The concept of using a "ball point" within a writing instrument to apply ink to paper has existed since the late 19th century.

[4] Patents filed worldwide during early development are testaments to failed attempts at making the pens commercially viable and widely available.

[5] Ink reservoirs pressurized by a piston, spring, capillary action, and gravity would all serve as solutions to ink-delivery and flow problems.

[12][13] László Bíró, a Hungarian newspaper editor (later a naturalized Argentine) frustrated by the amount of time that he wasted filling up fountain pens and cleaning up smudged pages, noticed that inks used in newspaper printing dried quickly, leaving the paper dry and smudge-free.

[5] Bíró enlisted the help of his brother György, a dentist with useful knowledge of chemistry,[14] to develop viscous ink formulae for new ballpoint designs.

][19][20][21][22][23] Following World War II, many companies vied to commercially produce their own ballpoint pen design.

[24] During the same period, American entrepreneur Milton Reynolds came across a Birome ballpoint pen during a business trip to Buenos Aires, Argentina.

[1][10] Recognizing commercial potential, he purchased several ballpoint samples, returned to the United States, and founded the Reynolds International Pen Company.

[1] Marcel Bich also introduced a ballpoint pen to the American marketplace in the 1950s, licensed from Bíró and based on the Argentine designs.

[32] The most common of the solvents are benzyl alcohol or phenoxyethanol, which mix with the dyes and oils to create a smooth paste that dries quickly.

Refills allow for the entire internal ink reservoir, including a ballpoint and socket, to be replaced.

[33] Compared to oil-based ballpoints, rollerball pens are said to provide more fluid ink-flow, but the water-based inks will blot if held stationary against the writing surface.

Pens with ball diameters as small as 0.18 mm have been made by Japanese companies, but are extremely rare.

[37][38] The Bic Cristal is part of the permanent collection at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, acknowledged for its industrial design.

Ballpoint pens are sometimes provided free by businesses, such as hotels and banks, printed with a company's name and logo.

[citation needed] The functionality of a regular ballpoint pen in space was confirmed by ESA astronaut Pedro Duque in 2003.

[5] The ballpoint pen has proven to be a versatile art medium for both professional artists and amateur doodlers.

[43] Low cost, availability, and portability are cited by practitioners as qualities which make this common writing tool a convenient art supply.

[49] Finely applied, the resulting imagery has been mistaken for airbrushed artwork[50] and photography,[51] causing reactions of disbelief which ballpoint artist Lennie Mace refers to as the "Wow Factor".

Korean-American artist Il Lee has been creating large-scale, abstract artwork since the late 1970s solely with ballpoint pens.

[43] Since the 1980s, Lennie Mace creates imaginative, ballpoint-only artwork of varying content and complexity, applied to unconventional surfaces including wood and denim.

[49] British artist James Mylne has been creating photo-realistic artwork using mostly black ballpoints, sometimes with minimal mixed-media color.

[45] Although the mechanics of ballpoint pens remain relatively unchanged, ink composition has evolved to solve certain problems over the years, resulting in unpredictable sensitivity to light and some extent of fading.

[55] Basic steps in the manufacturing process include the production of ink formulas, molding of metal and plastic components, and assembly.

[4] Marcel Bich (leading to Société Bic) was involved in developing the production of inexpensive ballpoint pens.

[5] In modern disposable pens, narrow plastic tubes contain the ink, which is compelled downward to the ball by gravity.

[5] A ballpoint tip that can write comfortably for a long period of time is not easy to produce, as it requires high-precision machinery and thin high-grade steel alloy plates.