10 Amazing Pen and Pencil Trivia You Didn’t Know
The history of pens and pencils, or our primary writing instruments are thousands of years old. Humanity has used pens in one form or another, since the first dynasties of ancient civilizations while pencils are much younger but nothing less significant, which you will discover on these amazing list of trivias, curated for National Trivia Day.
Let’s start with some interesting trivia about Pens:
- Pens are at least 5,000 years old. Ancient Egyptians used reed straws and ink made of soot or red ochre mixed with vegetable gum and beeswax.
- Largest ballpoint pen ever was made by Acharya Makunuri Srinivasa from India. The pen is engraved with scenes from Indian mythology and is 5.5 m in length and weighs 37.23 kg.
- Modern ballpoint pens have metal balls as the writing point. These are made from tungsten carbide which is three times tougher than steel!
- Ballpoint pens were very popular among World War II pilots because they did not leak at high altitudes.
- Gold-nibbed fountain pens slowly adjust to your writing style. As the pen is used, the nib flexes and softens.
- The United States is the largest manufacturer of pens, producing 2 billion pens in a year.
- In 95% of cases, the first word a person writes with a new pen is their name.
- The oldest surviving fountain pen is from 1702 - Designed by M. Bion from France.
- The most expensive fountain pen is “Fulgor Nocturnus”. It is made by Tibaldi from Italy and is decorated with 945 black diamonds and 123 rubies. Its price is 8 million dollars.
- There are 5 main kinds of pens used worldwide: ballpoint, fountain, soft-tip. rolling-ball and specialty pens.
We bet you didn't know some of the startling trivias about Pens. Here are some more amazing facts about pencils that will leave you in awe.
- Pencil leads contain no lead - just graphite and clay.
- Longest pencil in the world is 323.51 m in length. It is made by Edward Douglas Miller from the UK.
- In 2004, factories in China made over 10 billion pencils, enough to circle the earth more than 40 times.
- A person named Demetra Koutsouridou from Greece has a collection of 8,514 different pencils sharpeners - the largest collection of pencil sharpeners in the world.
- Name “graphite” comes from Greek “graphein” which means “to write”.
- The most expensive pencil is a limited edition of the Graf von Faber-Castell Perfect Pencil. It is made of 240 year-old olive wood and 18-carat white gold. Its price is $12,800.
- Famed author, John Steinbeck used as many as 60 pencils a day to write his novels.
- A man from Uruguay, Emilio Arenas has the largest collection of black pencils in the world. He has a total of 16,260 pencils from all over the world and holds a Guinness Record.
- Newspaper pencils have casing made from old newspaper and each one is made from one sheet.
- Oldest surviving pencil dates from the 17th century. It was found on the roof of an old German house while it was being renovated.
We hope you have more appreciation for Pens and Pencils after reading these amazing trivias on National Trivia Day
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