Nib of a ballpoint pen. Coloured scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of the ball at the nib of a ballpoint pen. The ballpoint pen was invented in 1938 by Hungarian journalist Laszlo Biro. It was adopted by the RAF in 1944 to resolve the problems pilots faced in writing when flying at high altitudes. In 1953 Bich, a French baron, developed a process for producing ballpoint pens at a low cost. We now buy three thousand million of them every year. Magnification: x30 at 6x7cm size. x74 at 8x6,x40 at 10x7cm master size"