02/27/2025
Today in this day in black history, we highlight a on this date fact and an inventor!
William B. Purvis was an African-American inventor and businessman who received multiple patents in the late 19th-century. His inventions included improvements on paper bags, an updated fountain pen design, improvement to the hand stamp, and a close-conduit electric railway system.
Purvis’s first patent, on February 27, 1883, was an improvement of the hand stamp that enabled it to replenish its own ink.
According to Purvis, his updated design of the fountain pen was intended to provide a simple, durable, and cheaper construction so the pen could be carried in someone’s pocket. Purvis set an elastic tube between the pen nib and the ink reservoir, enabling the tube to return the excess ink to the reservoir. After this improvement, the new pen could evenly distribute the ink when being used. For this design, Purvis received U.S. Patent 419,065 on January 7, 1890.
