Since the ink is thick, ballpoint pens use less ink as you write, lasting longer than other pen types.
What is the world's first pen?
A student in Paris, Romanian Petrache Poenaru invented a fountain pen that used a quill as an ink reservoir. The French Government patented this in May 1827. Fountain pen patents and production then increased in the 1850s. The first patent on a ballpoint pen was issued on October 30, 1888, to John J Loud.