Hungarian journalist Ladislo Biro created the first ball-point pen with his brother George in 1938. Biro took his inspiration from watching newspaper ink dry quickly, leaving the paper smudge-free. Since this thicker ink would not flow from a conventional pen nib, he revolutionised pen design with the idea of a ball-point. The first Biro went on sale in 1944 and cost the equivalent of £60 today.

The Royal Air Force was one of the first organisations to use the Biro as they needed a pen, unlike the fountain, that would not leak at high altitudes.



The principle of the ball point can be found to date back to an 1888 patent owned by John. J Loud for a product he had designed to mark leather.