In 1884, L.E. Waterman of New York, invented the first workable fountain pen. No doubt, the pocket protector was not far behind it, since fountain pens were notorious for their leakage. There had to be something better. But it was over 50 years in coming.

Ladislo Biro, a Hungarian, one day noticed how well the ink on the printing presses where he worked, dried. That was the ideal ink to use for writing, so there would be less on your hands, and no smudging on shirt cuffs. But it was thick ink and not likely to flow through the traditional fountain pen. So in 1938, Biro put a ball in the point of his pen, which picked up ink as it rotated, leaving a clean text on pages that dried almost instantly. He took out a patent in Hungary, and then renewed that patent in Argentina where he had immigrated, in 1943.

During WWII, the Biro pen was licensed to the British government because it could perform at high altitudes for pilots. Their success brought an explosion of attention in the post-war era. Ladislo and his brother sold their Argentina based business to the Eversharp company of America, who were beaten to the sales punch of debuting the new product, by the Reynolds company. Because the pen had never been patented in the U.S.