The ever-changing logo on Google’s homepage often honors holidays, events, birthdays, achievements, and people by calibrating the search page, and creating an interactive and playful graphic instead of the usual colorful letters of the Google logo. Today’s special Google Doodle commemorates the signature achievement of the Budapest-born inventor of the ballpoint pen, László Bíró. By clicking on the ‘play’ icon we can see an enlarged animation of how the ink flows through the cartridge on a ball that deposits it onto the paper by rolling around.
And if we click on the doodle itself, we can read all about this superb and sensational invention on Wikipedia.
“He recognized that the ink used for the printing of newspapers dried quicker than the ink in fountain pens, leaving the paper dry and smudge-free. As this type of ink was thicker, he secured a small ball at the point of the pen, which turns in a socket depositing ink on the paper as it slowly spins around according to the movements of the pen on the paper. Bíró filed patent on April 25th, 1938,” says an article on Wikipedia about the ballpoint pen.
László Bíró was born 117 years ago, on September 29, 1899, in Budapest’s Terézváros neighborhood. After creating this impressive invention, he became famous worldwide. His original profession could easily be connected to this invention, as he was a journalist, but he also dealt with painting in the past. He created the first ever ballpoint pen in Budapest in the 1930s.
Previous Google Doodle designs are found here.
