@Ragman,
The ballpoint pen was being produced from the early years of the 20th century, although most were crap.
If you're talking biro, then they were probably around from 1945, possibly earlier.
I've seen the house where Biro lived in Hungary. It was very near (next door maybe, if memory serves) to a memorial museum dedicated to the ghetto district in Budapest, a district created by the Nazis to corrall the Jews before their transportation to the death camps.
The museum was funded by Tony Curtis, whose family were among those transported.
The pictures and artifacts inside that museum fair turned my stomach. It confirmed in my mind that the Nazis were nothing but murdering bastards who needed stopping, whatever the cost.
This thread, if I interpret the author's motivation correctly, unfortunately proves that that twisted mindset is still alive and well.