Fun pencil trivia:
- Henry David Thoreau's father owned a pencil-making business near Boston, and, yes Walden was written in pencil;
- The word pencil comes from the penicillus, which means little tail;
- An average pencil can draw a line 35 miles long;
- The modern pencil dates back to the year 1565;
- The mechanical pencil was patented in 1822; and
- Pencils were among the standard equipment issued to Union soldiers during the American Civil War.
For more pencil fun, take this TED Pencil Quiz.
Stay sharp, everyone!
Great pencil trivia! I confess, I do like mechanical pencils, too, though.
ReplyDeleteBlack and White (Words and Pictures)
I admit, it is pretty convenient to have a fine, sharp point always at the ready!
DeleteLove the pencil trivia! I'm partial to mechanical pencils and I tend to do my writing brainstorming with pencil on paper . . . and grocery lists, too :)
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to know I'm not the only one who still writes grocery lists on paper!
DeleteOh yes, it's a must. I have to paperclip my coupons to something, right?
DeleteAgreed!
DeleteI always have a stash of sharpened pencils at the ready. Weekends In Maine
ReplyDeleteIt's good to be prepared! There's nothing worse than a broken pencil point and no replacement!
DeleteWhen I was a child, my dear wish was to own a box of 72 Derwent colouring pencils. They did a beautiful job, and came in so many different colours, pretty much EVERY child wanted them. But they were expensive. You could buy them individually at the newsagent, so I saved up to buy one at a time. I never did get the 72 colours, though.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad they were available individually! I wouldn't have been able to buy a whole box, either, but if one could at least acquire a few favorite colors... :-)
DeleteThose yellow #2 pencils are an American and Canadian thing. We don't have them here. The most common pencil colour here is red and black.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea. That's so interesting! I wonder how the yellow thing came about...?
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