According to NPR, a Swiss naturalist named Conrad Gessner created the first writting depiction of a pencil in 1565.

Pencils have a long evolutionary history. / Pepifoto/iStock via Getty Images
Today, pencils are everywhere, from schools to golf courses to any art studio. What seemed like a simple invention is now a billion-dollar global industry. But who invented this household staple?

Before there were pencils, the preferred writing instrument was the stylus, which had been around since the ancient Romans. Some were made of thin pieces of metal that left light marks on a paper-like material called papyrus. Other styluses—which stuck around all the way until the 16th century—were made of lead, which proved to be a harbinger of writing instruments to come.

So what exactly is the difference between a carbon pencil and a graphite pencil?
What is the exact difference between a carbon pencil and a regular graphite pencil? I tried looking it up but nothing really told me.

The material used in carbon and graphite pencils is structurally different forms of the same element, carbon. In graphite, the atoms are tightly bonded into sheets, but the sheets can slide easily over each other, making graphite soft. Amorphous carbon is a more random arrangement that does not have any crystalline structure.

Graphite pencils are made of a mixture of clay and graphite and their darkness varies from light grey to black. Their composition allows for the smoothest strokes.

Carbon pencils generally are made of a mixture of clay and lamp black, but are sometimes blended with charcoal or graphite depending on the darkness and manufacturer. They produce a fuller, flatter, more neutral black than graphite pencils, but are smoother than charcoal. “