilization. It enables man to record his thoughts and deeds. But there were great many writing tools before a real pen was first made.For instance, early man used pointed flints to scratch records and pictures on cave walls. He even dipped his finger in plant juices or the blood of an animal and used it as a pen. Later on, he tried lumps of earth and peices of chalk. The Chinese painted their letters with a fine camel's hair.Probably the first real pens were made by the Egyptians. They fastened a piece of copper, similar to a modern steel pen point, to the end of a hollow stem. The first letter handwriting was done by the Greeks alomost 4000 years ago. They used a "pen" made of metal, bone, or ivory, and wrote on wax-coated tablets. Later still, a split pen was made from hollow, tube like grasses which was dipped into a form of ink and used to write on papyrus.When paper was introduced in the Middle Ages, man learned that the tail or wing feathers of a goose, crow, or swan could be made into a pen. The tip was pointed on split so that the ink could flow down the channel to the paper. It may interest you to know that the word "pen" itself comes from the Latin penna, which means "feather"! Even though a feather pen didn't last long, this was man's writing instrument for a thousand years.Steel pens began to be made in England as early as 1780, but they didn't become popular for another 40 years. The first fountain pens, our modern writing instruments, were made in United States in 1880's. The point, or nib , of a fountain pen is usually made of 14-carat gold, and is tipped with osmiridium or iridium. These are smooth, hard metals which enable the pen to write without scratching. Inside, the barrel holds a supply of ink and usually is made of hard rubber or plastic.The ball-point pen is a 20th century invention. The writing point is a tiny ball of chrome steel which is about one millimetre in daimeter. The ball sits in a socket and revolves as it is dragged across the writing surface. it picks up the ink from a reservoir inside.

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