National Pencil Day

Hymen Lipman was an American inventor and stationery manufacturer who is best known for inventing the modern pencil with an eraser attached to the end. He was born on March 20, 1817, in Kherson, Ukraine, and immigrated to the United States in 1847. Lipman was a skilled craftsman who owned a stationery shop in Philadelphia, where he sold and repaired writing instruments. In 1858, he filed a patent application for his new invention, which combined a pencil and an eraser into a single writing instrument. His patent was granted on March 30, 1858, and his invention became widely popular, quickly replacing the old method of using separate pencil and eraser. Lipman sold his patent to Joseph Reckendorfer for $100,000 in 1862, and Reckendorfer subsequently filed a lawsuit against the pencil manufacturer Faber-Castell for infringing on Lipman's patent. The case went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled in favor of Reckendorfer in 1875, affirming Lipman's patent and establishing the principle of patent infringement. Lipman continued to work as a stationery manufacturer and inventor throughout his life, holding numerous patents for other writing instruments and stationery products. He died on October 23, 1893, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, leaving behind a lasting legacy as the inventor of the modern pencil with an eraser attached.