When Were Ball Point Pens Invented

Galileo Galilei during the 17th century? It has even been argued that a design by Galileo Galilei (during the 17th century), was the first instance of a ballpoint pen. See also Ballpoint Pens.
The first patent on a ballpoint pen was issued on 30 October 1888, to John J Loud. The pen had a rotating small steel ball, held in place by a socket. Although the pen could be used to mark rough surfaces such as leather, it proved to be too coarse for letter writing and was not commercially sold in any aggressive fashion.
In the period between 1901 and 1940, there was intense interest in improving writing instruments, particularly alternatives or improvements to the fountain pen. Slavoljub Eduard Penkala invented a solid-ink fountain pen in 1907, a German inventor named Baum took out a ballpoint patent in 1910, and yet another ballpoint pen device was patented by Van Vechten Riesburg in 1916.
In these early pen inventions, the ink was placed in a thin tube whose end was blocked by a tiny ball, held so that it could not slip into the tube or fall out of the pen. The ink clung to the ball, which spun as the pen was drawn across the paper. These proto-ballpoints did not deliver the ink evenly. If the ball socket was too tight, the ink did not reach the paper. If it were too loose, ink flowed past the tip, leaking or making smears. Many inventors tried to fix these problems, but without commercial success. Many inovations have taken the early ballpoint pen invention to the respected and collected luxury items they are today.