National Pencil Day
National Pencil Day on March 30 celebrates the importance of one of the tools that has stayed by our side for generations.
While many tools came and went, pencils helped us with school notes, secret sketches, and preparing grocery lists.
March 30 is chosen as National Pencil Day in honor of Hymen Lipman, who was the first one to patent the idea of a pencil with an attached eraser on March 30, 1858.
Although it was a fairly simple idea, it made fixing mistakes on the spot so easy that the pencil soon became a reliable and practical tool.
History of Pencils
The history of pencils traces back hundreds of years, and it took its sweet time to evolve into the pencil we know of today.
The word “pencil” comes from the Old French word "pincel," which came from the late Latin word "penicillus," meaning “little tail.”
It was called this because early pencils looked like small brushes made from animal hair, often camel hair. These brushes were used for writing and drawing before the modern pencils made with graphite or chalk were invented.
Before the existence of modern pencils, people used tools such as metal styluses to scratch on surfaces or write on wax tablets
The 1500s marked a major turning point as a pure and large deposit of graphite was discovered in Borrowdale, England.
Initially, people believed that this was a type of lead that actually had graphite in it, and that is why the writing part of the pencil is still called "lead."
This graphite was very valuable and was even guarded because it was also used in making cannonballs.
Pencils back then were just graphite sticks wrapped in animal skin or string to make them convenient to hold.
Around the 1560s, an Italian couple created one of the first wooden pencils by placing graphite inside wood. This idea later became the modern pencil, with graphite placed between two wooden halves.
In the late 1700s, a French inventor named Nicolas-Jacques Conté improved pencils by mixing graphite with clay. This made it possible to create pencils that were softer or harder.
During the 1800s, pencils began to be mass-produced, especially in the United States, making them cheaper and easy to find. In 1858, an eraser was added to the end of a pencil, making it even more useful.
Today, pencils are still widely used and remain a simple but important tool.
Observing National Pencil Day
Embrace your inner artist or writer on National Pencil Day in simple ways, such as picking up a pencil to write or sketch that day.
To take full advantage of the day, use a pencil attached with an eraser to appreciate how fixing mistakes can be as simple as you can imagine them to be.
Draw something fun, like a caricature or random doodle, even if you are not a professional, or try practicing handwriting like a kid does.
Consider donating pencils and other school supplies to those in need and encourage the new generation to pick up pencils instead of sitting in front of the screen for a while.
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