Ask anything under the sun!

Who invented the pencil?

Alright, let's dive into the world of pencils! The modern pencil was invented in 1795 by Nicholas-Jacques Conte, a scientist serving in the army of Napoleon Bonaparte. The magic happened when Conte discovered a way to mix graphite powder with clay and form it into rods that were then fired in a kiln. This process allowed for the production of pencils that were not only reliable but also able to produce lines of consistent thickness. Quite a leap forward from the olden days where people used to write with thin rods of pure graphite, which were prone to breaking and leaving smudges.

Now, why did Conte come up with this brilliant idea? Well, at the time, France and England weren't exactly best buddies (to put it mildly), and England had the monopoly on the graphite needed for pencils. When war broke out between them, France was cut off from its pencil supply (oh no!). So Conte was tasked with finding a solution - and boy did he deliver! He created a pencil that was better than anything before it. And we've been using his design ever since.

So next time you pick up a pencil, give a little nod to Mr. Conte - without him, you might have been stuck trying to write your grocery list with a feather quill or something equally inconvenient!