15 interesting facts about stationery

Office supplies like pencils, paper and staplers are used every day, both at home and at work. They are useful and help people perform various tasks. However, few people think about the origins of various stationery products and the stories associated with them. We offer some interesting facts.

1. B an ordinary ballpoint pen has enough ink to draw a line several kilometers long.

And a pencil can draw a line several tens of kilometers long.

2. Hole in the cap handles will help prevent you from suffocating when you accidentally inhale it.

Before the holes, more than a hundred deaths a year occurred due to people inhaling the cap (while chewing), resulting in blockage of the airways. Now, most manufacturers provide holes on both sides of this plastic product.

    3. Astronauts in space use pencils.

Since a ballpoint or gel pen can only be used writing end down, and there is no gravity in space, then you need to use a regular pencil to take notes.

4. The graphite pencil was invented in the 16th century.

Graphite was discovered by accident, and sticks made from it were originally used to mark sheep.

5. Stale bread was used instead of an eraser.

The eraser was invented only in XVIII century. Previously, inscriptions written in pencil were corrected using stale bread. Today, rubber is far from the only material for making erasers; they are made from PVC and other polymers.

6. 85% of highlighting markers are yellow.

There is a huge variety of markers in different colors and shades on the market. But according to statistics, most people prefer to highlight text in yellow.

7. You can refill alcohol markers with alcohol or cologne.

If your favorite marker has dried out and stopped working write, but don’t have a spare one at hand, you can extend its life a little. Try opening the lid and pouring in some alcohol or cologne. After a couple of minutes, the liquid will be absorbed and the marker will write again.

8. King Louis XV was the first person to use a stapler.

The very first stapler was handmade and made in the 18th century especially for King Louis XV of France . He used the device to staple sheets of correspondence and government documents. The stapler was made of pure gold and inlaid with precious stones. Each staple had an insignia

9. Scissors were invented 3-4 thousand years ago.

The oldest specimen found was more like tweezers with two blades and was intended for shearing sheep.

10. Scissors can be sharpened using aluminum foil.

If your scissors begin to cut poorly, fold a piece of aluminum foil several times and cut it while the scissors will not be cleared of dirt and glue particles and will not cut better.

11. Self-adhesive stickers were invented by accident.

In 1968, Spencer Silver tried to improve acrylic glue. During the experiments, a sticky substance was accidentally obtained that did not harden and did not leave behind traces. For a long time it was not clear what to do with this invention. Arthur Fry, Silver's colleague, only three years later figured out how to apply this new glue to pieces of paper and use them for bookmarks. The first stickers went on sale in the 1980s.

12. The world produces more than 400 million tons of paper every year.

This is according to environmentalpaper.org. Maintaining the number of forests on the planet is an important strategy for many leading manufacturers.

13. Calculators were invented in the seventeenth century by Blaise Pascal.

However, the first to become commercially successful was mechanical calculator patented by Charles Xavier Thomas de Colmar in the 19th century. The adding machine was able to do four basic operations with twelve-digit numbers, as well as take a percentage.

14. The developers were inspired to create an adhesive stick by women's lipstick.

A convenient alternative stationery glue appeared on the market in the 1970s.

15. The “qwerty” keyboard was created so that the levers with letters in typewriters would not cling to each other.< /p>

The first typewriters were made in 1867 with keys arranged in alphabetical order. When typing quickly, the levers with letters clung to each other. In modern keyboards, frequent combinations of letters have been spaced out, so the original problem is absent.