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The history behind the ballpoint pen and paper is extensive and something that is often overlooked in today's society. 

According to the American Forest and Paper Association, paper was invented in the 8th Century.

The place of this discovery was Le Yang China and this is where this invention occurred. Inventors in China “took communication to the next level crafting cloth sheets to record their drawing and writings." The creator and person credited with this creation was TsAi Lun, who worked as a Chinese Court Offical. 

Though we make paper out of tress today, back then they had a much more complex plan to creating paper. This process wasn't easy and was very time consuming. In order to do this, they mixed mulberry bark, hemp and rags with water, mashed it into pulp, pressed out the liquid and hung the thin mat to dry in the sun. 

It wasnt until over 300 years later that this invention had made its way over to other countries, and they were starting to find out about this discovery.

Paper mills would start to be built in Spain and then all over different countries. 

It wasn't until 1690 until the first paper mill was built here in the US. This was in Pennsylvania, and the Americans used a similar way to make the paper. It included shredding old rags and cloths into fibers to make the papers. As time went on, the demand increased, and they changed to how we know it today which is utilizing fibers from trees. 

For two decades, the mill in Pennsylvania would remain the only mill in the colonies, and for the next two centuries the city would remain the center of paper manufacturing and publishing. By 1880, Americas had become the largest producer of paper goods in the world. 

Paper has played a pivotal role in many civilizations, especially by allowing for more private communication and creativity in written culture. 

When we think of Paper we also think of "Pens", Like "Paper and Pen" thats why I also chose to reaserch Ball Point Pens. The name Ball Point comes from the concept of a “ball point” within a writing instrument to write on a paper!

According to the Online Pen Company, the origin of the ballpoint pen was created by John J. Loud.

Loud's goal was to create something that would be able to write on things other than paper, but would soon find out that it wouldn't happen and the process would take much longer than anticipated.

After Loud's unsuccessful attempts at the ballpoint pen took place and were not sucessful it wasnt until a Hungarian man named Laslo Biro, came up with a new design based on quick drying newspaper ink that the ballpoint pen really started to gain traction and a following. 

Biro was working as a journalist when he noticed a difference between two types of ink. 

Biro needed to combine the qualities of both inks to perfect the design. It consisted of a ball that freely rotated in a socket. Moving the pen across the page made the ball rotate, where it picked up ink from a reservoir and applied it to the page. The Biro pen was the first successful ballpoint writing instrument and what most people use daily as their main writing instrument.

Things did not always work out though, In the mid 19th century the market for ballpoint pens had become more crowded and the demand decreased. This was until Parker released the Jotter in in 1954, selling millions in less than a year that interest and requirement for the ballpoint pen took off again. 

The demands then again increased becuase of the amount of people interested in these products. 

This has changed today's world because it allows for writing to be communicated easier. Just think about what a world without pens would be like?

Even today as a student, I often use ballpoint pens for all of my handwrititng requirments. They have become as essental as my phone/laptop to aid in my productivity.