It’s a debate as old as time and has had the world’s finest intellectuals at war for years – what is better to write with, fountain pens or ballpoint pens? Okay, maybe it’s not that serious, but if ...

When you think of ballpoint pens, your mind probably goes to office supplies, not great works of art. But even the lowliest and most ubiquitous of writing utensils can make breathtaking masterpieces ...

Would you pay $180 for a new type of writing instrument? Image via The New York Times On a crisp fall morning in late October 1945, approximately 5,000 shoppers rushed the 32 nd street Gimbel’s ...

In terms of history-making inventions, the ballpoint pen is no electric light bulb, but its story is far wilder. László Bíró, born in 1899, was a hack journalist of inventive bent, who grew annoyed at ...

The first whispers came in the summer of 1944: a Hungarian inventor living in Argentina had created something sensational. Practical fountain pens with internal ink cartridges had been in use for ...

Common objects often have uncommon stories. The zipper, the pencil and the paper clip were devised by inventors who long struggled to produce things we now take for granted. Unearthing the histories ...