No one knows who invented the pencilsor when it happened. A Swiss described a pencil in a book in 1565. He said itwas a piece of wood with lead (铅) inside it. Pencils weren't popular. Then, in 1795, someone startedmaking pencils from graphite (石墨), and they became verypopular. Today, people still make pencils in the same way. They put it inside apiece of wood. One pencil can write 50, 000 English words or make a line 55kilometers long.
Before the pencils were widely used,people used bird feathers (羽毛) as pens. When people wrote with feather pens, they had to put thepoint into ink after every few letters. Next, someone invented a fountain pen(自来水笔) that could hold ink inside it. A fountain pen can write a few pagesbefore you have to fill it again.
Two brothers, Ladislao and George Biro,invented the ballpoint pen (圆珠笔) that we all use today. They left their country Hungary (匈牙利) and started making ballpoint pens in England in 1943, during WorldWar II. Later, a French company called Bic bought the Biro brothers' company.Some people call the ballpoint pens "Bics." Australians callthem"biros." Whatever we call them, we use them every day.
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