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When the chemical composition of graphite was discovered in 1779 by K. W. Steele, people started using chunks of pure graphite to mark sheep. Eventually more precision was needed for artists and other individuals, so people started to saw graphite into sticks, wrap them in sheepskin, or even insert them into the hollow ends of sticks and twigs. These were the earliest pencils.
http://www.pencilrevolution.com/2014/05/evolution-of-the-pencil/ -
Modern pencil lead was created in 1793 by a French portrait-painter named Nicolas-Jacques Conte’. He came up with an idea to mix clay with powdered graphite and mold and dry the paste. Then the leads were encased in charcoal and baked. This idea spread throughout the whole of Europe by the mid-nineteenth century. However, these pieces of lead were extremely brittle.
http://www.pencilrevolution.com/2014/05/evolution-of-the-pencil/ -
In 1812, William Monroe began producing wood-cased lead pencils in the Boston area.
http://www.officemuseum.com/pencil_history.htm -
In 1822, John Isaac Hawkins and Sampson Mordan patented the first mechanical pencil.
http://www.historyofinformation.com/expanded.php?id=3851 -
Erasers began to be attached to the ends of pencils, after Charles Goodyear wrote “Pencil-Heads”, by 1853.
http://www.officemuseum.com/pencil_history.htm -
Today the graphite scale is used to determine which pencil is perfect for what technique or job.
http://pencils.com/the-unleaded-pencil/
