There are many weird and wonderful records held all over the world. Here are some of the most interesting ones relating to pens and writing instruments.
Fountain Pen Records
The record for the largest fountain pen is held in Poland (1991). It measures 2.2 metres long and 11cm in diameter, with a nib length of 48cm. The total weight of the pen with ink was 9.5kg.
The world's smallest fountain pen was made by Waterman, dating from the 1910s. It is a safety eyedropper fill pen -- also known as the doll pen -- measuring just 42.3mm long and 3.0mm in diameter.
Ballpoint Pen Records
The largest working ballpoint pen on record was created in India in 2011, measuring 5.5 metres long and weighing 37.23kg.
The largest collection of ballpoint pens is held by Angelika Unverhau in Germany (2004), who owns 285,150 ballpoint pens without duplicates.
Hungarian Laszlo Biro created the first ballpoint pen in 1938. They went on sale in 1944 at the equivalent of around £60 today. The first organisation to adopt the biro was the Royal Air Force, who needed a pen that would not leak at high altitudes.
The Fisher Space Pen
The record for the most versatile pen was awarded to the Fisher Space Pen Co. in 1968. First used on the Apollo 7 mission, it uses nitrogen-pressurised cartridges to dispense visco-elastic ink, allowing it to write in extreme heat and cold, underwater, and in zero gravity. The design is still in production today.
Art and Drawing Records
The world's largest drawing by an individual is currently held by Ravi Soni of India, with an artwork measuring 629.98 square metres -- the 12th successful attempt at this record. It was previously held by Italian illustrator FRA!, who completed a 568.47 square metre piece with a simple black marker pen.
The largest pencil on record was measured in 2007 in America: 23.23 metres long and weighing 98.43 tonnes, complete with an eraser.
The largest art lesson on record took place on 24th February 2018 in the Philippines, attended by 16,692 people.
Records sourced from Guinness World Records and correct at time of publication.