Happy National Pencil Day

By Terry Orr

INTERESTING PENCIL FACTS . . .

• More than 14 billion pencils are produced in the world every year  - enough to circle the globe 62 times.
• Two billion pencils are made in the United States each year.
• The pencil was invented more than 400 years ago, in 1565.
• Famous novelists Ernest Hemingway and John Steinbeck used pencils to write their books.
• Pencils didn't have erasers on them until 100 years ago because teachers felt they would encourage children to make mistakes.
• It would cost $50 in labor and materials for a person to make a 10-cent pencil.
• One million pencils are used annually on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
• The average pencil can be sharpened 17 times, write 45,000 words or draw a line 35 miles long.
• A good-size tree will make about 300,000 pencils.
• Pencils don't really contain lead.  That gray matter is granite and clay.

March 30 is National Pencil Day! Several years ago, I finally transitioned from wooden to mechanical pencils for daily use – although, there are still some wooden ones scattered here and there.

For those looking for different uses of the pencil other than its intended purpose, purpleslinky.com (http://purpleslinky.com/offbeat/56-uses-for-the-common-pencil/ offers 56 Uses for the Common Pencil.

There are many ways to sharpen your wooden pencils and here a few examples:

(All images from Google)

Pencil Day

(Google Image) 

By Akindman

Today we celebrate the first patent on the modern pencil. On this day in 1858, the United States Patent and Trademark Office granted Hymen Lipman a patent for a pencil with an eraser attached to it. This wooden pencil was praised for its ease of use during writing and drawing.

(Google Image) 

Did you know that a single wooden pencil can write 45,000 words or draw a line that is 35 miles long? A pencil can also write under water, upside down, or in zero gravity.

(Google Image) 

Pencils have been mass produced in Europe since 1622, but they weren't in production in the United States until 1812. Pencils were first painted yellow because it is a color often associated with royalty and honor. During this time, a yellow pencil became known as the best type of pencil you could buy!

(Google Image) 

On Pencil Day, commemorate the history and usefulness of pencils by putting your laptop aside and instead use a pencil and paper to write!

(Google Image)