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50
The Roman Stylus
The first form of a pencil started in Rome. They made a stylus out of lead. -
1500
The first pencil
When graphite was discovered they started making pencils out of it. They cut the graphite into a block and put two pieces of wood around it. To sharpen it you had to use a knife. -
The first mass produced pencils
The first mass produced pencil was made in Germany. It had no paint or markings on it. They did that so they could show off the high quality wood. -
The first mass produced in the US
In 1812 pencils started to be mass produced in the US. William Monroe started up a factory and changed how the pencils looked. -
The first #2 Pencil
The first #2 pencil was made by Henry Thoreau. He decided to mix the graphite with was instead of clay. -
Erasers on pencil
The first erasers were put on pencils so you don't have to carry a operate one around. -
Brand names
Pencil manufactures decided they would start painting the pencils and start putting the brand names on them -
the first mechanical pencil
Tokuji Hayakawa made the first mechanical pencil. He called it the ever sharp. Now you didn't have to sharpen your pencil all you had to do what hit a button. -
Colored pencils
The first colored pencils were being produced. Now artists don't have to use paints to change the color of their canvas. -
Modern mechanical pencils
The first modern mechanical pencils are produced. They resemble the normal wooden pencil.