who invented the modern ballpoint pen

The modern ballpoint pen was invented by László Bíró, a Hungarian journalist, in the 1930s. He developed a pen with a ball-and-socket mechanism that used viscous ink, which dried quickly and did not smudge, solving problems with earlier pen designs. His invention, patented in 1938, became the foundation for the commercially successful ballpoint pen used widely today. The earlier precursor to the ballpoint pen was invented by John J. Loud in 1888, but it was not commercially successful due to ink flow issues. Bíró's design was licensed by the British Royal Air Force during World War II, which helped popularize it globally.