The Unknown Geniuses Behind 10 Of The Most Useful Inventions Ever

1858: Hymen Lipman creates the modern pencil by attaching an eraser at the end of it

Whose idea: Hymen Lipman

The inspiration: In 1858, there were lead pencils and there were erasers. But until Lipman, no one had ever combined the two. Lipman received his patent on May 30th and even thought to make it so that the eraser, not just the lead, could be sharpened.

What came of it: Lipman sold his patent for $100,000, which was a fortune in the mid-19th century. Today, you’d be hard pressed to find a pencil in a classroom without an eraser on the end of it.

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