The pen may be mightier than the sword, but when Jewish-Hungarian journalist László Bíró invented the ballpoint pen in the 1930s clichéd sayings were probably the last thing on his mind.

This was the Biro, the first successful ballpoint pen – a deceptively simple writing instrument with a very big story behind it. Every year, staggering numbers of ballpoint pens are sold.

For pen manufacturers and distributors, however, the real news was that Biro had filed a patent, which meant that the company that bought the rights ought to be able to corner the ballpoint market.

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or ...

Who doesn’t have a ballpoint pen close at hand? A Hungarian Argentine inventor named László Bíró invented the pen as we know it today in 1938. The first patent for a ballpoint pen came out in 1888, ...