In 1888, American inventor John Loud created the first ballpoint pen. It worked well on leather and wood and the like, but absolutely shredded paper, making it almost useless. One problem was that ...

Pencils, erasers, ballpoint pens - it was always fun to start a new term with a new brace of equipment in your pencil case. And have you ever thought about the history behind those school essentials?

Though proudly nonpartisan, the Austrian-born inventor had a great interest ... he could do to improve the leaky and expensive ballpoint pen, his wife told the newspaper that year.

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 ...