- The first fountain pen recorded was requested by Fatmid Caliph Al-Mu'izz Ii-Din Allah. He wanted a pen that didn't leak over his hands and clothes.
- The oldest fountain pen known is from 1702 and was designed by M.Bion from France. The pen is still around today.
- The modern fountain pen as we know them was developed in 1884 by American Lewis Waterman. His fountain pen leaked which ended in him losing an important deal. This prompted him to design his own.
- The invention of the fountain pen sped up writing as you no longer needed to dip your dip pen or quill into ink. It also lays down less ink, speeding up drying time avoiding those annoying smudges.
- Interestingly, more left handed people use fountain pens than right handed people.
- Writing with a fountain pen can reduce hand pain linked to arthritis. The fountain pen uses its own weight to flow across the page, meaning you need to use less pressure to write.
- Fountain pens with gold nibs adjust to their user and the way they write over time due to gold being a soft metal.
- The most expensive pen in the world is the Tibaldi Fulgor Nocturnus fountain pen. It is encrusted with rubies and black diamonds and sold for £6.5 million ($8 million).
- Not a fountain pen fact, but a fun fact nonetheless. During the Apollo 11 mission to the Moon in 1969, Buzz Aldrin recalls how a broken circuit breaker nearly didn't see them return to Earth. "I used a felt tip pen and pushed it in, Houston says ' Hooray, we got a live circuit!' Then we were ready to proceed with the countdown."
Fun Fountain Pen Facts
Ross Adams |