Today's Google doodle is particularly interesting to me because many people feel my writing is a waste of good ink. Be that as it may, September 29th is the birthday of László József Bíró, the inventor of the ballpoint pen. When he presented the pen at the Budapest International Fair in 1931, it caused an immediate uproar on both sides of the Atlantic.
The fountain pen industry was not amused. Previously the province of bankers and well-heeled businessmen, Bíró made permanent writing accessible to the masses.
I always used a pen, even for math. The teachers hated it, but I loved the feel of it on paper, the consistent dark color (or red, or green), and I considered the "un-erase-ability" to be a challenge, not a hindrance.
Although the date of his death is recorded as October 24, 1985, the cause remains a mystery. Immediately following an investigation into Bíró being found dead on a park bench in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the files were sealed. It was rumored, but never confirmed, at the time, that Bíró's brain was pierced, through the ear, with a #2 pencil.
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