From the Turkic language, the word "pencil" can be translated as "black stone". This drawing and writing tool has an extraordinary history of invention. It is still unknown when the first pencil appeared.
Today, you can buy both colored and pencils in stores. A simple pencil writes in gray, the shade of the written will vary depending on the hardness of the graphite.
How did people draw before?
Curiously, in ancient times, artists had to use "silver pencils", the thirteenth century stationery was a silver wire, placed in a case or frame. This prototype of a pencil did not allow the drawing to be erased, and over time, the inscription turned from gray to brown.
It is noteworthy that artists today often use silver, Italian, lead pencils in order to achieve a certain effect.
There were also "lead pencils" in the past, most often they were used for writing portraits. In particular, Albrecht Durer drew with such a pencil. Then came the "Italian pencil" of black slate, after which the production of stationery began from raw materials extracted from burnt bone. The powder was held together with vegetable glue, the pencil gave a rich line.
Pencils with graphite shafts began to be made in the fifteenth century, when deposits of graphite were discovered in England. But they began to use this raw material only after a series of experiments showed that the mass leaves clear marks on objects. And at first, sheep were marked with graphite. However, pieces of graphite stained hands, so sticks made of the material were tied with thread for convenience, wrapped in paper, or clamped with twigs made of wood.
When was the lead pencil invented?
The first written mention of a pencil dates back to 1683. In Germany, the production of graphite pencils in a wooden case began in 1719. At first, graphite was mixed with glue, sulfur, although the core was not of very high quality. This is why the recipe change continued. In 1790 in Vienna, Joseph Hardmut came up with the idea of mixing graphite dust with water and clay, after firing this mixture, rods of various degrees of hardness were obtained. This master later founded the Koh-i-Noor company, which produces world-famous pencils to this day.
Few people know that a simple pencil can draw underwater and in space, but a ballpoint pen cannot.
Today, pencils are distinguished by the hardness of the lead, marking them with the letters M (soft) and T (hard). On sale you can also find pencils with the TM (hard-soft) marking - these are the most common office supplies. By the way, in the United States, a numerical scale is used to determine the hardness of pencils.
