Since ancient times, people have tried to preserve their knowledge for posterity. So the letter was invented. The first accessories were triangular pointed sticks made of wood, bone or bronze and raw clay tablets. These planks were burned, thereby giving them strength. Records on them are usually called cuneiform. Now they are exhibits in historical museums.
First writing tools
The civilization of Ancient Egypt amazes many with its development to this day. In addition to the pyramids and advanced agriculture, writing was also raised to a high level here. The inhabitants of this country used thin brushes made of reed, and they wrote on papyrus scrolls. Each scribe always had his own personal pencil case with several sticks and cups for water and paints.
In ancient Rome, citizens used codes - wax books. They wrote on them with the help of sharpened metal sticks - stylus. When the recording was no longer needed, it was erased, and the wax was replaced.
The Anglo-Saxons are the inventors of the parchment. It was from him that handwritten books began to be made. They became the prototype of modern printed products. But writing on paper with a stylus was extremely difficult, so a new invention was invented - a specially sharpened bird feather.
They took them, as a rule, from geese. This is due to the fact that the feathers of this bird have thicker walls, which increases the life of the feather. They are also larger, which means it is more convenient to hold and work with them. Later, composite writing utensils appeared, the elements of which were the feather of any rare bird, the spacer - the holder and the writing end. These tools can be considered the progenitors of fountain pens. They wrote with them until the 18th century.
Steel nibs and ballpoint pens
Over time, when people learned to handle metal quite skillfully, steel feathers began to be created. For the first time their appearance was recorded in Germany in 1748. However, it was inconvenient to write with them, as they splashed ink, which made the text unreadable.
In 1792, the Englishman D. Perry solved this problem by using a longitudinal slot in the nib. She retained the ink inside herself, did not allow them to spray in different directions. This improved the quality of the writing. At the beginning of the 19th century, steel nibs began to be produced in large quantities. Over time, they replaced the usual birds and existed until the 1950s of the last century.
In the middle of the 20th century, a ballpoint pen was invented. At first, it was used mainly by the military, but over time they gained great popularity. In the 1960s, the Japanese invented a felt-tipped pen. It had a porous rod, which was impregnated with an alcohol-based or nitro-based liquid. Later these pens became known as felt-tip pens.
