Historical Figure
László Bíró
b. 1899
Hungarian-Argentine inventor (1899–1985)
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Biography
László József Bíró, Hispanicized as Ladislao José Biro, was an Argentine, Hungary-born Jewish inventor who patented the first commercially successful modern ballpoint pen. The first ballpoint pen had been invented roughly 50 years earlier by John J. Loud, but it was not a commercial success.
Timeline
The story of László Bíró, told in moments.
Files a patent for the ballpoint pen. He'd noticed that newspaper ink dried quickly without smudging. The trick was getting thick ink to flow. His brother formulated the ink. Laszlo designed a tiny rotating ball at the tip. The fountain pen industry doesn't notice yet.
Flees to Argentina to escape the Nazis. Sets up a factory in Buenos Aires. The RAF orders 30,000 of his pens because they work at high altitude where fountain pens leak. He sells the patent rights cheaply. Others make the fortunes.
Dies in Buenos Aires at 86. In Argentina, Inventors' Day is celebrated on his birthday. In most of the world, people call ballpoint pens "biros." He sold the key patents for almost nothing. Marcel Bich bought one and built an empire called Bic.
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