Pens, paper clips, printers, and more
The pencil has been proven mightier than the pen. As a counterpoint to Bic’s research, another group decided to find out how long the typical pencil lasts. They concluded that the average lead pencil can draw a continuous line for roughly 35 miles. However, if you wish to prove this yourself, we’d advise taking your best sharpener along with you.
Paper clips were used to help fight the Nazis. During the Second World War, Norwegian resistance fighters attached a single paper clip to their lapel as a subtle indication that they were taking the fight to Hitler’s troops.
The world’s first rubber was made from stale bread. Rubbers, as we know them today, were first used around 1770 and were given their name by a man called Joseph Priestly. Yet the first known rubber for removing graphite markings was made out of stale bread. Trust us, this works – so next time you leave a loaf of Hovis in the cupboard for too long, why not give it a try?
Yellow fluorescent highlighter ink accounts for around 85% of all sales. Yellow is in the middle spectrum of visible light, and thus works well for people with colour blindness. This is one of the biggest reasons why yellow is the most popular colour of fluorescent highlighter ink. So, as Chris Martin of Coldplay fame might say, “It’s all yellow”.
Pen lids cause an average of 100 deaths a year. We all have work colleagues that spend most of the day incessantly chewing on their pen lids – heck, you might even be one of them. Unfortunately though, this habit has racked up a significant global death toll. To help people breathe, many pen manufacturers introduced a small hole in the lid to help prevent choking.
The ballpoint pen first gained popularity because it didn’t leak at high altitudes. Laszlo Biro, a Hungarian journalist, first invented the ballpoint pen in 1938 when he filled his fountain pen with ink from a printing press to avoid leaks because it dried faster. However, success for the ballpoint pen first took off (literally) when the RAF adopted it during World War II because it wouldn’t leak at high altitudes.
The post-it note wasn’t invented, it was created by accident. In 1968, Spencer Silver, who was an employee of 3M at the time, was trying to create a super-strong adhesive. Yet despite his best efforts, all he could come up with was a very weak adhesive that could be removed without leaving behind any residue. This accidental discovery was then used to create the world’s first post-it note.
The production of a modern laser toner cartridge requires 3.5 quarts of crude oil. Ink cartridges are made of oil, around 3.5 quarts to be precise. A quart is a little more than a litre, which is a big reason why printer ink is so expensive throughout the world.
Typists’ fingers travel up to an average of 12.6 miles each working day. This means that, on average, typists’ fingers could do nearly two-and-a-half marathons each and every working week.
The world’s first printer was invented in 1440. Okay, officially this refers to the world’s first printing press, which was invented around 1440 by Gutenberg for the Holy Roman Empire. Nonetheless, the same press-type technique is still evident in many of today’s office toner printers, which press ink onto paper from a roller rather than a flat surface.